HONG KONG -- Tiptoeing through the tulips takes on a new meaning in Hong Kong's latest and most imaginative horticultural effort: a specially designed aromatic garden for the blind.
The 21,500-square-foot garden in Victoria Park has 80 varieties of trees, flowers and shrubs, selected either for their distinctive fragrances or unique tactile features such as coarse bark or unusually shaped leaves.
To make walking more interesting, the textures of the trails vary widely, from sand-and-gravel to brick. The listening experience is enhanced by a small brook and a spot where locals hang cages of songbirds on sunny afternoons.
But as with any new undertaking, a few problems have dogged the planners. Not the least of these has been the difficulty in procuring plaques that identify the flora in Chinese braille.
'It took six or eight months of research but we finally found some people to make the Chinese braille signs,' said Y.K. Cheung, a horticulturist with the British colony's Urban Council. He said the braille plaques, which will also display Latin and common English names for the plants, should be installed by late spring.
The aromatic refuge, located among the gardens and playing fields of oneof Hong Kong's major parks, is one of two such areas constructed at the request of Urban Council member Walter Sulke, whose Zung Fu Co. Ltd. is the local Mercedes Benz agent.
Sulke said he became aware of the plight of the handicapped when his firm began hiring blind telephone operators some years ago and he has been interested in their problems ever since.
'There are few things the blind can enjoy outside except the sunshine,' he said. 'Well, I came across a scented garden for the blind in France about 10 years ago, so when I was appointed to the Urban Council, I asked if we could have the same thing here.'
The first small scented garden -- just 4,300 square feet -- opened in Kowloon Park in August 1985 with such exotic floral varieties as Cape jasmine, Arabian jasmine and Brazilian ladies of the night.
The more ambitious effort in Victoria Park opened in April 1986 and includes among its aromatic attractions a white jade orchid tree, large-flowered magnolia, mock lime, orange jessamine and banana shrub. Trees such as willow, bamboo and paper bark offer unusual textures to the sense of touch.
'Even some of the trees have leaves that are scented when you touch them, such as the eucalyptus, the sweet gum trees and some fruit trees,' said Cheung.
A brick path with high metal railings guides blind visitors through the garden and will help direct inquiring hands to the braille plaques once they are installed.
The garden also features a small wooden bridge over a brook and a graveled area with benches for sitting quietly. For safety's sake, there are no steps anywhere in the garden but the planners have included gentle gradients for variety.
Despite such efforts, the Hong Kong Association of the Blind has decided not to bring groups to the garden until the braille signs are installed, and other objections have been voiced by some of the few sightless visitors so far.
'It was such a good idea, but when they got around to doing it they seem to have made just a token effort,' said Brenda Parsons, who found the brick path difficult to walk on and complained she could never have found it on her own.
She also said she had trouble detecting the odors and added, 'They encouraged me to touch the flowers but they were out of reach behind the railings.'
Cheung acknowledged the complaints but said the Society of the Blind had been consulted thoroughly during the planning and construction of the garden.
'This is quite a new area in the horticultural field so we have to learn by trial and error, but it will improve as it develops,' he said. 'As people use the gardens, we will listen to their comments.'
Cheung said his staff is already planning some changes, including a resurfacing of the brick path to make it smoother and construction of a textured footpath that will lead to the garden from the park entrance.
'This will take a year or two because we have no money for it so we have to tie it in with our other work,' he explained.
