Antwerp Botanical Garden. Assorted flowers.

Here are some more photos of some of the plants that I came across in the Antwerp Botanical Garden. And yes there were quite a few bees buzzing about especially amongst the flowers of the Asteraceae family, such as this Echinacea.

These were in the garden area accessed through the other entrance which connects to what I consider the main area of the garden via a small passage through a dividing wall. Here they had a couple big signs posted but none of the plants were actually labelled. I was quite surprised to note how many varieties and species of Echinacea existed. 

 Later on while on my way back to the train station I got a wee bit lost and as always when that happens, serendipity struck and I came across a square with an astounding number of these. Don't worry THAT is for another post.

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [June 15 2014], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

Location:
Leopoldstraat 24, B-2000 Antwerpen

How to Get There:

Train:To Antwerp Central then walk along the main shopping street De Keyserlei which becomes Leysstraat after it intersects Frankrijklei and eventually becomes Meir after intersecting Otto Veniusstraat and Jezusstraat. It sounds confusing but basically Otto Veniusstraat should be on your left and Jezusstraat on your right as you enter Meir.
Then you just continue till the end of Meir where it connects with Huideverettersstraat. You turn left and go down Huideverettersstraat until it intersects Schuttersofsstraat. You should continue down the left hand fork which Komedieplaats and becomes Leopoldstraat after it intersects with Arenbergstraat. The Botanic Garden should be on your right hand side.

An alternative route is via the right hand fork after Huideverettersstraat which is Lange Gasthuisstraat. The Entrance to the Botanical Garden will be on your left but it is not very obvious. I only found it by accident and after going through discovered the Leopoldstraat entrance from which you can easily see the botanical garden as you walk past.

Additional information:

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Entry for Antwerp Botanical Garden

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

The Antwerp Botanical Garden: Cacti and succulents

While I while briefly in Belgium in mid July 2014 I was able to visit the botanical gardens one of which was the Plantentuin Stad Antwerpen or  Antwerp Botanic Garden in Antwerp.

The garden is rather compact and has several sections including a greenhouse which appears to be only open certain days. Aside from the ponds and sculpture by () the garden has a diverse collection of cacti and succulents in a very central location. They also have a variety of other plants which seem to be arranged according to their families.

The ones I noticed in particular were the Plant Families Solanaceae and Asteraceae because among them were species (Belladonna and Tobacco) and that I have been trying to get photos of for some posts on these families. So you can expect some in the near future.

Unfortunately although I found two species of Brugmansia I was disappointed to discover that they did not have any Datura because I have been wanting to do a post that shows how to distinguish them from each other.

 Another thing that was great about this garden even though it is all put together in a small area is that the plants are all generally clearly labelled. Also when I asked one of the gardeners about the Datura he was very friendly and helpful. There are also a lot of benches around the garden and I saw quite a few people just sitting there or having lunch although there is also a restaurant in a corner of the garden if you want a proper meal.

Location:
Leopoldstraat 24, B-2000 Antwerpen

How to Get There:

Train:To Antwerp Central then walk along the main shopping street De Keyserlei which becomes Leysstraat after it intersects Frankrijklei and eventually becomes Meir after intersecting Otto Veniusstraat and Jezusstraat. It sounds confusing but basically Otto Veniusstraat should be on your left and Jezusstraat on your right as you enter Meir.
Then you just continue till the end of Meir where it connects with Huideverettersstraat. You turn left and go down Huideverettersstraat until it intersects Schuttersofsstraat. You should continue down the left hand fork which Komedieplaats and becomes Leopoldstraat after it intersects with Arenbergstraat. The Botanic Garden should be on your right hand side.

An alternative route is via the right hand fork after Huideverettersstraat which is Lange Gasthuisstraat. The Entrance to the Botanical Garden will be on your left but it is not very obvious. I only found it by accident and after going through discovered the Leopoldstraat entrance from which you can easily see the botanical garden as you walk past.

Additional information:

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Entry for Antwerp Botanical Garden

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Floral Antwerp - Part 2

Here are some more photos of some plants I photographed in two large concrete planters in Antwerp.

While the big showy flowers tend to gain the most attention, with flowers and many other things, you need to pay attention and look closely or you will miss the small things that are just under your nose waiting to be seen and fill you with wonder and delight.

 Sometimes it is difficult to capture the delicate beauty of small flowers unless you have and are proficient in using the macro function of a camera which I must admit I have been having some problems with due to the auto focus tending to focus on something other than what I want it to focus on which means my refocusing  over and over again before either getting the shot I want or giving up and trying something else as is the case with the flowers of the plant below.

 Other times you find yourself fascinated by unopened flowers simply because of their shape of composition of their parts.

 Latter while visiting another place these rather territorial geese decided that they did not appreciate intruders and had to be chased back with the umbrella that I had brought with me. Until that moment I was annoyed with myself for bringing the umbrella when no rain had been forecast at all for that day. However, it proved quite useful in deterring the geese from moving in for the kill.

View  of the Central Train Station in Antwerp

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/

· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com

Floral Antwerp - Part 1

I had to go to Antwerp recently and took my trusty camera because I knew from experience that I would find flora gems tucked away as well as slap bang in the middle of the road and other places.

Here are some examples of what I found in two huge waist high concrete flower beds down one pedestrian street that was next to a street-side café. I am sure that the patrons of the café were wonder what I was up to taking so much time trying to get some decent macros.

As you may notice, there were quite a few bees industriously gathering pollen from the flowers. I was able to distinguish about four different species. The amount of bees you see around some Belgian cities and urban areas is in part due to apiculturists having beehives in the cities to take advantage of all the flowers to be found in the cities.

  I have been wanting to do a few more in depth posts on bees, from their role in ecology, the impact of pesticides on them and the implications of this to apiculture in cities, so keep an eye out for these.

 
Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/

· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Roadside Flowers in Antwerp, Belgium

Roadside Flowers in Antwerp

I visited Antwerp in August 2012 taking the train from Brussles and took some pictures of the Cathedral and some other interesting buildings. On my way back I took what I though was a shortcut and got lost. Well actually I was not lost because I soon found where I was once I looked at my map.

I have this habit of trying to take short cuts and end up miles from where I want to be because unlike cities like Adelaide which are set out in a nice simple grid places like Antwerp and Brussels, indeed probably most European cities are not set out in nice grids. The thing is because I had wandered far of course I ended up seeing some interesting places and things among them a few squares full of amazingly vibrant flowers.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.