Suitcase and World: Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.


Fading fast, I was fading fast. After more than 4 hours of wandering about in the oppressive summer heat of Buenos Aires, I was ready to call it a day.  But....we had one last garden to visit before we could cross off  *gardens in Buenos Aires* off our list of places to visit.  So, we trudged on.

From the Rose Garden, it was a relatively short walk to the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden.  Bro had high hopes for this place as generally speaking, botanic gardens are homes to fine specimen flora species.  While both the Japanese and Rose Gardens were nice, they did not contain plants that Bro had not seen before.  I'm not sure what he was expecting but I guess it wasn't anything you can find in the US.

Anyway,  on our way to the Botanic Garden, we walked around a major traffic circle. In the center stood a tall and very impressive monument called the *Monument to the Carta Magna and Four Regions of Argentina*, more commonly referred to as the "Monument of the Spanish"

The monument was a donation from the Spanish community in celebration of the centenary of the Revolución de Mayo of 1810 which marked the formal beginning of Argentina's independence from Spain. It was built entirely in bronze and Carrara marble. The sculpture was unveiled in 1927.



This time, we found the entrance the garden without walking in the wrong direction first. :-)  Thank God because I was in no mood to wander about any more.  The garden was divided into different sections and they were all very pretty, nicely landscaped with garden sculptures and fountains, though I didn't really notice all that many plaques identifying the garden's plant collection. 


I had to take a photo of this bird.  Not one that you would typically see standing still. If you zoom in on the head,  you'll see it's a hummingbird!


The garden was designed by French architect and landscape designer Carlos Thays and was inaugurated on September 7, 1898. Thays and his family lived in an English style mansion, located within the gardens, between 1892 and 1898, when he served as director of parks and walks in the city. The mansion, built in 1881, is currently the main building of the complex.



Plegaria a la   India Tehuelche byArgentine sculptor Nicolás I. Bardas.



There was a very pretty, albeit slightly dilapidated, glass and wrought iron greenhouse, located next door to the main building.  Unfortunately, the doors were locked so we couldn't venture inside to see the plants. I was hoping for some orchids.  Bro's more an orchid lover than a rose lover so I'm sure he was hoping for the same.


Sharp eyed Bro (who normally can't spot the easiest to find things inside the fridge) caught sight of a persimmon tree, laden with green fruit. Persimmons are native to Japan, China, Korea - temperate regions that typically have very cold winters.  We were surprised to see it grown so well here. 



He also spotted a very lovely orchid, attached to the trunk of a tree....quite high up.  I think he mentioned what it was but I don't remember.  See....he knows his orchids!  I would call it a spider orchid because that's the image it evokes in my mind.

 

We took the opportunity for one last rest before leaving.  I think we only saw a tiny fraction of the Botanic Garden which was a shame because of all the three gardens we visited today, I liked this one the best.  Maybe if we have time on another, we can come back and explore more of it but for now, all I want to do is catch an Uber back to our apartment, stick my head under the air conditioner and gulp down a gallon of cold water.  I'm done sightseeing for the day!