The National Botanic Gardens of Wales
i turned thirty-two on the tenth of march, just a few days before we went into lockdown. At the time I decided I wanted to visit the national botanic gardens of wales for the day to celebrate. little did we know it would be my last day trip for the next three months.
This is my third attempt to write this blog post. You wouldn’t think it would take that long to put together a group of images with a little bit of text to accompany it but it really does. Especially when you factor in over four hundred images to sift through, edit and collate before even getting to the upload process. So here I am, attempt number three to get this post over the line.
Based in Carmarthenshire, Wales the National Botanic Gardens of Wales is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation. It boasts a plethora of things to enjoy from wildflower-rich hay meadows to a wooded valley with waterfall. There are numerous areas for kids to learn and play, a bee garden, a tropical butterfly house, a British Bird of Prey Centre, a walled garden, a theatre, as well as the largest single-span glasshouse in the world.
The Great Glasshouse
To our complete surprise, the first time we visited this glasshouse back in 2018, there was a full orchestra playing inside it. We later found out that it was Symphonica Tywi warming up for their annual Midsummer concert that evening. Now, it’s one thing to see this impressive structure with your own eyes and to be in awe of the world within it but to accompany that feeling with the exuberance of a full orchestra, an orchestra playing epic scores that make the air reverberate around you as you wander. That’s an experience I will never forget.
“Designed by Norman Foster and Partners, the Great Glasshouse is poised on the Welsh landscape like a giant raindrop. 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, the Mediterranean Basin.
Each of these geographical areas has regions that enjoy a Mediterranean climate. Hot dry summers, cool moist winters, dazzling sunlight, strong breezes and the occasional ground-clearing fire, create perfect conditions for many plants to thrive on the scrubby, rock-strewn landscapes.”
The Butterfly House
Located within the walled garden, The Butterfly House – Plas Pilipala, is my favourite part of the gardens. It’s so dense with lush green vegetation everywhere you look that for a minute you feel transported to a tropical rainforest. I actually have a lot of these plants in my house too so it also feels like home in some way. The glasshouse is also filled with a kaleidoscope of colourful butterflies from all across the globe and whilst they do fly about freely, they vary rarely bother you.
Some of the inhabitants of this glasshouse include huge blue Amazonian Morphos (these are probably the biggest butterflies I’ve ever seen) black and white Great Eggfly, Postman, Tree Nymph, Sara Longwing and Doris butterflies.
Some butterflies have see-through wings whilst others mimic the colours of poisonous bugs. There is also a glass cabinet full of butterfly chrysalises waiting to hatch.
The Aqualab is a fascinating place where schoolchildren can get the opportunity to explore the natural world and is packed full of microscopes and study aids. The garden’s education team also run a number of educational courses, activities and programmes from the lab.
“This Japanese garden is called ‘Sui ou tei’, which refers to the national flowers of Japan and Wales, the cherry blossom and the daffodil.
It combines three different traditional Japanese garden styles: the pond-and-hill garden, the dry garden and the tea garden. Japanese garden styles have developed over a 1400-year history, each style celebrating the changing seasons in different ways.”
This won’t be the last time I visit the gardens and if you’re looking for a day out with plenty of botanical eye-porn and space for the kids to exhaust themselves then this is the place for you. It truly has something for everyone and it’s affordable too with repeat visits (within the same week) free of charge.