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The Mediterranean and Tropical biomes are not planted in order to try to recreate sections of those floras in toto, but more to provide examples for the message, which is an understanding of the importance of biodiversity. And unlike the other gardens where plants are grown to perform at their best, Eden grows them to perform "to type"; e.g. rhododendrons are grown on the rather scrubby soil they would have in the wild, which in Cornwall of all places provides a great contrast in results and was interesting to us in particular. However, as Tim Smit himself has admitted, conditions in the biomes are still not "real": tropical trees are growing far faster and with smaller root systems, for lack of any wind or storms, for instance. And at the moment, insects are excluded, so that the staff must actually play God, and pollinate plants by hand.
If our guide was typical, the staff at Eden are genuinely convinced of the value of their work: he was hugely enthusiastic, (and rather frighteningly asked if he could read my notes, so that he could see which parts of his tour had come across best) and we were booked for the full tour, encompassing both biomes. Eden is the biggest event in Cornwall, and suffers a little from its success in that it is rather impersonal, but it is hugely impressive and very well organised. Maggie, who knows its creator Tim Smit, said that she felt that they were learning as they went along, and that having established an educational base they may move on now to more academic research in order to ensure the project's long-term interest and value. Some research is already carried out, particularly into the plant diversity of the Oceanic islands, and Eden also propagates examples of rare plants, such as Impatiens gordonii, of which only 250 examples remain in the wild, in the Seychelles. A more unexpected aspect of Eden was the amount of modern sculpture installed about the site. In the Humid Tropics biome, a "shimenawa" has been hung above the rice exhibit area by two Japanese artists: a huge swag of rice straw signifying a sacred space in the Shinto religion.
Tregrehan is run by Tom Hudson, himself a modern-day plant collector, though as a native New Zealander, his collecting comes not only from the Far East, but much of the southern hemisphere as well. At first glance it is a very traditional landscape of walled gardens and woodland walks, but one soon descends into a tree-shaded valley where the garden makes a radical departure into planting from the landmasses
361
The Mediterranean and Tropical biomes are not planted in order to try to recreate sections of those floras in toto, but more to provide examples for the message, which is an understanding of the importance of biodiversity. And unlike the other gardens where plants are grown to perform at their best, Eden grows them to perform "to type"; e.g. rhododendrons are grown on the rather scrubby soil they would have in the wild, which in Cornwall of all places provides a great contrast in results and was interesting to us in particular. However, as Tim Smit himself has admitted, conditions in the biomes are still not "real": tropical trees are growing far faster and with smaller root systems, for lack of any wind or storms, for instance. And at the moment, insects are excluded, so that the staff must actually play God, and pollinate plants by hand.
If our guide was typical, the staff at Eden are genuinely convinced of the value of their work: he was hugely enthusiastic, (and rather frighteningly asked if he could read my notes, so that he could see which parts of his tour had come across best) and we were booked for the full tour, encompassing both biomes. Eden is the biggest event in Cornwall, and suffers a little from its success in that it is rather impersonal, but it is hugely impressive and very well organised. Maggie, who knows its creator Tim Smit, said that she felt that they were learning as they went along, and that having established an educational base they may move on now to more academic research in order to ensure the project's long-term interest and value. Some research is already carried out, particularly into the plant diversity of the Oceanic islands, and Eden also propagates examples of rare plants, such as Impatiens gordonii, of which only 250 examples remain in the wild, in the Seychelles. A more unexpected aspect of Eden was the amount of modern sculpture installed about the site. In the Humid Tropics biome, a "shimenawa❞ has been hung above the rice exhibit area by two Japanese artists: a huge swag of rice straw signifying a sacred space in the Shinto religion.
Tregrehan is run by Tom Hudson, himself a modern-day plant collector, though as a native New Zealander, his collecting comes not only from the Far East, but much of the southern hemisphere as well. At first glance it is a very traditional landscape of walled gardens and woodland walks, but one soon descends into a tree-shaded valley where the garden makes a radical departure into planting from the landmasses
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