Birmingham Botanical Gardens

What a delightful garden visit, and if you love gardening, then a visit here, or to any botanical garden will be well worth your time and effort. We will tell you a little of the history of Birmingham botanical garden, and include notes of a few of the plants and areas to add life to our review. REMEMBER TO READ OUR OTHER REVIEW AS WELL The landscape gardener John Claudius London designed the gardens in 1829 He was born in 1782 at a small town just south of the river Clyde, on the outskirts of Glasgow, called Cambuslang. When a young man, he studied botany at the university of Edinburgh. He married a young writer of science fiction, Jane Webb, in 1830, who was the daughter of a lawyer from EDGBASTON, Birmingham, and it seems she may have been born at Bartley Green. Following the death of her father, and marriage to John London, she took to writing books on botany, which helped introduce middle class readers to her gardening manuals. An idea to have gardens for Birmingham people was formulated in 1829, and John Loudons plans were drawn up, but it took three years to construct the site in Edgbaston, before it was opened on 11th June 1832. PHOTO 1. In 1852 The Tropical Lily House was built so that it could house the craze of that era, PHOTO 2. the Giant leaved VICTORIA AMAZONICA “. The plant is native to South America, and has large round 3mt leaves, with a diameter of 10 feet PHOTO 3. that floats on the waters surface, and held up by a 7 to 8 m ( 23-26 ft ) stalk. Its lily flowers are white, and can grow to 40cm ( 16 inches) in diameter. It requires warm water, thus the tropical house is ideal, and this is the first plant that will capture your attention as you enter the greenhouse. In 1910, the curators daughter and a friend were seated on two leaves of this water lily, and a photograph was taken, showing how strong the stem and leaves are of the plant. PHOTO 4. Move on now around the pool to your right on the red tiled path, and you will see a vast range of tropical plants, and I must say, they are well looked after by the team here. and throughout the glasshouse the plants will include “COCOA, chocolate tree”. the PARA RUBBER TREE, Rice, sugar cane and Cotton plants. Looking at photo 4, the collection of red flowering plants ahead are of, The long red dangling ACALYPHA HISPIDA (red hot cats tail) then across from the railings, “The Jungle Flame tree IXURA” which has red round clusters of star shaped rosettes. then you see the red flowering “HELICONIA ROSTRATA Bird of paradise, a native plant of South America. The water plants contain the “Elephant eared TARO plant, and ALOCASIA by the pond. The house also holds OCHIDS and Tropical FERNS. On the high beams, look for “The Dutchman’s pipe vine, ARISTOLOCHIA MACROPHYLLA plant, with its large light green heart shaped leaves, and its eye catching 4cm long greenish brown solitary flower. PHOTOS 5, 6 and 7. Follow the signed accessible route to the right to enter THE PALM HOUSE with its smaller pool. PHOTO 8. Then going ahead you will walk through the Mediterranean house PHOTOS 9, 10, 11. Before entering the Arid house ==================== PHOTO 12. At the far end corner you will exit out onto the London terrace, a wide long slabbed pathway, and here you can turn RIGHT, just after taking a look across PHOTO 13. to see the view over the lawn. PHOTO 14. and the bandstand still in use. PHOTO 15. At the dovecote, take the path going downhill to your left, and your carer will need to take care in helping you down quite a long steady slope to take you to the fountain. PHOTO 16. this fountain was created by a local man, Charles Edge, using an artificial Coade stone, known for its resistance to acid rain, frost, and its a. Long lasting weathering rock. A business woman, Eleanor Coade, created this stone by moulding together clay, crushed flint, quartz and crushed glass, pressed into plaster moulding, dried, and fired in a kiln for 4 days at a high temperature, and this method created a natural looking stone effect, first offered in 1770 as a tough hard wearing material. The fountain we see today, although attractive enough, has just one tier, but originally it was an impressive 4 tier fountain, but it eventually started to erode so that it had to be cut down. However, it is still a landmark as you make your way around the gardens. PHOTO 17. We took the pleasant path to the right of the fountain, to sort of double back on ourselves, and took advantage of the shaded benches, and spent an hour just sitting and watching birds fly by, and hearing the happy chatter of young children PHOTO 18. as the ran around in the playground behind us. ================= Slowly walking along the path we headed towards the two greenhouses ahead of us. PHOTO 19. The first greenhouse on the corner is that of the CHURCHER glasshouse. Inside it holds the TUFA WALLS, which are limestone masonry structures built from porous limestone, which in the greenhouse looked so false, and actually most uninviting to bother with. If we only we had looked closer. This stone, loved by the old Romans, and later, by the Greeks, can be seen in the European buildings of days gone bye. It’s dull grey brown colour, after weathering is most unusual and gives the false appearance of being artificial rather than actual stone, but here it is used to exhibit delicate and unusual or difficult to grow ALPHINE SPECIES from across Europe and UK. The porous blocks, because of its light stone with large holes in it, are packed with a specialised soil, in which plants and mosses can root directly into the rock itself. Directly behind the first CHURCHER greenhouse stands the HARTLEY GLASSHOUSE. This alumium and toughened house displays general Alpine plants, bulbs, and a Cyclamen collection. But the house is used to show mainly UK native alpine plants. =============== PHOTO 20. We noticed that unfortunately, most visitors just used the paths to quickly navigate through the rock gardens as they headed uphill towards the main buildings ahead, which wheelchair and scooter users will need to enter again and walk through to get to the main hall and exit towards car park. =============== At this time, the botanical gardens are financially secure due to supports from the national lottery, but still rely heavily on income from its entry fee, high priced cafe use, and its private donations. However, we were deeply impressed by the standard of the plants housed here, and enjoyed our visit very much, and if in the area, we really would recommend a visit by yourselves.

This is a very enjoyable half day out for those who love gardening, and on a warm sunny day, you will really enjoy the visit. Disabled can see reasonably well all that the gardens can offer, but you will need a fit carer for some areas to help you get around. PHOTO ONE. We suggest you arrive close to opening time, as it gets crowded soon afterwards. PHOTO TWO. The welcome sign board points the way into car park to your left PHOTO THREE. Sadly, there are only a few disabled bays available which cannot be pre booked, but these are very handy is it’s only a short distance to get to the main entrance PHOTO FOUR simply walk ahead to the crossing PHOTO FIVE. Then take a rather steep downwards slope to gain access into the greenhouses ahead History of gardens During 1829 Birmingham sought a suitable area so as to develope the Birmingham botanical gardens, and they leased property at Holly Bank farm on Lord Calthorpes estate, and they took on the gardening designer John Claudius Ludon to fulfill their wishes. he and his wife Jane, were by then well known garden book writters, and to help them start the gardens, they sought the help of a local firm of John Jones and co, to build a suite of glass buildings. The husband and wife team planted each plant in the best area for them to grow and develope. Then the gardens were opened on 11th June 1932, with a payment of a shilling asked for entrance. By 1844, working class people could visit on Monday and Tuesdays for one penny each. In 1850 the wonderful fountain was created by Charles Edge, which he created by using an artificial Coade stone, having at that time 4 tiers, but as the stone eroded, the top tiers were removed so that only the first tier remains today. The wonderful lily house was added in 1852, with the intention of showing off the large leaved Amazonian water lily, Victoria Amozonica, Actually, in 1910 a photograph was taken of the curator Thomas Humphries daughter and a friend sitting on the leaves of the plant. During 1871, the designer of the Palm house F.B.Osbourne built this glass house to show the Palm trees and Tree fern collections. 2 years later he also built the Band stand and although built in 1873 it is still in use today During 1884 the lower range of glasshouses was constructed, which overlook the main lawn, offering beautiful views of the various trees that line the lawn. Following a storm in 1969, the palm house had to be reconstructed and the roof lowered. Years later, in 1983 the fountain was restored, and three years later, the new visitor entrance was started, and opened July 1987. Then the same year of 87 and following the dismantling of the old aviaries, a new garden shop was opened, which today houses a range of gifts. It is over 60 years since we personally last visited the botanical gardens, but would recommend you try to visit when you can. I was very impressed by the high standard of care and maintenance of much of the plants on display, and as a former gardening designer myself, I really appreciated the visit made. PHOTO 6. From the zebra crossing there is a rather short steep ramp to take you into the new entrance to enter the greenhouses, but I liked the display of plants on show along the rather narrow passageway into the main auditorium and the ticket kiosk. PHOTO 7. You may pay on arrival, we would suggest you pre book, as it seems that during the main spring into autumn time, it can be very busy here. Just pay for the disabled person though, as your carer can receive free entrance BUT IF YOU HOLD A BLUE BADGE, DO REMEMBER TO LOG YOUR CAR IN, AS THIS ALLOWS FREE PARKING FOR THE WHOLE OF YOUR VISIT. Stand over to the left of kiosk and you will see the small screen to record your car number. PHOTO 8. Once booked in, you may slip across to the right hand corner where you will find a nice clean well kept little shop. May we suggest taking your coffee break as soon as you can, it’s rather small with a limited seating capacity. A nice way to get to the cafe is by first of all going through the Palm tree conservatory entrance ahead to the left after booking in for your visit. WE HAVE GIVEN THIS AREA A SEPERATE REVIEW so please take a look after reading this first review. You will be best to take this route as soon as you can, by eleven o’clock visitors will be arriving in force, so go ahead towards the pool holding the large leaved water lilies, follow the disabled route to your right, and simply follow through each of the glasshouses one by one, enjoying the vast array of plants on show. Eventually you will come out onto the wide open LONDON TERRACE. Head to your LEFT along here, and admire the view over the lawn to your right. Walk on past the line of many inviting wooden benches, taking note of the delightful herbaceous plants that line the path. It’s level enough for your carer to push you along, but just keep an eye for occasional poorly laid slabs. Right ahead, you will see the cafe, which has a number of steps to climb, but if you follow the building to the right and go round it, you will at the far end, find the disabled ramp to your left, and although a little steep, you can enter the cafe through two wooden doors. If enough room inside, find a table, because it seems during busy periods you have to book a table at the pay counter. There is a delightful display of fancies for you to pick from, rather expensive though, but well prepared Huge cakes to delight you. Having rested and well fed, it’s time to see the rest of the gardens. PLEASE READ OUR NEXT REVIEW NOW showing you the lovely Palm lined route around the glass houses and then through a small portion of the gardens themselves. .

We had a lovely day at Botanical Gardens. The sun was shining and it was lovely to explore all the hidden gems around the gardens. We took a community group of 110 which included disabled children, young people and their families. As it was the school holidays there was lots to do for the children from a meet and greet with Dinosaurs, to crafts and hourly shows available on the lawn. This was a real highlight for the children! There was plenty for everyone to do. In case of rain there is a huge marquee on the grounds with ample picnic tables and access for wheelchairs.