HIS workers call him Adam of the Gardens. And there is even a towering fig tree on the grounds.

Looking like an Eden of sorts, the Mandai Orchid Garden is indeed paradise to those who adore Singapore's national flower, the orchid.

Owner of the over 500 different types of orchids which line the farm is 67-year-old Heah Hock Heng, who is inviting Singaporeans to visit his gardens at Mandai Lake Road.

The park is a stone's throw from the Singapore Zoo's entrance.

He says: 'Come here for a picnic, relax, get away from city life. This place is beautiful.'

To make it even more so, the garden, together with the Singapore Tourism Board, pumped in $600,000 to give the 50-year-old park a sprucing up.

With the renovations to be completed by the end of this month, he hopes that the number of visitors will increase to 800 a day and consist of many more locals.

Now, over 200 people visit a day.

To make the visit worth their while, the park has built a bigger cafe - which packs picnic baskets - as well as an arts and craft centre, where visitors can take part in art activities, such as batik painting of orchids.

Visitors can also take home potted orchid plants or orchid cuttings, at prices which start at $5.

Or they can visit the plant retail store, which sells indoor plants like olive trees. Prices start at $3.

Mr Heah says: 'We want Singaporeans to come here, too. They should be part of this garden which is steeped in history.'

EVEN BIRDS CALL THE GARDEN HOME

THE garden was started in 1951 by the late John Laycock, a founder of the Orchid Society of South-east Asia.

Approved by the Singapore Tourism Board as a tourist attraction since 1961, the garden attracts 250 a day, mostly tourists who join local tours.

Rows upon rows of orchids adorn a sloping hillside, a view which greets visitors as they turn into the park's carpark.

Visitors can find some unique hybrids in the gardens, the most popular one being national flower Vanda Miss Joaquim.

Rarer orchids include the Arachnis Flos-aeris 'insignis', a species from Malaysia and Indonesia which is better known as the Black Scorpion Orchid.

In Singapore, you can see this orchid on display only at the Mandai Orchid Garden. It has a flower spike measuring 2m long and carrying an average of 30 blooms.

Some visit the gardens for a different reason.

In their migratory flight, birds, such as the crimson sunbird, stop at the orchid garden in Mandai to build their nests.

This, in turn, brings yet another group of visitors.

Mr Heah says: 'Bird watchers come here often and stay the whole day to take photos of birds.'

Those who want to learn more about orchids can join the garden's free guided tours conducted by experts.

On the tour, you will learn how orchids are hybridised, but more importantly, how to care for them.

The tour is by appointment only, so call 6793-5480 first to make a booking.