Going to the Olympics in 2016 – then combine your visit with a few garden trips.

Competitive gardening may not be an Olympic sport but the standard of gardens in this facinating country has to be seen to be believed. Based more on design and architecture than planting there are some modern features in Rio, Copacabana and San Paulo

Simple Brazilian Gardens

Buy a book on the subject and browse while others compete for gold medals. New Brazilian Gardens presents over thirty gardens and landscapes located across Brazil.

Visit the nearest Brazillian garden like the one at Naples botanic garden Florida. This honours Burle Marx who is considered one of the most influential landscape architects of the 20th century. He drew inspiration from the beautiful plants and exuberant landscapes of Brazil. Through his passion for native plants, he introduced a wide range of native Brazilian plants to gardeners.

View your perfect garden selection on Gardenvisit.com

Amazon Rain Forest

• There are reputed to be over 50,000 species of plant endemic to Brazil.
• Coffee, rubber trees, Brazil nuts and numerous palm species are key crops.
• Mahogany is now protected although this hardwood tree is still felled and sold in Brazil.

Floral Brazil

• The national flower is the Orhid and there are many delicate species.
• Flowere familiar to UK gardeners include -Papaver Rhoeas, Freesia, Camelia,  Begonia,
•  Cyclamen persicum, Gloxinia,  Nymphaea odorota,
•  Sclumbergera truncata, Billbergia distachya-Bromeliads,
• Amarilis, Primula obconica, Hibicus, Mangolia, Cynara,
• Quesnelia Testudo is endemic to eastern Brazil and contains 20 different species each with bright green leaves covered in unique scales.

The fun is in taking part and there are no gold medals available for gardening in 2016 but you can award yourself with a combined trip of a lifetime.