Edinburgh branch day trip

[Stan da Prato]

Saturday 18 June in the rain a busload of Edinburgh/Lothian members  headed for the Southern Hemisphere Botanic Garden on the Fife  coast near Torryglen. The garden has collections of plants from New Zealand,  Australia and Southern Africa (and South America) though some have suffered in the two recent winters. Attached is a selection of views  all taken in the rain and no notes made. The garden  was created by Ursula and Lorna McHardy. It is open on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays but not in winter. You need to walk along the coastal path to reach it.

[Stan da Prato]

other parts of the garden have a rockery, ponds, carnivorous  plants etc

[Stan da Prato]

The group then got back on the bus dripping over the seats to drive to Binny Plants at Eccelesmachan in West Lothian where the trip organiser Billy Carruthers provided hot drinks and a guided tour of the garden -shown  are ten pictures of the Paeonia collection which is  in full flower now.

[Maggi Young]

Rain or not, this looks like a great day out, Stan.

I love the oriental 'moon gate' in the "Southern Hemisphere Botanic Garden" pic 030- nice juxtaposition  

Did anyone get a chance to view the garden from the tree house/walk shown in the first picture?

Just as well I wasn't able to visit Billy C's paeony collection at Binny Plants..... my heart  couldn't take the excitment.

[ChrisB]

What a great garden - even in the rain!  Thanks for sharing...

[Lesley Cox]

So often when a collection of southern hemisphere plants is made, it includes South African, Australian and New Zealand plants. Fair enough, but what about South American?

[Stan da Prato]

sorry -there is a South American section with monkey puzzles, southern beech etc - still fairly small but visible in the ninth picture in the first batch.

[fermi de Sousa]

So often when a collection of southern hemisphere plants is made, it includes South African, Australian and New Zealand plants. Fair enough, but what about South American?

And Antartica!  A bit of ice and a few penguins! That's all it would take! 
Unless you want to go into the fossil record and haul out some Gondwana plants!
cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

There are two vascular plants: the Antarctic hair grass Deschampsia antarctica and a cushion-forming pearlwort, Colobanthus quitensis, which are found on mainland Antarctica, plus all the lichens and algae. Perhaps an Antarctic trough rather than a garden?

[Lesley Cox]

And a well filled bucket of ice for the penguin.