Eka Karya Botanical Garden, or also usually called Bedugul Botanical Garden is located on the Bedugul highland, in the area village of Candikuning, Baturiti, Tabanan. It is approximately 60 km from Denpasar and could be reached within 1.5 hours. This green place is one of four famous botanical gardens in Indonesia, besides Bogor Botanical Garden, Cibodas Botanical Garden, Purwodadi Botanical Garden. However, since those three botanical gardens were inherited from the colonial government, Eka Karya Botanical Garden become the first botanical garden which was built by Indonesian. Thus the name of this botanical garden is “Eka Karya” which means “the first work.”

This botanical garden was built on 157.5 hectare green forest area. Until now Eka Karya Botanical Garden has collected 8,494 kind of plants in the group of palm, bamboo, araceae, rhododendron, and many more. Some of these plants are also presented in the form of specific gardens like explained below.

Cactus Garden

As it name implies, this garden specially collects cactuses or plants that belong the Cactaceae family. This garden is built like a glass dome with various kind of cactuses inside including the unique dragon fruit. Besides from Bali, the cactus collection in this greenhouse was imported from Argentina, German, Mexico, and New Zealand.

Cactus is a desert plant which is usually lives in hot temperature. With modified leaves which are transformed into spines, this plant could adapt the dry climate well. Surprisingly, cactus could also grow and proliferate in the cold climate area like Eka Karya Botanical Garden. Some of the cactus can even grow until more than 5 meter. In Eka Karya Botanical Garden, the collection of the cactuses consists of 68 types which are arranged in a 500 m2 green house to prevent excessive humidity. The most interesting cactuses to see here are the collection of Echinocactus grusonii, Cephalocereus senilis, Mammillaria durispina, Espostoa lanata, Opuntia sp. and Cleistocactus micropetalum which are very unique and attractive.

Aquatic Garden

The aquatic garden is close to the cactus garden. In this garden, the collection of water plants are arranged in a six terraces ponds. These ponds are decorated with various kinds of ornaments such as rocks, pots, and bamboo sprinkles. Some kind of aquatic plants like Nymphaea pubescens Willd (kinds of lotus or water lily), Pontederia cordata L., Cyperus papyrus L., Cyperus flabelliformis Rottb., Nymphoides indica (L.) OK., and Zantedeschia aethiopica (L.) Spreng.

Orchids Garden

Various type of orchids from the eastern region of Indonesia are displayed here. Starting from the black orchid or Coelegyne pandurata, the Arundina graminifolia which the plant itself similar to thatch but with a pretty flower, until Phaius tankervillae which usually be found in Sulawesi region. The complete collection and the beauty of orchids could attract many visitors.

Usada Garden

The word Usada means “health.” From this meaning, it is implied that this garden is the place for cultivating herbs or medicinal plants. Some traditional herbs like galingale, cumin, betel leaves, or parijatha could be found here easily. More than 300 kinds of medical plants are collected in this 1,600 m2 garden. This collection includes the plants from various regencies in Bali and completed with explanation board at every plant that informs the description and function of the related plants in Balinese traditional medication.

Cyathea Garden

Cyathea is the scientific name of tall fern which could grown towering until 56 meter. This garden is full of ferns starting from the one which looks like a tree until the unique epifit which looks like harts horn. Bird’s nest fern or even land covering primordial ferns like Selaginella could be seen here. Entering this garden feels like going back to the prehistoric times when the dinosaurs ruled the earth. It will be such a unique experience to visit this garden.

Rose Garden

Like its name, this garden looks like a rose paradise. There are various kind of roses with various colors like red, pink, maroon, orange, yellow, and even green. The green rose (Rosa x odorata ‘Viridiflora’) is the most unique rose in this place. This rose is an intercross of two species of roses, Rosa chinensis and Rosa gigantea. This rose is sterile because the stamen does not develop / grow. Thus, the green roses could only be cultivated through grafts or cuttings. This green rose was imported from America and in Indonesia it is only available at Eka Karya Bali and Cibodas Botanical Garden.

Begonia Garden

This garden will show you various kind of begonia plants. The collection includes common begonia, hybrid begonia, typical Indonesian begonia, and species from foreign countries. More than 200 types of Begonia are planted in this garden both natural and exotic types. Natural Begonia commonly has simple form, unattractive, and randomly grow in the wildlife. Meanwhile, exotic Begonia commonly come from foreign countries with various unique forms. Now, this plant has been widely known as ornamental plant.

Panca Yadnya Garden

This garden was named after a concept of Hinduism called “Panca Yadnya” or literally means “five sacrifices.” It was inspired by the five kinds of sacrifices made for reciprocations to the God (Dewa Yadnya), ancestors (Pitra Yadnya), teachers or priests (Rsi Yadnya), human being (Manusa Yadnya), and the guardians of universe (Bhuta Yadnya). This garden consists of all kinds of plants that are used by Balinese to do these Yadnya ceremonies, like frangipani (Plumeria), chrysolite (Michelia champaca Linn), cananga (Cananga odorata), and many more.

Gymnos Garden

Gymnos Garden collects some kind of gymnosperm, like pine, araucaria, and so on. Most of this collection are imported from foreign countries, but some of them are also Indonesian endemics like, Podocarpus imbricatus which grew in Bedugul hills. Besides visiting those gardens, you can also try some outbound activities like flying fox, rope climbing, and so on. Flying fox is the most exciting one since this area is full of tall trees, so you can feel a challenging sensation of this sport.

There are also three temples in this botanical garden, Giri Putri, Teratai Bang, and Batu Meringgit temple. In Teratai Bang temple, there is a sulfur source which radiate odor around the area. Meanwhile, Meringgit temple is an archaeological site which has existed since the megalithic era. This temple combines the culture of Hinduism and Buddhism.