Botanical gardens

[paul m]

What joy to find that Nancy has at least two Botanical Gardens!
One is quite small and old -
-
It is a lovely quiet place to sit and have your lunch, listen to the bees and look at the pretty plants ....
Nonethless it has some taxonomic beds but also a set of beds classifying plants by their medicinal applications.

Plenty of legible labels!
Nancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[paul m]

The main botanical garden of Nancy is the Jardin botanique du Montet.

There are conventional taxonomic beds but some of these look rather neglected. However, there are also beds of historic-prehistoric botany (which species were here before humans, which were introduced when and why &c), ecological plots (sphagnum bog, sand dune, limestone rock &c), an arboretum (not very well labelled ), plants (especially fruit trees) bred in Lorraine, and so forth. Also some whimsical things ......

You learn some interesting things: the arms of Lorraine and of Nancy include a thistle - File:Blason Nancy 54.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - thus the city's motto, 'Non inultus premor' - "No one touches me with impunity"!

[alec]

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Thanks

[paul m]

Quite a large garden including beds of Burgundian plants. However many beds empty or untended.

Also houses a small natural history museum - currently with exhibitions to illustrate community ecology of various ecosystems .... but largely contains galleries of stuffed animals!
There are, apparently, other public gardens of interest in Dijon. The one I'm referring to is near the railway station, Jardin de l'Arquebuse, I think ....

[paul m]

For reasons that we won't go into, missed out on the Lyon Jardin Botanique - another time. It seems to have a large collection including many espèces menacées. Should you want to, you can access a spreadsheet of all the plants in the garden.
Les collections de plantes - Jardin Botanique

Not a serious botanical garden but in nearby Vienne is a 'garden of Apicius' (Apicius was the celebrity chef of the Roman Empire - his De re coquinaria ) contained 468 recipes including a large number of sauces!) showing plants that would have been used by the Romans and how they were cultivated - fascinating .... and full of insects.

[paul m]

Not only art galleries, floods, zoos and insects but Besançon also has a Botanical Garden.
Some of the taxonomic beds look in need of attention but other, themed beds were better tended.
One of the themes was grouping in biogeographical beds. It seems a bit optimistic to grow plants from hot, arid climes in the foothills of the Alps but seemed to be okay:


As one would expect (the garden is run by the Botany Department of the University) most beds were well labelled but not all the trees were, especially this rather impressive shrub:




You can pick out the botanists in the car park:

[paul m]

British Botanical Gardens in late winter aren't always to be recommended. However, that at Cambridge is very good: plenty of spring bulbs, large glass-houses and even large beds of plants with winter colour:

Not that many animals were visible on my visit but once I saw a grass snake (Natrix natrix) in the rockery!

[paul m]

Do Botanical Gardens contribute to dispersal of invasive species? Yes, according to this study. Mainly in the tropics.
BBC News - Botanic gardens 'play role in invasive species spread'

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

Do Botanical Gardens contribute to dispersal of invasive species? Yes, according to this study. Mainly in the tropics.
BBC News - Botanic gardens 'play role in invasive species spread'

That is something I have never throught about before. I wonder if the fact that many people collect seeds from these places contribute to the spread of invasive species too. I have been known to see nice ripe seed pods and thought "I wonder if they would grow in my garden?"

Here is an example of some fruit I picked up at a botanical garden , but as you can see in the discription on the image I wrote at the time, I wasn't responsible for spreading these around, more by luck than judgement though.

[jaguarondi]

Originally Posted by paul m

Not that many animals were visible on my visit but once I saw a grass snake (Natrix natrix) in the rockery!

Ditto - many years ago I saw a grass snake in the Cambridge botanical gardens, swimming in the ditch that borders the W. edge. Good to know they're still thriving there despite all the visitors

[goosey]

Botanical gardens seem such an old fashioned past time, but It looks like several of us have been enjoying their delights this last few days, there have been gallery uploads today by Paul, Black and myself of some stunning flora .

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

Botanical gardens seem such an old fashioned past time, but It looks like several of us have been enjoying their delights this last few days, there have been gallery uploads today by Paul, Black and myself of some stunning flora .

Apart from the sheer beauty of the plants (or their peculiarity, in some cases) and their scientific/educational functions, botanic gardens tend to be very peaceful, relaxing places, excellent for a picnic or simply sitting around!

They often have interesting histories. Oxford University's started off as a physic garden, growing medicinal gardens and was then enclosed to grow fruit and other plants: the walls are still present:
[img]http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/data//511/thumbs/02030
new_beds_pond.jpg[/img]
Since then, glasshouses have been built down one side on the banks of the River Cherwell and a larger area built out into the greens (foreground of the picture). This was mainly grass with bulbs and a small rockery but has been recently renovated for a pond and numerous beds.
There are said to be 8000 plant species in an area less than 2 ha!

[goosey]

Hortus Botanicus (see #23 of this thread) in Amsterdam has plenty of labeling but going through my photo's, I have found I have come a cropper (again ). I thought I had been so careful taking photo's of the labels which went with the plants, but now I have come to cross reference I see I have messed up again and will have to upload some unidentifieds .
As things grow and spread through the beds it must be impossible to have every plant with a label or they would all have to be fenced off.
In the subtropical house there was a pretty little water plant, which turned out to be Aponogeton distachyos, but there was a row of name's so I just took a piccie of the lot and was able to discount the the wrong ones comparing names with piccied on the internet.
It can be so confusing even in the best of Botanical gardens.

[black]

Ness Gardens overlooking the Dee Estuary on the Wirral was originally created by the Liverpool cotton merchant Arthur Kilpin Bulley. He was keen on introducing new species from abroad and he sponsored a number of plant collecting expeditions to the Far East. It has the finest collection of rhododendrons and azaleas in the North-West. When Arthur died his daughter Lois gave them to Liverpool University and the gardens have now increased to 46 acres. So plenty of space for picniking families and to laze in the sun

[paul m]

Poitiers has a small municipal botanical garden with beautifully labelled 'order beds'. It's impossible, of course, for any garden to include all plant species, evcen from their own area so there is selection often on a theme - at Poitiers they concentrate on species used in medicine and cooking:

There is a larger university botanical garden outside town. University Botanical Garden - Mignaloux-Beauvoir - Parks and gardens in la Vienne - France

[paul m]

Bordeaux has a small municipal botanic garden within a larger public park. It has an impeccably labelled order bed which contains examples of some families less often seen:

Jardin botanique de Bordeaux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to confused with the Jardin de la Bastide over the river:
Jardin botanique de la Bastide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I didn't make it over the river:

[paul m]

The grounds of the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la Rochelle are nominally a 'Jardin Botanique' although there are very few labels. Lovely place though - a formal lawn, childrens' area, shrubbery and a secret garden full of sub-tropical plants despite having no glass in the greenhouse.

[paul m]

As Goosey says, any visitor to Amsterdam should call in on the Hortus Botanicus - interest year round and very nice cakes!

Originally Posted by goosey

I went to Amsterdam today specifically to go to Hortus Botanicus!
My journey was not wasted –it is only 1.2 hectares and in the city centre but what a wonderful place.

It was founded by Amsterdam city council in1638 as a medicinal herb garden this was just after the city had suffered a plague epidemic, doctors and pharmacists trained here in the preparation of prescriptions.
There are over 4000 plant species from across all continents, a palm house image 4., rock gardens an evolutionary walk (shows the six stages of plant evolution starting from the very first type of land plants), tree and woodland walk, carnivorous plants, 3 climate glass house image 2+3(sub-tropical, tropical and desert with cacti which almost reached the glass roof), medic garden (this meant lots of native plants and things I see on my walks in the NP), small butterfly house and goodness knows what.
Even though there was so much still to flower yet there was so much to see and the woodland flowers filled the air with their perfume.

1. 2. 3.
4. 5.

The tropical green house was hot! I had just walked over a high bridge looking over the subtropical area opened the sliding door and walked in –I walked straight out again (to dry the camera and pack it away it had steamed up in seconds, and removed a layer of clothing)! The plants in here were spectacular and when I moved down stairs it felt as if it was raining.

I think my favourites had to be the carnivorous plants, lots were growing outside which I found amazing. Apparently Hortus has a warm microclimate being in the inner city and test several subtropical species for their winter hardiness including ferns and palms but I don’t know if the carnivorous plants come under this.

I found it a shame there were not more species in the butterfly house but it was very small, I think only about 6 but they too were easy to identify as there were photos with the relevant info.

6.

All the plants were well labeled, in Latin with either the Dutch or English common name and often gave extra information.

It cost 7.50 euros to get in, lovely café and clean toilets!

[paul m]

and others ..... The Royal Horticultural Society has a very large garden at Wisley as well as smaller one in Yorkshire and other parts of the country. They are not systematic collections of plants although, by and large, plants are well and accurately labelled.
Much of the activity of the RHS involves shows of seasonal plants, commonly cultivars of species which would never survive in nature!
I find some of the exhibits overwhelming:

[paul m]

Didn't visit many botanical gardens in France this year except for Toulouse where there is one attached to the Natural History Museum.

There is a new satellite garden in the suburbs:


Managed to overlook one at Foix: Jardin de cactus et plantes grasses rustiques
A private one devoted to dry environment plants such as cacti. A private establishment and not very well advertised.

[paul m]

Not a proper botanical garden since it mainly deals with garden and commercial cultuvars but with plenty of interest and almost everything is impeccably labelled!

It's interesting to see how it has developed over the years. This field ......
History / RHS Gardening

Has become this, for instance:

[paul m]

We tend to think of Spring as the time when flowering of plants start but over the past week or so, since the Solstice. lots of plants are coming into flower. Many of these are sweetly scented such as the witch-hazels

and Viburnum spp.

Scented flowers, of course, are assumed to attract insects but these are notable for there absence at this time of year!
Plenty of flowers in glasshouses, of course, but some tiny gems out in the cold impress me more, especuially this little Cyclamen.

[paul m]

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh promised a new Alpine House opening last December. Not quite:

I see why the old house needs replacing, it looks a bit like a prison:

The outside rock gardens are extensive and very convincing:

Not overwhelmed with flowering plants due to the weather but plenty to see!

[nyoni-pete]

Hi Paul,
I have just found this thread and can give a couple of comments about your first posting on some Australian plants in the Sheffield Botanical garden.
The plant labelled Anigozanthos flavidus certainly doesn't look like most Anigozanthos - kangaroo paws but when I Googled this species some images did come up that look very much like yours.
The Dianella is certainly an Aussie plant - there are many species here, often difficult to tell apart with a range of "vars" and "subsp". We generally call them Flax Lilies rather than blue berries. Yes, they are a monocot., now in the Hemerocallidaceae, I think that they were previously a lily (much easier to remember!). The fruit can be edible but Tim Low in "Wild Food Plants of Australia" says "The Aborigines used the tough leaves to weave dillies and baskets and no doubt ate the berries as well, although no record of this survives. I have sampled many species from eastern Australia and all appear to be edible apart from a couple of southern forest forms with irritating berries, including the big fruited D. tasmanica"
Also the large fig Ficus macrophylla in the Coimbra botanical gardens is known here as the Moreton Bay Fig (Moreton Bay lies to the east of Brisbane. I have a couple growing in my (large) garden - they are still quite small and it will be someone else's problem when they get this large.
Thanks for the thread - really interesting.
Cheers, Peter

[paul m]

Thanks for the comments and clarification: wonderful as botanical gardens can be, they are only as useful as their labels. There is a tendency for labels to disappear, especially in Sheffield!

I'll have another look at the flax lily/blue berry when I next visit. Brave of you to taste so many ....

I had heard of the Moreton Bay Fig in connection with fertilising wasps but hadn't made the connection. It sounds a bit of a beast, to put it mildly ....

I was going to ask you about the genus Raoulia that I've taken a liking to - i had always thpught it was a broadly distributed southern group but it seems to be confined to New Zealand. Do any grow in Australia?

Originally Posted by nyoni-pete

Hi Paul,
I have just found this thread and can give a couple of comments about your first posting on some Australian plants in the Sheffield Botanical garden.
The plant labelled Anigozanthos flavidus certainly doesn't look like most Anigozanthos - kangaroo paws but when I Googled this species some images did come up that look very much like yours.
The Dianella is certainly an Aussie plant - there are many species here, often difficult to tell apart with a range of "vars" and "subsp". We generally call them Flax Lilies rather than blue berries. Yes, they are a monocot., now in the Hemerocallidaceae, I think that they were previously a lily (much easier to remember!). The fruit can be edible but Tim Low in "Wild Food Plants of Australia" says "The Aborigines used the tough leaves to weave dillies and baskets and no doubt ate the berries as well, although no record of this survives. I have sampled many species from eastern Australia and all appear to be edible apart from a couple of southern forest forms with irritating berries, including the big fruited D. tasmanica"
Also the large fig Ficus macrophylla in the Coimbra botanical gardens is known here as the Moreton Bay Fig (Moreton Bay lies to the east of Brisbane. I have a couple growing in my (large) garden - they are still quite small and it will be someone else's problem when they get this large.
Thanks for the thread - really interesting.
Cheers, Peter