This entry was posted while I was on vacation, hence the brief written accompaniment. -- Daniel
An archival photograph from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in Surrey, England. The date that this picture was taken is currently unknown, though its photographer was John Davidson.
In the time since this photograph was taken, most (if not all) of the cacti and succulents in Kew's collections have been moved indoors into glasshouses, I assume at least in part to protect the plants from winter-wet. At UBC Botanical Garden, we've recently received funding to modify our unused glasshouse in the Alpine Garden to create an open-air glasshouse that will protect a collection of Opuntia and other cacti from the winter-wet of our climate.
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
From the length of the lady's skirt in the upper right hand corner of the photo, it appears the the photo is from the early 20th or late 19th century. Definitely not a digital photo.
Nice to see older photos of gardens. Are those hens & chicks with the prickle pear ?
I worked with the glass lantern slide collection that this image is scanned from. I would guess the photo was taken around 1900-1910.
It looks like the beds are lined with hens and chicks (Sempervivum spp.), but it is hard to be sure from the old photo. And in the centre of the front bed, I think I see an agave or is it an aloe?
Center foreground plant is definitely an aloe.