Hi Mum,
we visited the Botanical Garden today. It is located on a ridge in the bottom of Wupper valley. You can reach it from the city centre within a few minutes walking, also from my current home. This ridge is called "Hardt", it contains a lovely landscape park, the Botanical Garden, severeal playgrounds and an open air theatre.
We went through the park first.
Soon the entrance area of the Botanical garden was reached.
The garden dates to 1890 when a botanical school garden was first created on a smaller terrain. Between 1908-1910 it relocated to today's site, the Villa of a textile manufactor named Eller, a former country house which contained a villa (built 1820), orangery, residential and farm buildings. Elise Tower was built in 1838 A.D. as the garden's focal point.
This is the villa, containing a nice café, and Elise Tower.
I saw a pond with water plants.
These are Angel's trumpets, originally from South America. Angel's trumpets are beautiful flowers, but extremely poisonous.
This is a bog garden with carnivorous plants.
Elise Tower has a twin - an insect hotel built in the same style.
Blooming flowers everywhere!
Here the villa once more.
The villa is decorated with lots of beautiful mosaic.
You can also find greenhouses with different kinds of plants here. It was too warm to have a look inside. Maybe another time, Katja promised.
On some days you can climb to the outlook platform of Elise Tower. There is even a wedding chamber, marrying on Elise Tower is very popular here in Wuppertal.
Katja had planned to meet a former colleague and friend in the city, so we set out on our way back. We stopped once more at an outlook point with a good view across the city in the valley.
This is a church close to the park.
Katja even showed us a part of the large building site in the city.
Cheers!
Bye
Mishuta