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Garden Blog 16 – Raindrops falling on my head

It was a really miserable day when we went to do our volunteering at The National Botanic Garden of Wales this week.  It often seems to be that way when we go – is someone trying to tell us something?  One of the ‘jobs’ I was going to do was to go and look at a couple of different parts of the Garden to see what’s happening there.   So at about 2.30pm, I picked up my camera and went off out into the crisp, fresh air of a February afternoon.  Only thing was, it wasn’t crisp and it wasn’t fresh, unless you count the cold wind that was blowing the rain across the Broadwalk.  Typically, the further I got from shelter the harder the rain came down.  Great – just what I needed.  Still I was out now and I had got a waterproof jacket even if my jeans felt a bit damp.  So I went down to the Bog Garden.  It was still deep in its winter sleep with the gunnera wrapped in its blankets of huge leaves.  Not much in the way of new growth but, as I keep reminding myself, it is only February, in spite of the many spring flowers already in bloom.  I did spot several lovely patches of lichen.  As I said, it was a murky old day and the lichen was bright against the dark, wet wood of the walkway.  It’s amazing when you look closely, a bit like a miniature lunar landscape.  Then I took a detour through the Back to Nature Woods and saw some fungi. It’s not really the time of year when you expect to see fungi but I guess if you keep your eyes open anything is possible.  These looked like crisps stuck on a willow stick but, sadly, I had no idea what it is.

In my last blog I mentioned about the healing properties of plants, so I thought I would pay a visit to the Apothecary’s Garden.  Again apart from a few snowdrops, some catkins, and several rather nice eucalyptus trees, there wasn’t an awful lot to see.  The rain had given a lovely purple sheen to the slate that is scattered on some of the beds and the view across to the Great Glass House is always worth seeing, although in the rain…in February…with not many people about…well let’s just say that I have seen it looking better.  The plant that was showing the most growth was the angelica.  I wonder if it is still candied for people to use to make those little green leaves in cake decoration.  I’m sure that some of you will know what I mean.  Anyway it made a nice splash of bright green on a very dull day.

By this time, the rain had decided that it liked the National Botanic Garden and would stay for a bit longer.  I had decided that enough was enough and I would go back to the office for a warm and a cuppa.

Pam Murden