2018-04 - Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (Scotland)

On our last day in Edinburgh, we decided to visit the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). Walking around the gardens is completely free. There is an extra surcharge to visit the greenhouses. Just by chance, it happened to be a Monday, and, the gardens were almost completely empty. It was wonderful to walk around all the beautifully groomed plants, flowers, bushes and trees. There were even a couple of ponds and mini-waterfalls.

Rhododendron

We started to realize that every other plant was a rhododendron. According to their website, the four RBGE gardens have 500 different rhododendron species! The came in all different shapes, sizes and colors.

Flower all the way from Yulong Xue Shan mountain, China

Another section of the garden is home to endangered plants all the way from the Yulong Xue Chan mountain in China. Due to the development of these mountainous regions, much of the habitat is being lost. RBGE works with research institutes within China to preserve these habitats there as well as showcasing several of the flowers in a section of the garden titled Chinese Hillside.

Gorse watercolor by Sharon Tingey

By now, I needed a tea stop. We stopped at the Gateway cafe for tea and a scone. There are options to sit in a warm, sunny interior or outside on the beautiful terrace overlooking the gardens. On the bottom floor, there is a gift shop as well as a permanent exhibit about the gardens. Plus, there was a temporary exhibit of exquisitely painted plants by local artists.

Inside pavilion on the edge of the Queen Mother's Memorial Garden

Feeling recharged, we continued our stroll around the gardens. There were even sections of vegetable gardens that we saw volunteers watering. However, the next feature that was really eye-catching wasn't even a garden. Instead, it was a small building at the edge of  the Queen Mother's Memorial Garden. Only after entering could one appreciate the detailed artistry. It is completely covered with natural elements inside, including shells and pine cones.

Mini landscape

We spent a lot of time exploring the mini landscapes area of the garden. Each small section had more precious, tiny plants to admire. There are old stone troughs as well as several screened in areas to explore. Most of the plants are from alpine areas. Their small size is due to surviving in the crevices of mountains. 

Monkey Puzzle trees

Up close Monkey Puzzle tree

Running out of time before the park closed, we started walking back toward the entrance, following the map in order to walk by a must-see tree in the park: the monkey puzzle tree. It really does look quite puzzling. The tree has the framework of a pine tree. However, there are few branches; and, each branch looks more like some spiny time of succulent. A perfect highlight to end our visit.