RBGE
The Royal Botanic Gardens,
Edinburgh
The gardens comprise a vast
space on the North end of Edinburgh, and are open to the public free of
charge. A great many people can be
found walking the trails, playing on the lawns, or sitting and visiting with
friends. It is a truly public
place, and is remarkably well kept for such a place.
It is a very open space,
with many different habitats built into it. The Glasshouses, are a particularly spectacular sight. There is a fee to explore the glasshouses
in their entirety, well worth it.
Below is the temperate palm
house; in the second picture you can see the rest of the glasshouse attached to
the palm house.
Inside the palm house you
get this extraordinary experience.
The walls are decorated with proclamations by notable figures in history
about the beauty and critical value of plants.
After paying the admission,
you can then explore the rest of the glasshouse, which stretches along for
quite some distance
Note the picnic benches out
front for scale, this place is huge.
Inside the glasshouse, the
sights get ever more amazing.
Orchids, orchids
everywhere!
Below you can see pineapple
fruit developing.
Speaking of bromeliads,
check out the epiphytes on this tree.
Above, a monocot with an
extraordinary set of aerial roots, for stabilizing in its native sandy
habitat. See the person behind the
tree for scale.
The pool above resides in a
room dedicated to plants of the tropics that we use for various reasons. Outside it is a cool 60 degrees
Fahrenheit, in here it is a toasty 90 degrees, and nearly 100% humidity.
A large collection of some
very old plant species can be found here
There are also some very
colorful characters.
There is even a desert
exhibit at one end of the glasshouse.
Meanwhile, outside the
adventure continues unabated
I really enjoyed the effort
at artistic endeavor that was expressed in building the gardens, in even minute
detail.
There is a monument to
Linnaeus.
There are also several Dawn
Redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboide (Until recently, they were thought to be extinct). That was impressive to see.
The Chinese habitat is
centered on a marvelous waterfall that cuts through it.
There is also an alpine
habitat that we spent a lot of time collecting Primulas from.
The alpine garden had its
own waterfall as well.
Check out the artistic
version of the waterfall.
Rhododendrons dominate the
landscape in places, and why not, they are so beautiful.
Above, the peat gardens.
These are the miniature
version glasshouses and window boxes.
The hedge above is 27 feet
high, and over 100 years old.
This mat forming plant, I
found to be quite amazing.
Unfortunately, close up of it was not in very good focus (new camera
blues).
I hope that you enjoyed the
virtual tour, and I highly recommend the real thing if you ever have a chance.
