In fact maybe the most astonishing one I have ever seen – and I visit in every country and every city I go…But this particular garden is very well thought through, which shows in its architecture and its natural environment. (It was a Swede that started it, Sventonius.)
So, the Canary Islands’ Botanical Garden, situated just west of Las Palmas, in Tafira Baja, is well worth a visit – and not just because of its cactus garden. Let us go, tomorrow!
Sofia’s many parks offer beauty and relaxation, but also the streets and separate old houses are accompanied by trees – now in autumn clothes.
Many people in Sofia and Plovdiv care for the wild animals, birds, dogs and cats, feed them and seem to want them in their city. In one of the Sofia parks, about 5-10 dogs were lying in the grass, sleeping. Suddenly one of them heard my camera snapping and looked up. When I later uploaded the photos, I noticed his ear – he was marked. Hopefully that means the dogs are somehow supervised and taken some care of.
Finally, people also activated their own dogs and we never saw starving or badly treated animals. The conclusion is – the cats own Plovdiv, and the dogs own Sofia!
Some fast shots and the visit was over…hopefully the wedding was glorious! Just think…that these giants can hold a little girl or boy of 32 kilogrammes! Nature’s wonders.
When we reached this glasshouse I was so excited to get inside – I remembered my last visit, where this particular house was one of the highlights. This is Kew’s third major conservatory, designed by architect Gordon Wilson, and opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales The conservatory houses ten computer-controlled micro-climatic zones, with the bulk of the greenhouse volume composed of Dry Tropics and Wet Tropics plants. I will never forget the brilliance of different orchids, water lilies, cacti and bromelias.
But…as I was lost in the cacti department, there was some buzzling and I heard people saying ”they are closing now”. But that must be impossible! There was one and a half hour left before closing time…and when I checked the site four days ago, before our flight, only the Temperate House and the Pagoda was supposed to be closed, and the elevator to the walkway out of order, nothing else…
I became rather stressed and had to rush the photographing in order to at least see the giant, Victoria amazonica, waterlilies. Their very large green leaves lie flat on the water’s surface, and they are up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter, on a stalk up to 8 metres (26 ft) in length. The genus name was given in honour of Queen Victoria…
…and I managed some shots there too before we were ”thrown out” in the cold. It turned out that the whole place was hired for a wedding – so, sadly enough not all of my friends managed to see the giants. Some lovely shots were saved for my next post, tomorrow.
My favourite in the Waterlily House?
No visit to a Real Garden…goes without roses or a Palm House. This is Kew Gardens.
The Palm House is always a treat. Today I found a new glorious favourite inside…a Japanese Lantern.
Lastly another favourite…a delicate noname plant sweeping its feathers around us.
I had not been to Kew for some years…about 35-40 I would guess – and when I finally returned some weeks ago, there were some surprises awaiting. The Hive was one of them, and another one was the Treetop Walkway. 18 metres up in the canopy, you could get a closer look at lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees – as well as a bird’s-eye view of Kew Gardens.
Take the lift up with me to the canopy! Not quite like the Amazon in December, but still great.
Behind, literally, was the grand Temperate House at Kew Gardens when we visited last week. It would have been nice to visit again…but alas. Some things behind cannot be in front…
Leya 
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