Every garden is a place of magic. But some gardens feel like Eden.
Greenhouse in the Hortus Botanicus at Leiden, founded in 1590.
I’ve always wanted to see Victoria, the giant water lily from the Amazon. The hortus in Leiden has an amazing collection of plants from around the world, many of them collected by explorers of the Dutch East India Company.
The leaves are perfectly round. The blossoms, when they appear, are pink.
The catwalk above has this huge banana plant, which dwarfs our potted specimen at home. I didn’t know they got this big.
Nothing is more restful than being surrounded by green. Though the collection does include a few carnivorous plants!
A view of the University from the glass house.
Linnet Moss 
As long as you don’t get eaten, what a cool place. Those lily pads are phenomenal. Ain’t nature grand!
Yes, one of those lily pads can support a small child! How could such a thing evolve? I have to admit that the carnivorous pitcher plants gave me a chill even though they just sit there and wait for prey to fall in. They’re kind of a sickly purplish hue.
Reminds me of the Little Shop of Horrors 🙂
Yes… they could make a horror movie about those giant lilies. I bet they look even weirder when seen from underwater.
You’d struggle to surface again if they were over you!
Very impressive display !
Yes, we didn’t have time to go through it all in a leisurely way. I would like to see more of the orchid collection!
So awesome! I saw some of those last year at Kew Gardens and was similarly astonished! I have no idea how sturdy they really are, but it looks like a small child could hop from pad to pad!
Yes, I saw those, too, at Kew Gardens – what a great place 🙂
It’s on my ever-growing list for the next time in London.
It’s a bit of a schlep, but totally worth it 🙂 The District line takes you right there, just watch out you don’t end up in Wimbledon instead.
And with luck there are some good places to eat lunch 🙂
Yes, there are pictures online of toddlers sitting on the pads. They’re pretty strong and yet in some ways fragile. I always figured that if I saw them anywhere it would be at Kew, but then I went to Leiden and voilà!
My mum used to take us to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, it was a big treat. I remember those huge water lilies, they were amazing.
I so want to see Edinburgh. It sounds like a perfect town 🙂
Oh, the old girl has her moments, never ‘done’ the festival though. Next year, in Edinburgh…
Did you read The Signature of all Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, Linnet? If you’ve not had the chance, based on seeing the fantastic photos and learning of your interest for the large world of leaf, you may find her story captivating. It falls more on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding size, as the MC is a botanist specifically interested in moss, but the story is so much more than this.
Wow on the lily pads. Just wow.
Yes, that’s a fantastic book! Loved it, especially as I am quite partial to moss myself 🙂
Yes they are spectacular aren’t they 🙂 One of the many things i love about Kew, which is only a few tube stops from me and one of my favourite places! The other incredible place in Kew is the bluebells field, breathtaking 🙂
I find carnivorous plants funny, nature one up on us 😉
There’s a bluebells field? I would love to see that. I wonder if they are still blooming in late May, which is usually the earliest I can get away from work.
hm i think we saw them in April but it was an unusually hot April! The info should be on their website or if not they are very nice at answering queries 🙂 lovely place!
I just looked it up and they recommend early May as the best time. I didn’t realize Kew was so huge. It looks utterly amazing. You could spend a week exploring it!
Those lilly pads are fantastic! Like something out of a cartoon!
p.s. I bought the good maraschino cherries and made myself a most excellent Manhattan the other night. You were so right — what a difference!
Hooray! Sometimes I eat them without the Manhattan. They’re that good 🙂
Me too: 2 in the drink, 1 straight in my mouth.