The Garden Floats

"The Garden Floats" is the thirty-eighth episode of Butterfly Valley (1998 series) and the twelfth episode of the second season.
This episode commemorates Chinese New Year, a special occasion for the Chinese community, which centers on good fortune and prosperity.
==Synopsis==
While the kids are discovering a new school greenhouse in the human world, the butterfly fairies are visiting the renowned floating garden in the dragonfly kingdom, but they are unaware that the trolls are following their tracks to kidnap the beautiful princess again…
==Plot== 
Today, a brand new greenhouse is being built near the Floral Showgrounds in the Sideview Beach Middle School. The kids and Ms. Derring are watching the builders demolishing the old greenhouse, which upsets Celia. The builders bring in the materials to construct a new greenhouse and community garden in its place.
Celia mourns the loss of the old greenhouse, then Rose cheers her up, telling her that the new greenhouse will be still as good as the old one. The kids watch the builders setup the layout of the new greenhouse.
Meanwhile at the Dragonfly Ranges International Airport, the butterfly fairies exit the airplane as the luggages are carried by the taxi cab.
The troll guards have also arrive in Dragonfly Ranges, as they exit the Rapier 3-69 jet. They follow the butterfly fairies to the Feicui Palace in hopes of kidnapping Princess Ruifei again. They try to find the palace along the way, but they are stuck in a maze.
Meanwhile at the Floral Showgrounds, the kids and Ms. Derring admire the new greenhouse and community garden. They help place the plants to their new home, then they water them.
Celia still misses the old greenhouse, then Ms. Derring told her that someday, she will get used to it. Chip calls his friends to see a pair of venus flytraps, which scared Celia. A foreign girl came in, asking what are the kids doing, and the kids turn their attention to her.
Rose and Petunia recognize the girl as their friend Winona Hou, who just came to Sideview Beach for a playdave with the twins. The other kids are bewildered by ther sheer knowledge.
Chip begins to fall in love with Winona, leading to Brad and Petunia to pull him off from her. Winona introduces herself to the kids, but they don't know what she is saying. Winona informed the kids she's speaking Cantonese, a dialect of the Chinese language.
Brad claims he can at least speak a bit of Cantonese, but he's mostly fluent in Mandarin, which Winona can also speak. Chip thought Winona eats 100 mandarins a day, then she corrected him. Petunia asks Winona if she can speak Japanese and she replied her friend Tsukasa Ishimoto taught her that language.
Petunia whispered to Rose's ear that Tsukasa is their friend too. Jessa asks where is Winona from and she replied she's from the city of Guangzhou, China, which reminds Brad of the Chinese chef Martin Yan, whom he watches him on TV every week. The twins remembered the time when they went to Guangzhou to visit Winona and her family.
Winona reminds the kids that today is Chinese new year and the current year happens to be the year of the rabbit.
The kids are confused as they didn't know anything about the Chinese Zodiac, so Winona tells them about that. Petunia comments on the reminiscence of the star signs used in the west and the kids believe in her.
Jessa states she likes rabbits and even has her own pet rabbit named "Shirley" (after her favorite singer Shirley Bassey), who often tags along with her pet dog Thistle. The kids are bewildered as Jessa comments on Bassey's powerful voice and splendid songs.
Petunia shows Winona the new school greenhouse and community garden, but Winona wonders what does the old one look like and Sam shows her a photo of himself and his family standing next to the old greenhouse. Winona was astonished by the new greenhouse and community garden.
The butterfly fairies went to the Feicui Palace to meet Emperor Xiangti and Princess Ruifei for the annual peace treaty near the newly-created floating garden.
The troll guards spy on Princess Ruifei and suddenly fall over a tower of cardboard boxes. The fairies heard the sound and wondered where it came from, but don't mind afterwards.
Princess Butterfly addresses the issues concerning the environmental problems with the Dragonfly Kingdom, so the butterfly fairies should help the dragonfly fairies develop advanced technology, including the concept of floating gardens.
Meanwhile at the community park, Winona shows the kids her own magic flower, a Chinese lotus. Rose, in turn, shows Winona her magic flower, a magnolia. Winona asks the kids if they want to visit the Dragonfly Kingdom and the twins agree, so do their friends.
The kids place their hands over Winona's magic flower and they ended up near the palace. The kids wonder where are they and Winona said they are now in Dragonfly Ranges, the capital city of the Dragonfly Kingdom. 
The kids head to the palace, but they are stopped by two dragonfly fairy royal guards, armed with spears. Winona asks, in Cantonese, to let her and her friends enter the palace and they allow them.
The kids are stunned by the layout of the palace. Petunia notices portraits of Xiangti's ancestors and asks the other kids to check it out. Chip thinks Leonardo da Vinci painted the portraits, but then Rose corrected him and the kids moved on to the lion statues at the courtyard.
Rose points out the floating garden and the kids wondered how do they get up there. Sam suggested ladders, but the kids don't know how to climb a ladder, then Winona considers asking the dragonfly fairies to carry them up to the garden.
The kids ride on the backs of the dragonfly fairy royal guards and enter the floating garden. The butterfly fairies came to the floating garden as well and greet the kids. Bluebell hugs Rose and Petunia, welcoming them to the floating garden, and they all explore the place.
A dragonfly fairy tour guide tours the human kids and the butterfly fairies around the floating garden. The kids notice some plant creatures enjoying leaves for their meals. The dragonfly fairy shows the kids some rare and exotic plants found primarily in the Dragonfly Kingdom. The kids are fascinated about the metal lotus.
The troll guards sneak to the throne room and set up a trap for Princess Ruifei. One of the troll guards hooks the rope that holds the cage to the metal bar and another troll guard uses a basket of flowers as bait for Ruifei.
Meanwhile at the floating garden, the kids and the butterfly fairies are greeted by Princess Ruifei, who is about to show them more exotic flowers, but she accidentally left it in the Feicui Palace, so she quickly went to the throne room to retrieve them, but the troll guards activate the trap, causing the cage to fall over Ruifei, successfully capturing her.
The troll guards celebrate as the triumphantly kidnap Ruifei and escort, but the dragonfly fairy royal guards stop them on the spot and the human kids and the butterfly fairies came to rescue Ruifei. Rose launches a magical binding ring to capture the troll guards and Petunia and Winona free Ruifei, who thanks them for rescuing her.
The human kids, the butterfly fairies and the dragonfly fairy royal guards went to Emperor Xiangti and Ruifei hugs him. Xiangti thanks Winona and the twins, in Cantonese, for rescuing Ruifei, but the twins are confused, as they don't know what he's saying, although Winona help them remember how to speak Chinese.
The troll guards, all beaten up, return to the Troll Kingdom, where a troll guard knocks the gate of the Great Troll Palace. King Boogieman opens the gate and lets the troll guards in. The troll guards notice a huge feast on the dining table and went to indulge it, but the monarchs stop them and Queen Peregia orders them to clean the palace as a punishment for letting Princess Ruifei escape.
The human kids and the butterfly fairies bid farewell to the dragonfly fairies and leave the Feicui Castle. They went to the Dragonfly Ranges International Airport and the human kids bid farewell to the butterfly fairies, who are climbing aboard another airplane.
Rose uses her magic flower to return home with the other kids and they ended up at the community park again. Winona begins to talk about Chinese New Year, which is a special ocassion for Chinese people like herself and her family. She says it centers on good fortune and prosperity, which bewildered the kids and Sam thinks that money is a very special thing on Chinese New Year.
The kids went to the round table and Winona shows the kids things for Chinese New Year, including lanters with tassels, envelopes with money and the lion dance, but Chip thinks the lion dance has real lions, which upsets him, then Winona corrects him that it has two people dancing in an ornate lion costume and it's said to bring good luck to people.
The kids understand this carefully and Winona claims that Chinese New Year is very special to her family, including herself, because people who celebrate this special occasion will have great fortune. Sam jokingly claims that he will become very rich by celebrating Chinese New Year, making the kids laugh in response as the episode ends.
==Trivia==
*This episode is included in the VHS compilation video The Best of Butterfly Valley, Vol. 8.
*This episode serves as the sequel to the episode "The Dragonfly Princess" from the first season.
**Additionaly, American actress of Chinese descent Lucy Liu returned as Winona Hou in this episode.
*This is the eighth episode to utilize subtitles for viewers who don't understand what a character is saying in a different language.
*Tsukasa Ishimoto was mentioned by Winona when she was asked by Petunia if she can speak Japanese.
**Tsukasa herself will later appear physically in "Journey Through Borders."
*This is the first time Rose and Petunia's friends enter another country in the animal world (the Dragonfly Kingdom in this case) other than the Butterfly Kingdom.
*Chinese chef Martin Yan was mentioned by Brad when Winona mentions Guangzhou, China, which is where Yan is born and lived in his early years.
*Welsh singer Shirley Bassey was mentioned by Jessa when she mentions her pet rabbit, whom she named Shirley. Bassey is also revealed to be Jessa's favorite singer in this episode.
Category:Episodes