Category Archives: Garden trip

Lunuganga: An Architect’s Garden

May 30, 2022 plighto 2 Comments

Lunuganga, meaning salt river, is near the coastal tourist town of Bentota in Sri Lanka. It is a garden of vistas and beauty, and a garden often more about art and buildings than plants. It is about landscape, on both a large and small scale.

The garden was built over many years by Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003), one of the great hotel architects of the 20th Century. He is described as a tropical modernist and believed particularly in merging the outdoor and indoor, something only practical in the tropics, where temperatures are always warm and can be managed by breezes and shade.

The indoors then can merge with the outdoors, which is a bit of a conundrum, as we tend to think that gardens are outside, not in. But perhaps in a Bawa garden, gardens can start inside with a view out, or even outdoors with a view in and then out again. Views are certainly important for Bawa, as his buildings and Lunuganga show.

Lunuganga is built around his country home, where he might spend the weekends after leaving his office in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The house and garden is built on a peninsula in a tropical lagoon, with water readily visible on two sides, north and south.

The classic view is that featured above. From Bawa’s living room, the glass doors take you out onto a patio where you can look north, through the magnificent branches of an ancient frangipani tree (Plumeria obtusa), at a terrace, then water and then the tree-covered land beyond.

A visit to Lunuganga begins at some wide gates, flanked by two little lodges with pointed roofs (1). (Click the map below to enlarge). Here you leave your car and walk up a wooded driveway toward the house. You are overshadowed by huge tropical trees as you turn through more than 90 degrees to approach the house.

A plan of Lunuganga house and garden: North is to the right. 1. Start 2. Garden Room
3. Eastern Terrace 4. Black Portico 5. Water Gate 6. Blue Pavilion 7. Field of Jars
8. Small House 9. Cinnamon Hill 10. Windmill Tower 11. Guest Houses
12. Northern Terrace 13. Main House and Finish

The house is of a traditional design, with white walls and curved tile roofs, never more than a couple of stories high. But punctuated with occasional towers which hold water tanks. Steps and more gates welcome you to a square and a ‘loggia’ where you enter the rooms, courtyards and perambulating levels of the house.

The first room you enter is the Garden Room (2), in which you turn to the left and begin an anticlockwise route around the garden. The Garden Room, cleverly perched above Bawa’s garage, has large doors and a portico which enter onto a terrace (3) to the east of the house.

The Garden Room, looks out to the Eastern Terrace

With antique pillars to the porch, the Garden Room opens onto the Eastern Terrace

The Eastern Terrace and lawn is decorated with antique Chinese vases

A raised lawn with antique Chinese vases is on your left, while on your right there are a few picturesque buildings including the ‘Hen House’, as the ground falls away giving you a view of lily ponds and a bench, known as the Black Portico (4).

The Hen House, and beyond a huge bamboo and the lily pond

The view from the house down to a lily pond and the Black Portico

The Black Portico is a place where the architect used to sit and admire a view westwards along a straight avenue called the Broad Walk. On the left is the house in the trees, and on the right, paddy fields and beyond them the lagoon. In the foreground is a bridge, then an island with sculptures and a walkway. It is surrounded by ferns and water lilies.

The view along the Broad Walk, with bridge, island and lily pond in front

Walking along the Broad Walk, the views are to your right, across the paddy fields and out to the lagoon, known as Dedduwa Lake. Old frangipani trees line the way, and the shoreline is decorated with a balustrade and classical vases.

You can approach the lagoon from the Broad Walk to a paved area known as the Water Gate (5). You might catch a glimpse of a leopard statue or a large stone ball on the water’s edge.

A view near the Water Gate, enhance by a classical balustrade

When you get to the end of the Broad Walk the path turns slowly to the left, bringing you up wooded steps and back towards the house.

Here there’s a little shelter known as the Blue Pavilion (6) which looks west to an area known as the Field of Jars (7). It’s said there are six jars here, plus a reflective pond and a well with an elegant wrought iron cover.

The well marks the beginning of the Field of Jars

From here the tour takes us to the Small House (8), which stands on the corner of the drive where we came in. From this side we see the stairs and the wrought iron railing, while to the right there is the entrance to the veranda which takes us across a sunken lane to Cinnamon Hill (9).

The Small House, used for guests upstairs, and below garden tools and office

Back in Geoffrey Bawa’s day, Cinnamon Hill (9) was marked by an ancient Moonamal tree (Minusops elengi) and a Ming vase. Today the old tree is gone and has been replaced by another, but the vase remains.

Cinnamon Hill, a Chinese jar on the horizon

Walking over the hill, named after an old cinnamon plantation, the lagoon becomes visible on the southern side. Here cows help keep the grass short, accompanied as is traditional in Sri Lanka, with an egret or two. And to the right side, one of several brick towers supports a windmill used for raising water (10).

The Windmill Tower, and beyond the lagoon to the south

Then at the far end of the garden, what were once described as ruins have been transformed into picturesque chalets (11) that are available to rent out. They enjoy the view toward the lagoon.

Heading back to the house, the tour takes us to the Northern Terrace (12). It is here that the large old frangipani tree gives us the view of the lake and far shore through its branches.

Bawa built the terrace to create a space on this side of the house to enjoy from the living room windows and space north of the house. And he embellished the view with one or two Roman statues of naked youths to give a classical and homoerotic atmosphere.

The windows that get these views are the north facing ones in Bawa’s former living room. Those facing west give entry to a conservatory with views of the forest trees.

North facing windows from Bawa’s living room

The living room reflects Bawa’s taste in the garden. Muted natural tones and the contrast of black and white, with little in the way of bright colour. Here polished brown concrete floors match the antique Burgher furniture and contrast with the white walls and fabrics.

Bawa’s living room and the west facing conservatory

Bawa’s bedroom and private rooms are not open, but he had a private enclosed pool and a small terrace where he had his breakfast.

It is said that Bawa also carefully considered the view from this table, to the south towards Cinnamon Hill. In Capability Brown fashion, he had the hill lowered and a country lane sunk down so as not to interfere with the vista across the water to a resplendent white Buddhist temple. Unfortunately, the temple is now hidden by trees.

The vista from Bawa’s breakfast table, the Buddhist temple hidden by trees

Some plants

I cannot finish without mentioning a few plants you can see at Lunuganga. Firstly the pinky blue water lily that is the national flower of Sri Lanka, that abounds in lily ponds by the Black Portico.

The flower of Nymphaea nouchali, the national flower of Sri Lanka

And everywhere in Sri Lanka you can see the largest fruit in the world: Jackfruit, which may weigh up to 55kg. It makes and good curry if picked before it’s ripe and has large and tasty seeds which are also edible. When ripe it is sweet but I have never had that in Sri Lanka, although it is popular in Thailand.

Sri Lankans say that cutting down these trees is illegal in their country as destroying it threatens to starve the Sri Lankan people.

The Jackfruit tree, *Artocarpus heterophyllus*

Creeping over slightly shaded damp stonework in Sri Lankan gardens you might find Episcia cupreata, the flame-violet. It has charming patterned leaves and the bright scarlet flowers that are hard to forget.

*Episcia cupreata* in the Gesneriaceae, the family of *Saintpaulia* African violets

Planted just to the west of the house is a Ceylon ironwood tree, which has a great religious significance in Sri Lanka, and under which several Buddhas are thought to have achieved enlightenment. And there is evidence it was widely planted around ancient Buddhist sites such as Dambulla, Ritigala and Kandalama and still survives there.

Ironwood is the national tree of Sri Lanka. It is graceful with reddish pink branches of young leaves and a fragrant white flower. The wood is incredibly dense and hard.

The flower of the Ceylon ironwood tree, *Mesua ferrea*

Also in the woodland surrounding the house is the large yellow-flowered shrub Dillenia suffruticosa. It has various medicinal uses and the leaf can be used for holding food. But the plant is also regarded as an invasive weed.

*Dillenia suffruticosa*, a large shrub known locally as para

Dotted around Lunuganga are several huge basket ferns (Drynaria sp.) which are highly architectural plants. This one sits magnificently on a rock in woodland, while others may clasp the trunks of trees.

A basket fern, possibly *Drynaria quercifolia,* with its two kinds of fronds

Useful references:

Garden website: lunuganga.com

Book: Lunuganga by Geoffrey Bawa, Cristoph Bon and Dominic Sansoni. Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2006.

Garden trip

Some subtropical plants from the Canary Islands

February 19, 2020 plighto Leave a comment

I spent a week on Gran Canaria over New Year in 2020. I didn’t do much apart from appreciating the sun and warmth. But I couldn’t help but notice these lovely plants in gardens around Maspalomas.

Just in the hotel grounds there were a few things to grab my attention. Here’s a beautiful aloe which I think it would be unwise to attach a name to – there seem to be too many to choose from!

An aloe with lovely lemon yellow flowers

I looked through a good number of pictures on the California-based Dave’s Garden website where there a host of postings on the different kinds of aloes, all by Geoff Stein. Rather than giving me any confidence in an identification, I realised it’s a very diverse genus with all sorts of hybrids.

These stems were about 1 metre high and the flowers were a gorgeous lemon yellow. It could well be just Aloe vera, the widely grown medicinal plant which is unlikely to flower if grown indoors.

Also in the hotel garden there were the classic shrub Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, which is too pretty to be called the shoeblack plant, which is what one website calls it. Let’s just call it the rose of china!

The classic Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower

Nearby another shrub which I didn’t recognise was the yellow flower Turnera diffusa, with its plicate leaves. It’s in the passion flower family, the Passifloraceae, and one of its English names is damiana. I didn’t try tasting the leaves but they are supposed to be spicy and this plant has some useful medicinal properties. It has been shown to be protective against gastric ulcers and even an aphrodisiac.

And this pink clerodendron was also in the garden, a shrub about a metre high. I didn’t recognise it as a clerodendron, which is familiar to me as a tree planted on Hackney streets (probably C.bungei). It flowers in the late summer and has thick evergreen leaves.

Clerodendrum x speciosum – a small shrub or climber

What’s worth noting about clerodendron, which belongs in the mint family – Labiatae or Lamiaceae as it’s now called – is that the flowers have a calyx of coloured sepals. This then produces a flower which is zygomorphic with very prominent stamens. In this case the flower petals and the sepals are almost the same colour so difficult to distinguish. This is not always so, the calyx can be much paler. Clerodendrons can then go on to produce usually dark purple berries which are still surrounded by the pinkish sepals.

Out and about on the streets of Las Palomas there was Lantana camara being grown as a hedge. It can be prickly and it is widely grown in greenhouses in UK butterfly farms – if such things still exist. No doubt it produces plenty of accessible nectar for such insects. It is in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, not at all hardy and is apparently toxic.

Another hedge was this rather unruly plant – Acalypha – which was about 2 metres tall. It’s in the euphorbia family, Euphorbiaceae, and is noted for its variable coppery or red leaves. In English it’s called copperleaf or Jacob’s coat.

Acalypha amentacea or A.wilkesiana grown as a hedge

If there is a centre to Maspalomas it is the Yumbo Centre which is a sort of 1970s concrete shopping mall with a garden at its centre. Here there’s some grass, a few sculptures and rocks plus a planting of palms, succulents, cacti and exotic trees.

Gardens in the Yumbo Centre feature succulent euphorbias, palms and exotic trees

Always dominant are the beautiful Washingtonia palms which in fact come from Mexico but are most famous for me as the trademark of Los Angeles. They became an icon when painted so often by David Hockney back in the 1970s.

The Mexican fan palm Washingtonia robusta

There’s also Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, commonly planted on the island, and I think the African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata. It’s flowering but looking a bit dried up – probably a result of incessant wind at this time of year.

*Exotic trees in the* Jumbo Centre gardens: Norfolk Island Pines and African tulip tree

Out on the streets I noticed this recently plant palm tree, which I think is quite attractive. It has plumose leaves – that means the leaflets are attached to the spine of the leaf at several angles, not just at 180 degrees producing a flat leaf like a date palm.

I think it’s a foxtail palm – Wodyetia bifurcata

I’ve always found identifying palms difficult as we see so few of them in the UK, so I was happy to find this US website IDTOOLS.ORG which helps you to identify cultivated palm trees. Using this and a few other websites I’m convinced this palm is the Australian foxtail palm, Wodyetia bifurcata, which is pretty unique.

Plumose palm leaves of Wodyetia bifurcata, perhaps like a fox’s tail

And if you like something a bit spectacular and a little gross, here are the flowers of the cup of gold vine, Solandra maxima. They are about 20cm across! This was growing as a climber at a garden edge with bougainvilleas. Apparently it comes from Mexico and has hallucinogenic properties like some other members of the potato family, the Solanaceae.

Solandra maxima: a climber with massive flowers

Garden trip

The Gardens of Montjuïc, Barcelona: Introduction

September 16, 2019 plighto Leave a comment

Barcelona has some lovely outdoor spaces and its beautiful Mediterranean climate allows some very special tropical and subtropical plants to grow there. I’ve visited the gardens of Montjuïc – the hill that forms part of the city’s southern edge – over several years. Some of them are outstanding and I love to go back there.

Montjuïc is a fascinating place. It is of course topped by an old castle and has been an important site for the defence of the city and its harbour. Now it has over 20 gardens, built at different times and for different reasons. Montjuïc also includes the remnants of a 1929 International Exposition and the 1992 Olympics . There is the National Catalan Art Museum as the hill descends toward Plaça Espanya and, on the very far side, there is one of Barcelona’s main cemeteries which shows the incredible architectural extravagance of the nineteenth century Catalonians!

The mountain also boasts two cable cars. One can take you out across the harbour to Barcelonetta and another which can take you from the Parc de Montjuïc metro station to the summit and the castle. There are other museums, art galleries and even a public swimming pool – so plenty for holiday makers.

Barcelona’s City Council has defined a “botanical journey” through the gardens of Montjuïc. There is a pdf file available and there are many green signs around and about with maps and explanations. These figure across the city and all its points of interest, but I find them less than helpful because every notice (and the pdf) is written only in Catalan. I’ve photographed most notices on Montjuïc and got Google to translate them. Some give useful background information which I’ve used here, but the overall tone is detailed and a little bit pompous. So if you want to get the best, follow this website!

To see all the gardens can be an exhausting process for a single day if you take as much interest in plants as I do, especially in the heat of the summer. But you can do it if you start in the cool of the morning. In my opinion, the highlights are the Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera and the Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer. Unless you’ve seen both you can’t say you’ve done the gardens of Montjuïc!

There are really two places to start. First is the Plaça de la Carbonera, at the bottom of Avinguda del Parallel and very close to the bottom of Las Ramblas (nearest metro station is Parallel, on Lines 2 and 3). Second is the Parc de Montjuïc metro station, which is connected by a “funicular” to the Parallel metro station. You can take this on your metro ticket or simply walk up from Avinguda del Parallel – it’s a ten to 15 minute minute walk uphill for the energetic.

The Barcelona City Council provides the following useful map. It splits the botanical journey into six parts, denoted by the brightly coloured areas. Starting point one, Plaça de la Carbonera, is coloured dark green, from here you can gradually walk up the hill.

This is the way the City of Barcelona plans it. However you can do it in reverse by beginning at starting point two, the Parc de Montjuïc metro station. This is not labelled on the map, but it is one of the grey buildings just to the left of the swimming pool (Piscines de Montjuïc) on the opposite side of the road. From here you have a short uphill walk to the top of the Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer which is coloured deep pink. I recommend it because it is an easy downhill walk all the way and I think you will appreciate more the great views across the city.

The map gives you the line to follow, but of course you will want to explore a little more than this. I reckon it is at least about 10,000 steps, that’s 7.6km or nearly 5 miles. It’s enough for a day, but you could split it over a couple of days, also visiting the Botanic Gardens – which are not far from the top of the Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer – or the Castell de Montjuïc. You can also use the cable cars to make your trip easier.

So this is what I’m going to tell you about in my recommended reverse order. There’s a separate blog for each:

Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer: A lovely water garden
The Gardens of Joan Brossa: A wooded walk with views across Barcelona
Miramar Gardens and the Poble Sec viewpoint: Formal gardens with a viewing point across the city
Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera: A spectacular cactus, succulent and subtropical garden with views across the port
Walter Benjamin Gardens and the Porta de Montjuïc: Urban spaces with some interesting trees.

Enjoy your botanical journey!

Garden trip

Gardens of Montjuïc, Barcelona: 1. Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer

September 16, 2019 plighto 1 Comment

If you are coming from the Parc de Montjuïc metro station, turn right and walk past the cable car station and turn right again up the hill. In a short distance the entrance to the garden is on your right. The green notice gives you a map and I advise head straight up to the top pond so you can walk down.

The walk up the steps will be through a glade of evergreen Magnolia grandiflora and feijoas (Acca sellowiana, or pineapple guava) trees. There’s an occasional bed of Tulberghia violacea and banks of Pennisetum grass before you arrive at the top lake, which feeds the lovely cascade of ponds.

But the greatest delight is to walk downhill and look at the cascade of ponds and their water lilies, lotus flowers and waterside plants.

Here’s some pictures of plants you can see:

I have been lucky enough to see lotus blossoms, which are not closely related to water lilies and show distinct differences.

This is the American lotus flower, Nelumbo lutea,

Lotus flowers and leaves can stand well clear of the water, and the seed pods are quite distinctive. There are only two lotus species, Nelumbo nucifera – from India and Asia – and N. lutea from North America. The latin name Nelumbo is Sinhalese for lotus.

Here you can see lotus leaves and a bud, to compare with water lilies in the foreground

Lotus fruits are large discs with the seeds inset

Thalia dealbata, the powdery alligator flag, native to the southern Mississippi

The magnificently named powdery alligator flag is widely planted. How its name arose is a mystery, except if you look at the flowers they do look powdery, apart from the purple petals.

Another American native – pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata)

*Sagittaria montevidensis* – the giant or Californian arrowhead

At the bottom of the cascade there is a large pond with a fountain. Around here people sit and enjoy the shade cast by the white poplar trees.

Populus alba ‘Pyramidalis’ – white poplar trees

There is also a statue of a girl holding what could be a bunch of flowers.

Let’s note at this point that the garden is named after the Catalan poet Cinto Verdaguer (1845-1902), often given the priestly title Father [Mossen]. He’s known as the prince of Catalan poets and an example of his work is inscribed under the statue:

Bonica es la Rosa
Mes ho es el ram
Mes ho es el lliri
Que floreix tot l’any

This translates as:

Lovely is the rose
But so is the bouquet
And so is the lily
Which flowers all year round

To continue on the botanical journey you simply have to cross the road as you leave the garden by the gate near the lower pond. You are moving from the pink area on the map to the orange: The Gardens of Joan Brossa.

Going up Montjuïc

If you want to go further up Montjuïc (to the botanical garden or the Petra Kelly garden for example) go back to the top of the pond cascade and cross the wooden bridge. You will then see a tunnel under the road and on the other side you will be rewarded by a glorious bank of Plumbago.

Carry on and turn first right to take you up onto the higher road. Admire the oleanders along the road and the view over the Montjuïc plant nursery.

The botanic garden and the Petra Kelly garden is signposted to the left, so walk on past the oleanders!

Garden trip

Gardens of Montjuïc, Barcelona: 2: Gardens of Joan Brossa

September 16, 2019 plighto 2 Comments

The Gardens of Joan Brossa are situated on land that has had many uses, including an arsenal to defend the castle in the early 1800s and an amusement park which included a ‘Tunnel of Terror’. Now it has paths, trees, sculptures and open spaces. Its greatest merit is the views of the city and the fact that it’s overflown by the cable car, making its way up to the castle from the Parc de Montjuïc metro station.

I have to say it is not a notable garden botanically but you might be interested to spot a few of the trees that are planted here. These include date palms, London planes, narrow-leaved ashes (Fraxinus angustifolia) , Monterey cypresses (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa), olive trees, walnuts and downy oaks (Quercus pubescens).

Again, it’s named after a Catalan poet Joan Brossa (1919-1998) – a man despite the first name – who wrote only in Catalan. In one of the larger open spaces overflown by the cable car is a bronze statue which is a tribute to an unnamed clown from the amusement park.

The cable car to the Castell de Montjuïc

From the Gardens of Joan Brossa you will end up on a main road heading up towards the castle. To follow the Montjuïc botanical journey you will need to head downhill and towards the east on the map. This is a wooded area and you will enjoy more views of the city as you descend towards the Miramar Gardens and the Miramar Hotel. Here’s the map again as a reminder – you are leaving the orange area and heading for the red – The Gardens of Miramar and the Poble Sec viewpoint.

Garden trip

The Gardens of Montjuïc, Barcelona: 3. Gardens of Miramar and poble sec viewpoint

September 16, 2019 plighto 2 Comments

From the Gardens of Joan Brossa you will end up on a main road heading up toward the castle. On your botanical journey you need to head down the hill and towards the east on the map. You will enjoy lovely views of the city and a steep decline towards the Miramar Gardens, the Miramar Hotel and the Poble Sec viewpoint. Here’s the map again to remind you – you are leaving the orange area and heading for the red:

Poble Sec viewpoint

This is the best place to view the city at the northern edge of the Miramar Gardens. viewpoint across the city that you can see from the northern side of the Miramar Gardens. The notice boards would tell you all about the geological origin of the Barcelona plain, if you could understand Catalan.

What you can see in the picture below, taken in summer 2016, is the Sagrada Familia under construction on the far left side, spanning to the right the main spire of the cathedral of the Barri Gotic old town, and then the two octagonal towers of the St Maria del Mar church. Just to the left of the central tower block (Edifici Colon) is Barcelona’s gherkin – the Torre Agbar, and on the far right a classical building which is a military museum and then the Columbus Monument column.

Miramar Gardens

The Miramar Gardens, coloured red on the map, consist of formal beds and, on the eastern side, a fine avenue of Phytolacca dioica trees. The notices tell us that the garden was developed by a French landscape engineer Jean Claude Nicola Forestier for the International Exposition of 1929. Its terraces – and the so called Forestier steps which are to the east of the avenue – are built of Montjuic stone.

Phytolacca trees are a remarkable South American species from Argentina and Uruguay. Their wood is very spongy and they have evolved from the herbaceous phytolaccas which include the North American pokeweeds. Phytolacca trees are widely planted in the streets of Barcelona but these are the oldest you will see in Spain. They have very gnarled and interesting stumps!

Miramar Gardens provide an opportunity for Barcelona council to show off its bedding among box hedges and topiaried trees. But in the margins by the hotel there are a few interesting shrubs including brugmansias, abutilons, persimmons, avocados and jujubes.

When you’ve tired yourself of the Gardens of Miramar, head south and you will find, beside a restaurant, some steps leading down to the marvellous Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera.

Garden trip

Gardens of MONTJUïC, Barcelona: 4. Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera

September 16, 2019 plighto 2 Comments

When you come to the southern end of the Miramar garden you’ll find a restaurant and on its right hand side, some stairs which allow you to descend into the Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera. This is a delightful subtropical garden of palms, cacti and succulents perched over the harbour on the sunny and well drained eastern slopes of the mountain.

The green notices tell us that the garden was built by architect Joaquim Maria Casamor and gardener Joan Pañella in an area previously occupied by military batteries. It totals 6.15 hectares and was opened in 1970. It benefits from being sheltered from north winds and is generally two degrees higher than the rest of the city.

It’s surrounded by steep cliffs and old quarries. Huge Washingtonia palms from California and lots of large cacti create an amazing landscape.

Washingtonia robusta palms from California and Phoenix dactylifera date palms

There are also some great views across the harbour.

It’s a pleasant way to walk slowly down the hill with plenty of plants to see. Who knows what you’ll find in flower, but I am sure there will be plenty whatever the time of year.

There are many of these barrel cactuses – Echinocactus grussonii – which rejoice in the Catalan name of “seient de sogra”, which translates as mother-in-law’s seat.

*Mother-in-law’s seat – Echinocactus grussonii*

A green notice in the garden tells us that E. grussonii grows fast and does not flower until it reaches maturity. It’s appearance and its easy reproduction make it one of the most cultivated cacti in the world. But in its natural habitat – Querétaro, in the centre of Mexico – it is restricted and almost extinct due to uncontrolled ploughing and the development of a reservoir.

In summer I saw these flowering cacti, but I don’t have names:

Amazing trees in this garden include the Australian flame tree, Brachychiton acerifolius, with its bright flowers and large characteristic seed pods.

Brachychiton acerifolius, Australian flame tree, with a view of the port

*B.acericifolius: Intensely red bell-shaped flowers*

*B. acerifolius: Large pods containing seeds which are characteristic of the genus. The pods also contain irritant hairs so should be treated carefully*

This is not the only Brachychiton species planted in Barcelona. Widely planted in parks and streets is B. populneus, a handsome tree appearing a little like a weeping fig when mature. However it has white flowers freckled pink inside and pods like those above but smaller. Be careful of the pods if you see them as they contain hairs as well as seeds which can be irritable.

B.populneus in flower in Barcelona in early June

Brachychiton trees come from the east coast of Australia. There are about nine species which are all generally called Kurrajong. The genus was classified in the family Sterculiaceae but is now considered part of the very broadly defined Malvaceae, as is the family Bombacaceae. See the Ceiba trees in the Porta de MontjuÏc.

Another member of the genus in the garden is the Pink Kurrajong, B. discolor, which I found flowering at the end of July 2016.

*Brachychiton discolor, the Australian Lacebark Tree or Pink Kurrajong*

Other great trees are the Washingtonia robusta – the Californian palms which are a characteristic of Los Angeles and the southern part of the state. There’s a grove of Brahea armata – Mexican blue palms – with their long inflorescences. A native of Baja California.

There are many desert plants to interest you and what you find will depend on the season. But I don’t think there will be a time when you will be bored!

When you’ve had your fill of cacti and desert plants, walk to the lowest most northerly end of the garden and leave by the lower gate. The path runs parallel to a major road and you will pass on your right the Forestier steps – an incomplete staircase intended for the 1929 Exposition.

The Forestier staircase – never completed but it can take you back up to the Miramar Gardens

You are now walking toward the Walter Benjamin Gardens and the Porta de Montjuïc: Moving from the blue area on the map to the yellow and the green.

Garden trip

Gardens of MONTJUÏC, Barcelona: 5. Walter Benjamin Gardens and the Porta de Montjuïc

September 16, 2019 plighto 2 Comments

The Porta de Montjuïc is the highlight of this part of the garden route and could be the start of your experience, in which case see the bottom of this blog. However, if you are approaching from the Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera in my previous blog, you will pass the Forestier stairs on your right and then walk down pleasant series of steps surrounded by jacaranda trees.

In April or May these will be inundated by lovely blue blossom. However, I’ve never seen it myself – just one or two remainders later in the year.

Walking down these steps, you are in the yellow area on the map. At the bottom turn slightly left, cross a minor road and find a small urban park called Hortas de Sant Bertran. There’s little to say about this urban garden, so walk through it and slightly to the left you will encounter a green space running along the side of the main road. This is coloured green on the map and is the Walter Benjamin Gardens.

Walter Benjamin Gardens

These gardens comprise three tree-lined squares, trying to create a calm shady sitting space in a busy urban environment. Each square is planted with a different tree species and there are some focal points such as stone pyramids and a fountain.

These gardens take their name from a German literary critic and were designed by architects Daniel Navas, Neus Solé and Imma Jansana, the green notices tell us in Catalan.

Not foreseen by the designers is the dazzling graffiti provided by the local youth. It may detract from the calmness but it is not unattractive and does not stop people snoozing here! In fact more recently it’s clear there are people actually living under the shade of these friendly trees.

Dazzling graffitti is now part of the Gardens of Walter Benjamin

A notable tree here is Parkinsonia aculeata, which you are unlikely to see in the UK. It is in the pea family, Fabaceae, and widely planted as a street tree in Catalonia. It’s a native of Mexico and, apparently, an invasive species in Australia.

Barcelona can be proud of its street trees, which are diverse and undoubtedly reduce temperatures and pollution big time. There are at least 150 species and you can see a list here, but I can tell you that it is not complete! One of my favourites, Brachychiton populneus, is missing!

In the other two squares we have a red-leaved plum or apple tree and a green-leaved Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum), which must be lovely when enriched with its purple flowers in spring. There’s also a good deal of Robinia pseudoacacia along the roadside.

A square with Judas trees – in spring the trees will outshine the graffitti!

Porta de Montjuïc

The Walter Benjamin Gardens then give on to the Porta de Montjuïc and you are back in the city. The grass verges are planted with magnificent Ceiba silk floss trees with their bottle-shaped trunks and very severe spines. I have of course featured these in my Amazing trees section.

The trunks and branches can be fiercely spiny

If you are lucky they may have showy flowers or silky fibrous fruit. They are from South America and were classified in the Bombacaceae family – close relatives of the kapok, balsa wood and baobab trees. However, taxonomists now believe that the concept of the Bombacaceae is flawed because it is “polyphyletic”, that is it has more than one evolutionary origin. It is now regarded as part of the Malvaceae, a very large family including the wild mallow Malva and the garden Lavatera. The is also true of the Sterculiaceae, as we saw in the Gardens of Mossèn Costa and Llobera.

According to Barcelona City Council there are two species planted here – Ceiba speciosa and Ceiba insignis. I am not sure how different these two are. But there are certainly many species of Ceiba – some of which are real giants of the rainforest with huge buttress roots that tower over all other trees.

Ceiba trees are of very special importance to South American culture and it is worth giving Wikipedia a read on the subject. Think of links to Pre-Columbian and Mayan gods and the underworld, an ingredient of hallucinogenic drinks, the national tree of Guatemala and so on.

And I can’t help speculating why on earth these trees might have evolved such huge spines. My idea is that that they may have been a suitable defence against Megatherium, the giant ground sloth. It was at least the size of an elephant and used to roam much of South America in the Pleistocene, making a meal of any tasty trees.

Anyway, Ceiba are certainly interesting trees and a worthy endpoint to a day spent visiting the Gardens of Montjuïc!

Garden trip

Myddleton House: Irises in Flower

June 6, 2019 plighto 1 Comment

Visiting in early June in 2019, I saw many of Myddleton House’s beautiful irises in flower. You will see below some lovely photos which really show how diverse the plants have become. The effort that plant breeders have put in to creating diverse and beautiful bearded irises (Iris germanica) and Siberian irises (Iris sibirica) is enormous.

The collection is mainly those irises which have won the Dykes Iris Society medal, an award given by the American and British Iris societies in memory of William Rickatson Dykes, author of an authoritative book on irises published in 1914.

I’ve done my best to check my pictures are correctly named because sometimes it’s not easy to tell which label refers to which plant. The American awards were checked on the American Iris Society’s Iris Encyclopaedia. Unfortunately the British Iris Society’s website does not offer the same service. But the American Iris Society has this page which is some help and there is also the Historic Iris Society’s useful photo index.

The irises are mostly tall bearded ones – Iris germanica – which is what I like most. There are a few Siberian irises and they are marked in the captions.

Garden trip

Myddleton House, Enfield, London

March 10, 2019 plighto Leave a comment

Visited on 12 August 2017, also previously on 26 June 2015.

This is a large Georgian house and grounds which used to belong to the famous gardener and plant breeder Edward Augustus Bowles. Now it is the headquarters of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. The garden is open to the public, entrance is free but there are modest parking charges in the car park.

I visited the park over 20 years ago and I was then unimpressed by the general standard of maintenance and the lack of any plants of interest. Now that is long past. It has undergone a rejuvenation and there is plenty to admire in the park-like surroundings of the house, the lake filled with water lilies and the fruit and vegetable gardens at the far end of the garden.

You can easily spend enjoyable hours here. There is a cafe, a plant shop and plenty of information on the history of the garden.

Unfortunately the large cedar tree to the left in the main image above has recently been removed as it was unsafe. But that is the way with gardens – nothing can remain the same.

The gardener at Myddleton House clearly has an interest in succulents, many of which are unlikely to be hardy but are planted out in the summer. This is a bed which you must pass on the route from the car park which contains some has lovely echeverias, aeoniums and aloes.

A particular favourite seems to be the fan aloe (Aloe plicatilis). These are widely planted in pots and around the garden. They will probably never manage to become very large – they have not over the last couple of years – but they are attractive when small too.

Beyond the pond, which is packed full of water lilies, there is a curved border where the New River – a 17th century canal which supplied London with drinking water – used to run. It still runs nearby and is used by Thames Water. And close to that, there’s an enormous wisteria with its roots in a wall which must be as old as the house.

Some of the most interesting parts of the grounds are the orangery, next to the house, and the glass houses, vegetable and fruit plots at the far end of the garden.

A novel combination of Melianthus major and Crinum powellii next to the orangery in 2017.

A fine display of summer bedding in 2017.

Here next to glasshouses is the garden’s famous iris collection. Unfortunately I’ve never seen it in flower. The garden collects only those which won the Dykes Iris Society medal, an award given by the British and American Iris societies in memory of William Rickatson Dykes, author of an authoritative book on irises published in 1914. Unfortunately some of my favourite irises, including those bred by Arthur Bliss and Cedric Morris, are not included!

An attractive Phytolacca, probably P. polyandra, flowering in June 2015. These are American and East Asian plants which are apparently prepared as food by some native tribes. They produce tempting rich purple berries. However, they are generally toxic and full of alkaloids.

An old market cross, re-erected among box hedges

This is the market cross which used to be in Enfield Town market place. Apparently Bowles rescued it from a builder’s yard and had it erected in his garden. Well done Eddie!