Visit to Birmingham Botanic Gardens

Alberto, who has been at the gardens for nearly three years, is an ex-Kew Diploma student and was previously the supervisor in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew where he specialized in orchids. Orchids are indeed his passion, and many species are displayed in the glasshouses including a rather interesting Gongora amparoana, an epiphytic orchid species native to Costa Rica.

Alberto provided a brief history and timeline from its early formation by the Birmingham Botanical and Horticulture Society in 1829. The 15-acre site was designed by the eminent landscape gardener John Claudius Loudon and was opened in June 1832. It’s now a grade 2 listed landscape and it is one of the UKs most significant historic botanical garden and still retains many of its original features. It reached its zenith in the latter part of the 19^th century when the Tropical House was constructed to house the giant Victoria amazonica waterlily. The gardens fell into decline during the early part of the century and suffered air raid damage in 1945 when Birmingham was heavily bombed. In 1977 the gardens and glasshouses were restored.

Many eminent botanists and horticulturists are associated with gardens including plant collector Ernest Wilson who trained here. A walk and a border are named in his honour. In addition there is a Champion Tree of Davidia involucrata, reputably collected by Wilson.

Alberto was able to share the plans for the current project to restore the glasshouses and breathe new life back into the plant collections and gardens. This will not be a modest project by any stretch of imagination; some £20 million funding has been received mainly from the National Lottery as part of Growing our Green Heritage, and which will secure the future of the gardens. There will be a construction period of 4-5 years preceded by a demolition contract. The task will require the decanting of the whole collection representing 700-800 taxa spread across the individual arid, subtropical, tropical and Mediterranean collections. The sheer logistics of this will be a real challenge for Alberto but despite all of this and in true ‘Brummie’ style the Gardens will remain open during the demolition and construction phases. Completion is programmed for 2031, the anniversary of the birth of the gardens.

The glasshouse collections are imaginatively laid out with good visitor interpretation and good access, which was appreciated by the less able amongst us! There was much to admire here, the National Cyclamen Collection was particularly impressive. I was taken by the substantial group of scented leaved pelargoniums in the Mediterranean section which happens to be a firm favourite of mine and I was reminded that our late president Graham Heywood was also a keen collector.

Outside in the gardens it was noticeable how many family groups were enjoying themselves in the late summer sunshine. The immaculate lawns, covered with picknickers, sweep down to the recently restored band stand where the band were playing old pop favorites. Plant beds, along the Loudon Terrace adjoining the glasshouses, once filled with bright Victorian bedding, now display a range of sensory herbaceous plants. The Terrace provides a perfect back drop for pre-wedding photos and there were many couples taking advantage of this facility. We learnt that the empty Aviaries further down the Terrace once housed birds as part of the earlier zoological collection, installed to increase visitor numbers but later abandoned.

The gardens include 29 different themed areas each inked by a series of walks and steps. A number of these are programmed for improvement, including the Bog Garden where it is intended to replace the spectacular yet invasive, Gunnera manicata and the Lysichiton americana with native species. Both species are now on the government’s list of Invasive Non-Native plant species so we may see these wonderful foliage plant species disappear from some of our other water gardens. The new Alan King Alpine Garden constructed in 2019 was a notable feature with its contemporary design and Alpine Houses. There are in fact two alpine (or rock) gardens, the other being the older 1895 Hugh Nettelfold Rock Garden. When did rock gardens become alpine gardens? Elsewhere new projects are being planned to include a Well Being Garden and a Japanese Garden.

Our morning ended with a delightful late lunch taken in the Medicine Bakery Café overlooking the lawns. We were acutely aware that our initial time line was greatly overshot, such was the interest in the gardens and the enthusiastic and very knowledgeable hosting by Alberto for which we were truly grateful. We wished Alberto good luck with the immense task ahead of him.

Report by Peter Styles.