A Day in the Gardens

We had such a good time strolling through the Royal Botanic Gardens today.  The institute is over 300 years old and the 70+ acre site today has been in existence since the 1820s.  The gardens have over 273,000 individual plants and 13,000 different species.  There are plants from different climates all around the world, from giant sequoias (grown from seeds from the forest in the US) to delicate alpine flower growing on rocks, to a 200 year old palm tree in the hothouse.

This hedge is grown from beech trees.  Its 23 feet high and still growing.   You can see the inside and the huge branches below.

This is the Palm House (the oldest of the greenhouses).  The picture below is about half of the 10 connected greenhouses with tropical, temperate and dessert climates and plants.

Tropics

Can you believe the size of these lily pads?

These are the largest ferns I have ever seen!  You can see some of the giant fronds starting to uncurl at the top.

David could use this huge sturdy leaf as an umbrella, except that its covered in pokie spines!

Our favorite area of the gardens were the 'rock gardens' that were on a hillside with beautifully kept lawns between them where you could walk and explore.

View of downtown skyline from the gardens

These lilies were over 8 feet tall!