Botanic Gardens, Cambridge

I'm told that "botanical gardens" was a phrase I mastered at a very early age. It was a place my mother often took my brother and I when we were little; to feed the ducks rather than to study botany, it must be said.

You used to be able to walk around for free, but now you have to pay. It's worth it though.

I still like to have a wander around from time to time and enjoy the flowers. If I go with the children from school I get to feed the ducks as well!

I last visited on Saturday morning before taking myself off to Strawberry Fair, so I had a colourful day, though the gardens were a good deal quieter.

Thank goodness for digital photography; I used to shoot ridiculous amounts of film here!

The glasshouses are spectacular and a welcome refuge if it rains.

And there's a nice cafe where you can sit outside and enjoy this view:

Take care.

Orchid Festival - Cambridge Botanic Gardens

The Orchid Festival takes place at

Cambridge University Botanic Gardens till Feb 28th.

'Orchid' comes from the Greek word 'orchis' meaning testicle. 

This is due to the shape of the tuberous root.

The orchid family is the largest of any flowering plant with over 26,000 varieties having been discovered (so far). There are at least another 100,000 cultivars bred by horticulturalists.

New varieties of orchid are still being discovered at the rate of around 200 every year, 

mostly as tropical forest is opened up by new road building.

There is an orchid named 'Aa'. 

The man who discovered it, Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, 

wanted it to come first in alphabetical listings.

Orchid flowers are bilaterally symmetrical like the human face. 

This could be part of the reason for their popularity.

Orchids grow in every country in the world and every habitat except dry deserts and glaciers.

Pollen from an ancient orchid was discovered on a bee which had been preserved in amber. 

It was dated as over 10 million years old. 

Orchids have the tiniest seeds in the world 

and there may be as many as 3 million seeds in a single seed pod. 

Orchid seeds contain no endosperm, that is they have no nutrition within the seed. 

They therefore have to meet up with a specific fungus in order to germinate.

Vanilla essence comes  from the seed pods of Vanilla planifolia.

It's not only an extremely valuable commodity but was also the £1-million pound answer for the first winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?!

Orchids could once only be owned by the seriously wealthy.

Nowadays they are the most popular house plant in the world.

I think you can see why.

Take care.

Hunting The Strongylodon

If you read the last post you'll remember that while wandering around the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge I was advised by a six-year-old plant expert that I simply must visit the Jade Vine which was in flower in the big greenhouse. So lets get over there....

The glasshouses are subdivided to give different climates to suit plants from different parts of the world. The sections are linked together by a corridor. And of course I got sidetracked into taking photos, even in the corridor....

One day I'll go to the Botanics and just concentrate on taking foliage shots. But not today because the Alpine house beckons....

I could have spent a lot longer with the Alpines but decided to press on to visit this fabulous Jade Vine which my young friend had told me about. But not before we have a look at some tulips....

Then there is a magnificent collection of orchids and you simply can't miss them...

But, despite all the distractions, I finally made it to the Tropical House and, after de-misting my specs, started to take in my surroundings...

The pond contained goldfish and some rather splendid aquatic plants....

Then, rounding the corner, I found myself face-to-face with the flowers of the fabled Jade Vine... 



Yes, they really are that colour! This native of the Philippines, posh name Strongylodon macrobotrys, is apparently pollinated by bats which hang upside-down to drink the nectar. It's said to be related to our runner beans and be very difficult to propagate - without the aid of an upside-down bat, that is. I tried to get a picture of the whole vine which has climbed right across the walkway but people kept getting into the shot. This young man with the "butter-wouldn't-melt..." expression was the most photogenic intruder....

Shortly afterwards he was being told off by his mum for climbing in among the exhibits. It seemed like time to leave.

Thanks to Sandy from "Witterings" blogspot for the link to Kew Garden's page about the Jade Vine.

Take care.

Spring Flowers, April Showers

A visit today to The University Botanic Gardens in Cambridge.

 We've been there before (and we'll probably go again); there's always something new to see. So lets go!

This is just as you enter,

blossom already in evidence.

Fritllaria Imperialis or Crown Imperial, I hope.

I love these but have trouble remembering the name

so I hope I've got it right this time.

(Someone  will tell me!)

And just in case you've ever wondered what the more usual orange variety

look like from underneath....

stunning aren't they?

The lake and the rock garden were my favourite places when I was a child.

There were ducks to feed

and you could climb around on the rock garden.

The stepping stones are still just as popular with children.

Beautiful when flowering but oh so quick to fade and die.

The banks of this little stream are always idyllic.

Primula denticulata

or Drumstick Primula

I thought I'd remember the name of this Hellebore but...

 The tiny flowers of Fritillaria michailovskyi

(so it said on the little sign!)

While photographing in the garden

I couldn't help overhearing a very young girl

(she might have been six)

asking her grandfather very intelligent and knowledgeable questions

about various plants.

Later she told me that the Jade Vine was flowering in the greenhouse

and

I ought to go and take some pictures of it,

"it's very rare you know; there's only three in the country"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Take care.

Favourite Gardens, Favourite Flowers

What's next? Something to brighten the rather dull, grey and rainy week we're having here in England......

Colourful borders at Peckover House in Wisbech.

A garden in the grand manner at Wrest House; pavillions, water, lawns and statuary are perhaps more important than the flower beds.

The Abbey Gardens at Bury St Edmunds. I love the way that the trees and flowers compliment each other - and the fact that you can wander through or sit down here without any charge!

You knew we'd arrive at Cambridge's Botanic Gardens before long....

 

.....and we'll linger for another picture too.

A low-lying mist of bluebells in the gardens of Christ's College, Cambridge.

Rambling Englishness at Docwra's Manor in Shepreth.

Hatfield House has several marvellous gardens but it was this semi-wild meadow that caught my eye.

A unique piece of planting at Anglesey Abbey, just outside Cambridge.

And finally two pictures from Bressingham Gardens, near Diss, the garden of the aptly-named plantsman, Alan Bloom. He transformed his father's small horticultural business into one of the largest wholesale plant suppliers in the UK, exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show from 1931 onwards. He bought Bressingham Hall in 1946 and began collecting steam trains in 1962. He died at Bressingham in 2005, aged 98. Proof, if any were needed, that gardening is good for you.

Take care.