Showing posts with label Göteborg Botanisk Trädgård. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Göteborg Botanisk Trädgård. Show all posts

Monday, August 20, 2012

Ökenliv 2012 (DEsert Life) - Bugs & Blooms


Incredible Looking Flowers ?????
I spent much time wandering around looking at other flower beds at the Göteborg Botanical Gardens and came across these very interesting looking small flowering plants on a steep slope, yet there was no signage describing to me what I was seeing. The combination of yellows and blueish-purples. Maybe somebody viewing this knows exactly what the plant is. Yet on close up inspection of the plant, not everything was what it seemed. It actually reminded me of Poinsetta plants where what most people consider a flower is actually the leaves, The actual flowers being yellow and very tiny compared to the giant red leaves. Take a closer view below.



See what I mean ??????????
But there were further things that caught my interest. Mostly I've never been to an area with so many wild varieties of BumbleBees. In most places on the Earth today they have become either extinct or mostly absent from the urban scenes. Honey Bees have replaced them, but even they are up a creek so to speak with the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in recent News on a global scale. But here around Göteborg, Sweden they are able to thrive.

Bumble Bee on a variety of Salvia



Honey Bee on Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea purpurea)



Photo: Mine
There were some Butterflies but not many. We always called these in our gardens back home Cabbage Moths and there was a yellow variety there. But who knows, I'm not exactly an expert on bug world names except many of the familiar common ones I am use to back home. But then I found one below that was far more interesting.

Photo: Mine
Does not look all that spectacular, but wait till it opens his/her wings. I must have waited close to an hour.

Photo: Mine
It was worth the wait and yet the shot was difficult. Let's face it, I'm in someone else's extremely manicured backyard where the gardens are perfectly neat and in order to get some better close-ups you've got to stick your big feet into the fluffy tilled amended soil or onto some other plants and that wouldn't have gone down real well as there were many of visitors watching every move you made. Okay, I only made a couple of giant size 12" footprints, But I brushed them a bit afterwards. *smile*

Photo: Mine
There were a couple of interesting critters in the bee/fly family like this guy who had the ability to perform a number of precision helicopter antics and stunts. Interesting also is that all of these guys had their favourite flowers that appealed to them specifically. This little Chihuahua dude above only liked this plant and it's petite raspberry coloured flowers

Photo: Mine
This was just a kool shot of another variety of Echinacea with long drooping pink flower petals with the reflection pool in the background.

Photo: Mine
Going back to my original entry which I wrote about in the beginning of this series where the Gardeners had incorporated various Cacti & Agave into desert flower mixes, I found that I had missed a few details. Here was some of the native New Mexico flowers I mentioned from a previous article which was the  Mexican Hat  Coneflower   (Ratibida columnifera)

Photo: Mine
And how could you not incorporate these into the mix of all things Desert decor. Chile pepper plants of all sorts are sold here everywhere as ornamental indoor-outdoor decor plants. I doubt the Swedes here use them much for culinary arts as they tend  to burn their northern European lips on Katsup.

These really reminded me of California Tiger Lily



Another Bumble Bee shot



Photo: Mine
This little guy was all by him/herself. Generally I usually see these guys in large numbers, even in the States. Can't remember the name, but Margarethe Brummermann of Tucson Arizona would surely know.

Just another shot of the flower with Bumble Bee 


Another succulent directional sign

Magnollia stellata 'Centennial'
Finally before I exited the gardens I had to go back and take some photos of the desert themes in between some of the rocks with plants that appeared desert-like, but weren't. I just caught a couple more angles of some of these amazing settings that look like they shouldn't belong here in Sweden.


Magnollia stellata 'Centennial'


Magnolia sieboldii 'Buskmagnolia'
Now below here is another variety of Magnolia they incorporated into the rocks which is actually behind the photograph just above here. Take a look at it's shape and form and once again use the imagination on how such a plant could be incorporated into a landscape that doesn't necessarily allow for a true Desert theme. Notice also the understory planting ? I'll place that picture below this one.

Magnolia sieboldii 'Buskmagnolia'

Marmalade Coral Bells

Heuchera x 'Marmalade' 


Just after I made the final exit and before I actually rode the trolley home, I visited a spot where I had been a few times at the end of the Trolley #10 line where an interesting 'U' shaped Apartment complex design reminded me of something else in nature that can have a natural shaping and growth guiding effect on trees like this Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) which incredibly does very well over here. 

Spring Blooms
We have a stand of them grown in a long row along a boulevard where we live, but they are in the open and more rounded in appearance. This one below is long tall and slender. Something also that I  would imagine seeing in a slot canyon in Northern Arizona in Redrock country. Look at the way the building's walls perfectly shape it. One of the other major rewards for those in climates not conducive to growing citrus is the 'Orange Blossom' fragrance which permeates the air all around your garden when these flowers display the white Wysteria like blossom clusters.



Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)


Photo: Mine

Again I love the tall slender growth which allows for numerous other plants under the tree in a courtyard setting. The two trees on either side are Norway Maples.
Just another angle from within the courtyard itself.

Looking up from the base of the tree at it's trunk

Photo: Mine
And one last shot before leaving for home. This tree is an amazing survivor. Not only does it accept this cold freezing often wet rainy (Sucky) climate, but it does well in Southern California in hot dry interior valleys and high deserts. Truly remarkable and something to consider with the in between climates. Not sure about low deserts, but maybe someone else can comment on examples they may know of.
For more on Robinia, see my piece on New Mexico Locust at my "Earth's Internet" blog where I explain the networking abilities underground with this plant's relationship networking to other plants within it's ecosystem community.
Tomorrow one last look at a specimen tree that has nothing to do with the Desert theme, but a tree once thought extinct and only found in the fossil records until someone discovered it was in China in 1945.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Ökenliv (Desert Life 2012 - Part VI ) The Cactus House

Stepping back into the Desert Life Cactus House for a Moment.


The immediate door inside to the left takes you first into a world of humid tropics with all manner of misting equipment, Koi Pond and chirping tropical frogs someone let loose in there years ago. Immediately to the left of that large room was the Desert Life educational center for teaching the average visitor (I presume Swedes mostly) about real Desert Life and uses of various desert plants by the indigenous peoples there. Here are some pics of that room.


Alot of nice colour schemes to match the theme

Large Global map of all desert regions around the globe. On both sides of the global map with to the left various basketry made from the long slender grass leaves of desert plants and to the right much of the desert foods which come from the plants. One very popular was the Prickly Pear Cactus Pad or Beaver tail looking cactus Hispanics call Nopal or Nopales. I love Nopal & the Tunas or red fruits, but most Anglos have never tried them. The wild collected are the best and most flavourful. Mesquite bean pods shown being ground into a flour meal.



Now directly behind me taking this picture of the map was a large TV wide Screen showing a almost 9 minute videos on various plant food preparation. It was silly to take a shot of the screen as there was so much glare, but I did manage to find on YouTube the actually "Desert Life 2012" video that played over and over.






Finally entering the Cactus house and finding many familar faces.



I'd love a less cluttered gardener's Arizona Room to sit in here and enjoy.


Canary Islands Display. These were definitely familar plants to me. On the south facing slopes of the volcanic island of Tenerfie, the region is mostly subtropical desert and these plants thrive in great abunadnce there everywhere you look. Not many people realize that many of their favourite succulants come from these islands. Sadly three of the islands, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife are experiencing some of the worst fires in a long time. Certainly a devastating thing considering those islands only have so much room for natural vegetation.



North American Cactus and Agave examples. In fact they have several sections dedicated to North America.



Leave me alone !!!
There are alot of examples of tiny petite cactus, the type you see in novalty stores or Nurseries that create pottery displays. There are numerous examples here as the picture to the right reveals. But sadly when people in the southwest are out exploring and stumble upon one of these beautiful examples, they want to dig it up and take it home. I can understand since where ever I go I am always wanting to collect some sort of speciman seeds of things that look kool to me. But unfortunatelt many of these native Cacti are becoming extinct in many areas where they were once common. Please resist the temptation to collect. go to any of those plant Nurseries and buy some small cute speciman examples raised in Greenhouse Cactus Nurseries. They almost all look alike anyway and usually only the experts can tell them apart.


Well known yellow spined Mexican Barrel Cactus you often see in the Nurseries of the southwest and urban landscapes




Another example of Agave. I'm wondering if there isn't an agave somewhere that would take the outdoors in the right location here. When we came back from Dänemark back in June, we saw a median in the double laned highway through the city of Fredrikshaven that had rather large Blue Agaves. I don't think they were uprooted and stored anywhere and I doubt they cover them. Some agaves are tough and do live where frigid temps and bitter cold are prevalent in the west. Some even grow high up in pine forests on those Sky-Islands as they are called.

I am revealing this shot not show much to display the Beaver tail patterned cactus in the center, but look back at the red coloured wall. Notice on the very left end of that wall at the lower left you see a glass enclosure ? This is the only shot of the cage containing a speckled rattlesnake. When I was up close there was too much Sun glaring off it's surface for an accurate photograph.


Peyote Buttons
I met a young man who works the Tropical & Desert Green Houses and he took me into the back private collection area away from Public access where he showed me a number of plants not on display. Some of the plants can no longer be displayed as some people specifically look for plants with narcotic abilities like the Peyote above. In fact they had these examples in the Rattlesnake cage because theft was common in the outer display area. 


photo by Cocagrowers.org
Another plant not allowed in the public area anymore is the Coca plant from which cocain is derived. Several visitors ARE completely aware of the plants narcotic uses and steal once again the leaf parts of the plant for their personal use. So now they keep it in the back room locked up.




Old Archaic Green House belongs on a Farm.


One last though before living the hot houses and their treasures. This older green house that I had on another post dealing with landscape boulders, stones and other rocks is old and outdated. It belongs on the back of the property somewhere for production purposes only. I would hope one dau they could change all that and create a more eye pleasing and inviting esthetic structure which would add to the beauty of what they have done on the outside for which I heap massive amounts of compliments for their efforts. Of course this takes money and in this ideological Socialist culture obsessed with taxing and feeing everything or everyone to death (sales tax here 25%), it's an even greater Mount Everest-like challenge. Still in the end this is just my opinion. The other area for revenue creation and expansion would be making an even bigger Retail Sales Nursery as I believe the public would support it tremendously. It works for other such Parks around the world, Palm Desert Living Desert Museum as a first rate example. As it stands, they have a voluntary pay system for gaining entrance into the Gardens and most if you observe never contribute. There is no guard at the gate, just a simple old turnstyle. Same with the Green House in the above photo. They have a ticketing machine where entrance fee is 17 Kronor but many walk past and don't pay and they have no attendant to police it. 


More later dealing with the flowers and abundant insects which are everywhere here.


Enjoy














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