Birmingham Botanical Garden, right? I was supposed to show you first garden I saw in UK. It took some time to find out which pictures to show. ful garden is hard - I ended up with 33 best of entire huge amount I took. Do you also end up with hundreds of pictures after visiting one garden?
Let's start with this beautiful fuchsia flowered gooseberry - Ribes speciosum (California native plant) growing in a very sheltered place at warm, south wall.
Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara) - see how small are the benches? Reddish plant on the right side is spring growth of pieris.
Prunus 'Shirofugen' is the second tree that made greatest impression on me. Large body, wide spread branches, brownish young leaves and white-pale pink flowers.
Reconstructed medieval pleasure garden which included plants brought from Europe by monks and crusaders. People loved to bring new plants from journeys since always.
Reconstructed Roman Garden - Romans were passionate gardeners and gardens were seen as extensions of their homes. Usually surrouunded by walls decorated by mosaics and paintings. Grape vine pergola - there is a stroy behind, because it was Probus(Emperor of Rome, 235-282 AD) who introduced grape vines in Britain. He orderer soldiers to build vineyards to keep them occupied when there was 'make peace, no war' time. Until that time the Italians had the monopoly to growing grapes. In a way it was the start of commercial wine production all over the world.
Camelia japonica "Doctor Tinsley"
In my subjective pont-of-view main and most beautiful part of Birmingham Botanical Garden is The English Cottage Garden. With lots of herbaceous planting as understory of deciduous trees.
With hand-made look rose pergola fits perfectly.
Many benches hidden in perfectly clipped yew hedges.
Great combo: big tree + climbing rose + bench
Kitchen garden.
This is usually water container - this time with crocosmia growing.
Walls and patch of the garden at the walls on this side of the cottage covered with plants, on the other side the walking path is right at the walls, then yew hedge and kitchen garden.
Hydrangea climbing the walls and clipped box everywhere, everwhere....
Entrance to the cotttage garden - walled by clipped hedges (yew and holly).
This magnolia soulangiana caught my attention because of its shape. Naturally it has more upright and bushy style of growing. Look how pruning can change the shape to much more dramatic and picturesque. I remember I have read in a book that Magnolia doesn't like pruning - apparently is not so much true... I have same Magnolia, which grows as solitary specimen - if pruned in similar way, naked branches will look better in the winter.
Unfurling fern Polystichum tsus-simense (Koren Rock Fern).
Better perspective gives an idea of the size....
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii
Tree heath - Erica arborea - little bit bigger than usual ;)
Flowering cherries showing off...
If you visit Birmingham Botanical Garden don't miss greenhouses with its beautiful collection od pelargoniums...
... and xeric plants. This largest one in foreground is Hylocereus undatus "Queen of the night".
Black pansies combined with orange ones....
and black tulips....
... again black tulips, this time with yellow/orange primroses - stunning view :)
Glasshouses are right at the entrance/exit of the garden.
If there is Birmingham (UK) on your way, visit Birmongham Botanical Garden - nice, calm and relaxing place to spend one day :)
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