Whilst I was in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the places I visited was the Independence Palace. I have to admit that this was mainly because it has a fairly large garden area within its walls and that was what I was more interested in when I got there. When I’m hot and bothered, I find that seeking refuge in gardens always helps my mood!

Topiary is often completely overdone in many gardens (there is just too much of it), but these trees look really nice. Simple and effective, fitting in with the building quite nicely I think.

There are large areas of the grounds that are just lawn and trees. This is the loveliest area to me as there is shade from the hot sun! Plus, who doesn’t love a good tree or two? I’m not sure what species any of them are, all I know is that they aren’t trees that I have come across before.

These bedding plants add some welcome colour in this garden bed next to the building. There are some nice palms as well-which is a rare thing for me to say as I don’t like most palm trees!

There were plenty of frangipanis dotted around. Unfortunately, they weren’t in full flower, with the white flowered ones having more flowers than the pink ones.

A good water feature always adds something to a garden if there is space. I like this one, with the main entrance gate behind it.

I thought that this lawn feature was slightly random, but it is certainly better than concrete or paving! I’m not sure whether the dark green patches are actual grass or astroturfing

I love a good random looking tree and this one below is rather interesting. It looks like it could be a fig tree of some kind, with a rather epic leat going on.

This Norfolk Island pine made me smile and reminded me of home. I see them all the time in Sydney and wasn’t expecting to see one in Vietnam.

This was my final post on plants from my visit to Ho Chi Minh City. I have to say that I had a great time when I was there.