The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
On Saturday 30th October, I decided to visit the Botanic Gardens to explore the colours and forms found in the garden and the beauty of autumn colours. The Botanics is world renowned for its horticultural excellence and spreads over 70 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. It was founded in 1670 at St. Anne’s Yard, near Holyrood Palace, by Dr. Robert Sibbald and Dr. Andrew Balfour. In the early 1820s under the direction of the Curator, William McNab, the garden moved west to its current location in Inverleith.
While walking through the gardens, I came across the oldest glasshouse in the gardens, built in 1834 at a cost of £1,500. 28 years later, there was an extension built by Robert Matheson. The original Glasshouses were refurbished in 1849, but by 1960 they began to fall apart and were replaced. The Temperate Palm House, built in 1858, remains the tallest in Britain.
I found the Palm House fascinating and the way it shone and stood out in the sunlight drew my attention. (Sadly it was shut for renovation, so i couldn’t get inside) The height and shape of the domes are so distinct and intricate in the way they are built up. The palm trees surrounding the Glasshouse add a tropical and exotic feeling to the glasshouse. The design and engineering of the Palm House reflect strong aspects of Victorian architecture with its highly decorated arches, thin cast-iron columns and curved glass roof .
Robert Matheson(1808–1877), was a Scottish architect and a great master of Italian Renaissance style. He played a strong part in many restorations and creation of buildings across Scotland, from the restoration of Dunfermline Abbey (1845) to the design of The General Post Office, Edinburgh (1859). The Palm House was one of the most impressive structures of its kind in the western world, a bigger and thought of as a more monumental version of Richard Turner’s at the National Botanic Garden in Dublin.
On my way home, I left through the East gates towards Inverleith Row, coming across the stunning gates which mark the entrance and exit of the Botanics. They caught my eye immediately, especially in the sun which created an array of interesting shadows. It looked so magical and intricate. After emailing the Botanics to find out more about the gates, I was able to discover that they are influenced by Rhododendron calophytum var. calophytum (a flower which is is studied at the botanics). The gates were commissioned by ‘Friends of the Botanics’ and crafted from steel in the heat of a hot forge by Blacksmith Alan Dawson in 1996. Rhododendron’s are major attraction at the Botanics and it has been the major centre for Rhododendron studies since the late 19th century. The 4 Botanic gardens in Scotland comprise the world’s richest assemblage of species rhododendrons. Around half of the 1,000 species can be found in the 4 gardens. It was first collected by Ernest Wilson in the mountains of Sichuan Province, China at c.3000m.
I found this plant so intriguing by its form and colour. The way life has just sprouted from the rock.
