Through the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

A few words and more images of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh,
taken August 31, 2011...

A welcoming path

Striking colors

Female monkey puzzle tree

Click here: Araucaria araucana

or here for more information.

Male monkey puzzle tree

(as identified by docent)

Pretty in purple-pink

Endangered plant bed

No snacking here

Poppy and ...I thought this pollinator looked different 

from most of those I see in the US Pacific Northwest.

Pretty poppies against a lovely sky that day

Example of cover crops or green manures

Rather formal lines, no?

Bright, bold colors

More splashes of color coordinated

Glass house--look at the top right.
Do you see the palm that has almost outgrown its space?

The docent said it may be moving next year.

Where fish swim and gunnera grow

Eryngium giganteum
Click here to read more about how it came to be known as
Miss Willmott's Ghost.

Sea of Crocosmia 'lucifer', looking as if reaching towards something,
or just blowing in the wind.

First of the fall bulbs shining brightly.

And I wanted to throw in this image because 

I thought it was a perfect example of perfect pruning cuts.

Beautiful!

Pruning...the perfect segue...

to explain that for this post
I've drastically pruned down the number of images displayed 

compared with the number I took at the Gardens.
I know. You're shocked, right?

Okay, maybe not!

So, fair warning! Don't be surprised if more pop up in a future post.

Until next time! 

Happy Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere
and Happy Spring to those in the Southern!

~Aerie-el

Wordless Wednesday - arriving at Oz

Was it a dream?

Or was it really Oz?

For more Wordless Wednesday images from across the globe, click here.

~Aerie-el

Edinburgh Botanical Gardens - Garden Art

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was pure joy to visit. 

There was a fundraiser exhibit going on when I was there, 

and it included sculptures (one of which was in my previous post)
of endangered species. 

The sculptures were designed, decorated, adorned with artistic flair and touches, 

by various artists to help awareness about endangered species

and to raise money via high profile 

charity auctions for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

100% of the net proceeds go directly to conservation programs.

Here are a few of those sculptures, which fascinated young and old alike.

Click on the images to see more detail.

Below are two sculptures done by another artist, whose work was on display.

These pieces were not part of the upcoming WWF auction events.

I looked online to see if they had the name of the artist, but I could not find the info on the website. 

Update: A kind volunteer at the Gardens wrote me that the artist's name is Thomas Houseago.

'Legs'

In the Queen Mother's Memorial Garden, there is a stone Pavilion. 

Inside, the walls are lined with shells and stones
that school children collected from the Scottish coast.

The ceiling is made up of cones from conifers 

all over the world where the Queen Mother visited.

And there is a simply lovely dedication plaque.

Should you get tired from walking the nearly 70 acres of grounds, there are plenty of places to sit. Even the benches were tastefully, artistically designed.

The foyer of the main entry building was eco-friendly 

and built with plants and people in mind.

The stairway was made of sustainable wood, 

and the ceiling baffles (the green thing at the top of the image) 

were designed based on the tissue appearance 

of a cross-section of a dissected plant.

Here's a better view...

Thanks for sharing this walk through the garden art 

at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh.

Next time, instead of seeing plant cross-section-inspired designs, 

we'll see plants in garden designs!

~Aerie-el

Wordless Wednesday - Walkers Shortbread

Click here to see more Wordless Wednesday posts from around the world.

~Aerie-el

P.S. More about this sculpture display in my post on 9/17/2011.

Wordless Wednesday - Edinburgh Relaxing

Click on the image to see more detail

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday around the globe.

~Aerie-el

EDI TRIP PIX 1

I just returned from a fantastically fun trip to Edinburgh Scotland.

I took about a million images,
so I will whittle them down to a reasonable number to share with you.

Welcome to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

and to St Giles Cathedral

Inside St Giles Cathedral

Fringe street performer

outside St Giles Cathedral

Rapt crowd observing...

The grand finale!

Fringe act drumming up business

After walking the Fringe, 

it was time to catch a 360-degree view of the city from Calton Hill.

 Columns on Calton Hill

The Nelson Monument

Calton Hill from hotel roof

Plenty more to come, including the
 incredible Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.
In the meantime, please enjoy this blend of bagpipes and rock and roll:

Until next time,

~Aerie-el