Buwakan ni Alejandra

Buwakan ni Alejandra sits in Barangay Gaas, in the highlands above Balamban, a west-coast Cebu town whose upland barangays grow much of the vegetables and root crops that reach Cebu City’s markets. The garden is a private flower park built into that same cool elevation, laid out across roughly 3,000 square meters of terraced beds that the family behind it has kept expanding over the years — over 200 varieties of ornamental plants at last count, roses, dahlias, wax begonias, hibiscus, sages, and cleome among them, with the mountain range as a backdrop rather than a photo prop.

The name itself is the plainest kind of tribute: “buwakan” is Cebuano for a flower garden or flower bed, and “Alejandra” was the mother of the family that built it — a garden named in her honor because she was, by the family’s own account, the one who loved flowers first. It’s a small piece of local lore that explains why a private garden carries a personal name rather than a generic one, and it’s worth knowing before assuming the name refers to a place or a legend rather than a person.

Balamban’s upland barangays run on farming, and Gaas is no exception — the same cool, well-watered elevation that makes vegetables and root crops viable here is what makes an ornamental garden viable too. Buwakan ni Alejandra is a side business layered onto agricultural land rather than a replacement for it, and it draws mostly local day-trippers escaping the coastal heat, along with photographers working the golden-hour light on the viewing decks, more than it draws long-haul tourists. Entrance runs in the neighborhood of ₱75 for adults, with reduced rates for children, seniors, and PWDs, and the garden keeps daytime hours rather than staying open into the evening. [FACT NEEDED: confirm current entrance fee and hours, since these are set independently by the family operators and can change.]

• The viewing decks are built for the mountain backdrop — go for the overlook shots as much as the flowers themselves.
• Weekday mornings are noticeably quieter than weekends, when the garden draws Cebu City day-trippers in numbers.
• The elevation means cooler air than the coast — bring a light jacket if you’re visiting early or after rain.
• The garden is a working family operation, not a municipal park — expect the beds and paths to keep changing shape as the owners continue expanding the planted area.

Buwakan ni Alejandra sits within reach of several other Transcentral Highway stops in the same general stretch of Balamban’s highlands — eco-parks, view decks, and resorts each run independently by their own owners rather than under any shared management. Visitors doing the highway as a day trip often work the flower garden into a wider loop, pairing an hour among the beds here with a meal or a viewpoint stop somewhere further along the same road. Keeping the beds in bloom year-round takes ongoing watering and replanting, work the family handles directly rather than contracting out, which is part of why the garden has kept a personal, tended feel rather than the more manicured look of a larger commercial park.

Explore More in Central Cebu Highlands and Metro Fringe

• Mount Kan-Irag
• JVR Island in the Sky
• Mt. Manunggal Crash Site