European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 04, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Is photos by Lynda w. Sparks inside and outside Flowers Are the focus of Buca 89 in Frankfurt. Frankfurt awash in colourful blossoms by Mary Neth staff writer f rank Lurt am main West Germany financial Metropolis has become its capital of Bloom. I i Gates opened april 2h for Buga 89 in the  nid Dalal  River Valley people Park in Northwest Frankfurt. It was a Chilly Gray morning but the weather did t Dampen the enthusiasm of the bundled up visitors or Wash out the vivid colors of the huge Flower bed at the Raunheim Entrance. Liuga stands for Bunth  National i Turtle ult Fitl Showan event that has taken place in a different German City every two years since i9rjl, i ran Lurl hosting the 20th show promises a 1 71-Day  Whin its 222-acre grounds. I be purchased a season ticket said Christiane i Roehll a a i Lan furl resident who was there for the opening. There is going to lie so much to  besides horticulture Buga offers entertainment for every Iasie. There will he a Folk and country music Issi Lith said she braved the Chilly weather bet Ause opening Day was particularly filled with pomp and ceremony. West German Chancellor i Elmul Kohl was there. Military bands were playing and a show was being Given by skydivers. Here ire three main entrances to the grounds. If you travel by i a and follow the Buga signs As i Dirl you la be guided to the Rebstock parking lot after you pay a parking fee of 5marks $2.70a shuttle bus will take you from there to he Raunheim Gate. Said to be the biggest Flower bed in history the 20.-Joo-Square-y.ird plot at a Raunec in is composed of 500,000multicolored tulips pansies Narcissuss roses and other Flowers. As summer approaches these will be replaced by a new group of seasonal Flower the selection will again be changed for fall. It s Noi a from the Raunheim Gate to the Garden exhibits the House Garden Park artwork Garden Rose and Woodland Garden the special Garden a fruit vegetable Anil Herb Garden a character Garden and a theme Garden. There also is a display showing How greenery can be used As a rooftop covering. Nearby is the 2 17-foot-High Buga Tower. Its revolving slowly rising platform has room for 50 people and offers a sweeping View of the Park. Also close by on the Bank of the River is a Model of a space ship Laboratory. Though All the major exhibition areas Are within easy walking distance they also can be visited by the Buga Bahn a Battery driven miniature train. This train travels an eight mile Roule slopping Al seven stations along the Way. The full trip takes about a half hour and loops out to southernmost Section of the Park with its natural looking Meadow landscape. There were Only a few people on the train when i boarded. The open wagons offered no Protection from the cold wind Ami by the Lime we reached the  ii station where More than  wild Flowers had been planted everyone was Frozen and eager for the ride1 to i ome to an end. When at the station at the Gin Nheim Entrance a Layover was announced All aboard groaned. Sorry said the conductor but Chancellor Helmut Kohl s party is entering the grounds. We will have to wait so the group can Board Well perhaps a few More people will make in a bit warmer one passenger said. And maybe Kohl w ill sit next to me and i la Tell him my name and. Kohl did t join us but several Bonn dignitaries soon were shivering in the seats beside us. Across from me a Gray haired woman who said this was her first visit to i rank Lurt did t seem too impressed by the wild Meadow we were slowly passing through. The main exhibits Are ahead of us explained her male companion who filled her in on the history of the City s show. Frankfurt s Buga has been a Long Lime in planning. The idea of turning the nid Dalal Inlo a huge City Park in combination with a National horticultural exhibit was first proposed by the municipal government 10 years ago. From the beginning the idea Mel with Stormy opposition from ecology groups and Many of the area s citizens some of whom had Small weekend Garden plots on the grounds and were Loath to lose them. The wild West club whose clubhouse was on the grounds also joined the protest. These critics argued that in was nonsense to spend 200 million Marks about $108 million to transform Meadow area into a tended Park. They wanted the City to leave the nid Dalal undisturbed and use another site for the show. The Little train now was passing what appeared to be the end of a stagnant Stream. That is what is left of an artificial Brook that was to wander through the Park the Man from Bonn continued. Bund an ecology and nature Protection organization argued that it was detrimental to natural Flora and Fauna in took the Case to court and won. The Brook had to be slopped in  the train pulled up to unde Nalle station where a crowd had gathered to Greet Kohl. The . Army s 3rd army div spearhead band was playing the theme from the television series Dallas. Linde Nalle nearly a mile Long is lined with huge Garden Halls where All sorts of growing plants arc on display. There Loo you la find 25 Garden markets and the huge Gennheimer wild Chen Beer Garden. After walking through he balls it was off to the /"ressjj.iss, a Buga restaurant area. It was there at Zum Bemm a rustic self service restaurant with typical Frankfurt specialities that i met Froehlich. What a shame it is that All these buildings the restaurants and Heaters will be torn Down when the show ends in october she remarked. The buildings will All go. What will be left is vol spark nid Dalal itself. Frankfurt the skyscraper City with the country s largest Airport Anil most superhighways could boast of being Germany s greenest City even before Buga 89. Counting All of its Parks forests playgrounds cemeteries Farmland and Meadows More than half of the greater Frankfurt area is Green. 12  May 4, 1989