Today we'll visit the Botanical Garden (for a change).
It is situated between Karpovka river, Professor Popov street, and
Bolshaya Nevka, not far from the Petrogradskaya metro station.
The Botanical Garden was founded in 1714,
during the reign of Peter I.
Originally it was used for pharmaceutical
purposes as a kind of drug store. Hence the name of Apothecary's Island
(where the garden is located).
The Botanical Garden in its present form
was created in 1823 when the new conservatories started to be built.
Some of the original greenhouses are still standing.
The edifice in the photo is rather contemporary, dating back to
Stalin's era.
Some of the plants are cold-hardy and
don't need conservatories. The Botanical Garden contains more than 8000
species of plants.
Also situated on the same grounds are some affiliated institutions,
such as the Botanical museum and Botanical institute.
Puppies of a local dog. There were 5 of
them but the rest proved too brisk to be photographed.
Let's walk through glass conservatories
for subtropical plants.
A high cactus near the pathway looks as if composed of oval segments.
It belongs to the genus Opuntia.
The globular types with yellowish thorns should have been
echinocacti. They say that American Indians (America being the ancestral
home of cactuses) executed their delinquents by throwing them on the
largest species of these cactuses :)
That 'subtropical' temperature is very
curious: you won't feel too hot even with your winter clothes on...
As one of the readers hinted, this plant
is a spurge rather than a cactus.
Anyway I wouldn't recommend climbing
up it to anyone, not even to my worst enemy :)
Is it agave or what?
"Chorista slieciosai"
The inscription reads:
"Danger: mines!" ;)
Decorative stairs not far from a small
pool
That's how cacao grows...
...and that's a bitter fate of its fruits
(it says: "were: 11, stolen: 9")
Well, these are the common bananas.
Mellowing as they say.
Outside is winter.
She is a regular guest inside the conservatories: now they are left
without central heating, then the electricty is cut off by a local power
station... As a rule, plants can't endure hardships.
"Why don't you have a look at me?" :)
Farewell look at the Botanical garden
through window pane
There is one thing I don't like about plants: they are typically hard
to compress in .jpg format ;)
