Botanical Garden Visits (2)

This is the second report on a recent visit by UK Friends Trustee, Aaron Bertelsen who works at Great Dixter together with two of their interns.  Here Stephen writes about his impressions of the JBG.

When I applied for the Christopher Lloyd Scholarship at Chanticleer and Great Dixter, all of my horticultural training had been in the northeast United States. I thought England was exotic with its winters just warm enough to grow another range of plants not hardy enough for New York. Like other Dixter students before me, I decided to use travel funds given by Chanticleer to visit botanic gardens in Israel and observe plants in the wild. A completely different climate and plant palate in Israel opened my eyes to a new type of gardening.

Our tour of the Jerusalem Botanic Garden was led by Aaron Bertelsen, a co-worker at Great Dixter and a Trustee of the UK Friends of the Gardens (and an alumnus of the Internship program)  and Brandon George, a current intern at the Gardens, from America.

Like other botanic gardens, the JBG was organized into geographic regions and biomes. Their mild winters allowed for plants impossible to grow outdoors in more temperate botanic gardens. Species normally regulated to pot culture and glass houses in the US and England were blooming in the ground in sizes and masses I’ve never seen before. I learned new genera and even recognized some plants from my own American biome surviving in Israel’s climate. Brandon was also able to give us a back-of-house tour, showing us his work propagating rare Mediterranean plants in the nursery and giving us a sneak peak into the newly-extended Conservatory.

Our trip to Israel wouldn’t have been complete without exploring Jerusalem. Luckily the Botanic Garden is easily accessible from the center of the city. We were able to visit the religious and historic sites, fill ourselves on great food, and explore the Shuk and other markets. The city was as diverse, in people, places, and culture, as its plants. I hope to return soon.

To apply for a horticultural scholarship at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, go to www.friendsjbg.org.uk, read the details and download an application form.