A garden lovers paradise and slice of heaven down here on terra firma. We didn’t even know about the National Botanic Garden of Wales when we arrived in Carmarthenshire but happily caught wind of it in time to visit on the final day of our Welsh adventure. Bravo to all the brilliant plant loving folk who work here, and Mother Nature of course.
Everything was just awakening and starting to unfurl. Leaves of chard and rhubarb springing from the soil and apple trees gently blossoming outdoors in the double walled and vegetable gardens. I am still patiently waiting for mine here at home.
This sweet little blackbird followed us from garden to garden, finally landing on the most beautiful twisted hazel. Another tree on the wishlist for our garden.
Then a shortness of breath and palpitations of excitement as we neared the hot and steamy tropical house. Once my camera lens had acclimatised to the humidity after the chill outside I was unstoppable. There were vines and trees with leaves bigger than me, climbers, ramblers, ferns and fronds in every direction.
We walked the shimmering brick path swirling around some of the most beautiful plants in the world.
I could have taken pictures all day in here, the plant varieties are all so amazing, from tiny hidden orchids to banana trees with leaves big enough to cut clothes from!
Back out in the British spring air we took a short walk through the Wallace garden and the Boulder garden and found ourselves faced with the second wonder of the day. The Great Glasshouse – The largest single-span great glasshouse in the world which houses the largest collection of Mediterranean plants in the Northern Hemisphere.
Designed by Norman Foster and Partners, the Great Glasshouse is ‘poised on the Welsh landscape like a giant raindrop’. An indoor paradise under glass filled with flora and fauna from warmer climates, it houses some of the most endangered plants on the planet which come from six areas of the world: California, Australia, the Canary Islands, Chile, South Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin.
A firework display of blooms, shrubs and succulents, I really did not want to leave, ever.
So many stunning examples of flowers from bud to bloom, the temperature was my ideal warmth with a gentle coastal like breeze and the spring light shining in on everything was perfection.
Plants I recognised and many new discoveries, on every side. Pale paths led us down to a waterfall and pond filled with fish and bathing birds. The chattering sounds of sparrows and gentle running water were so soothing. It was early in the season, so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.
Robins joined us for lunch and sparrows swooped around, waiting for dropped crumbs and taking baths in the pond and indoor water cascade.
The clever design of the indoor walkways through this unbelievable man-made landscape take you down low by the water and then up high to bridges swathed in flowers that give a smile-inducing view over the whole incredible scene.
The planting is a triumph, I can’t quite express my utter joy at being inside here.
Taking in the forms and staggering size of the succulents as we walked around.
If you like gardening, nature and plants, I just know you will love it here! It is a plant hunters paradise. I have just found a little film over on YouTube that gives you a fleeting taste of the what you can discover – it gave me chills and the desperate feeling that I need to get back there for summer – go see!
