The tree as shelter; the branches of the tree weep down instead of rising up, reaching down to the water, down to the ground. You can pass through into this sheltered space, behind the green curtain. Then you feel like you are in a room enclosed but not entrapped. The veil of leaves is dense… Continue reading Shelter
Category: Zone 2
Up for sale
At the Saturday flea market on the Bürkliplatz someone is selling piecemeal a botanical collection. The plants have been carefully flattened and taped down onto sturdy paper and placed between a folded sheet. Each has a white identification tag giving the botanical classification, location where it was collected and the date– all in the year… Continue reading Up for sale
Alter Botanischer Garten
From the hotel room I look across at the old botanical garden. I am intrigued by use of the word ‘old’ in the naming. Did it mean that it was the abandoned garden like the old pair of shoes, tossed aside, replaced by the new? From my room I have the impression this is the… Continue reading Alter Botanischer Garten
Freedom to flourish
On the train to Zürich from Bremen I overheard a fellow passenger and tourist say. “I love visiting Switzerland. It is like being in paradise…” Unsaid but implied… because Switzerland is so clean. Paradise in the imagining of this man, is a clean place, empty of the detritus of humans. It is true, Zürich, a… Continue reading Freedom to flourish
Sun baking
Since I first spotted it I notice that the tortoise is up sunning itself every morning on the corner of the platform around the duck house. When I first saw it a few days ago I thought it was fake, that, as a prank, a young adult had swum or waded out and put it… Continue reading Sun baking
Big bonsai?
The strange out of proportions of these two olive trees grabbed my attention. Everything about them seemed wrong. The thick, rough trunks spoke of older mature trees— how old I was not sure, 40-50 years? They have the truncated size of a full tree cut down and cut up, a chunk of the trunk taken… Continue reading Big bonsai?
Hortensia, a Hydrangea by any other name
We visit the Rhododendron Park, which, according to their website, is the biggest in the world covering 46 hectares. Because the rhododendrons are flowering it is the perfect time to visit but it is other plants that attract my attention; the towering oaks, the pine trees and a garden bed of onion with the large… Continue reading Hortensia, a Hydrangea by any other name
More about birds
Because the young bird had flown and the new nest was not complete we decided to block the access to their nesting place. We broke clay pots and fitted them around the pipe. The first lot the blackbirds managed to dislodge. Our second attempt also failed. Then with bigger pieces I jammed the hole so… Continue reading More about birds
Water nymphs
As I cross the bridge over the ‘Stadtgraben’ (the city moat) I stop to look down into the water. There are small fish, a hundred hovering dashes, and there are water lilies—the water is that still. I am intrigued by the submerged world of these plants. There are leaves reaching up for the air, to… Continue reading Water nymphs
Rhododendrons
Never have I seen so many Rhododendrons! They are in flower— pink, red, white—in front gardens they are trimmed into shape, ‘buns’ of green and bright colour. At the city end entrance to the Bürger Park is the Hollersee, which is more like a large pond, the Park Hotel behind. The Rhododendrons border the path… Continue reading Rhododendrons