Up at seven, the usual breakfast and morning routine and we’re off again. It’s going to be a hot day – 30 deg C – but we don’t mind at all, as we’ll be spending it in the green and cool of the Berlin botanical garden. It’s not in the center, but we can take S trains to get there, that means reasonably comfy seats and above ground travel most of the time, fun! We walk in around nine thirty, with the understanding that: 1/ we can’t visit all of it in one day, 2/ I will stop and stare at every interesting plant and 3/ anything really interesting must be documented with a picture of the plant and its nameplate.
So forewarned we set out on our mission and decide to start with the greenhouses, hopefully not too warm yet at this time of day. Built in 1902, there are in fact 15 connected greenhouses, each dedicated to a specific region or ecosystem. At the center is the Large Tropical House, 25 meters high and 1700 sqm big, it is at once super full and exquisitely organised, it’s a marvel. If you’re into plants, then this is carefully labeled heaven. A lot of the exotic plants are of course completely unknown to me, but even the ones I do recognise are bigger and better, obviously feeling very much at home.
Next up is the Duft und Tastgarten, not easy to translate. The garden of scent and touch? I take one picture after the other. I see some old favourites that I also have in my herbary at home: Salvia lavandulifolia, Chamaemelum nobile, .. but also some I might like: Pelargonium graveolens ‘Queen of roses’ or Iberus sempervirens. I’m also keeping notes for mom who might like some of these in her still hypothetical terrace mini-garden.
We try for an early lunch, but it’s a bit of a debacle. The restaurant near the main entrance is closed because they have a group coming in, the one near the greenhouse (back where we just came from) is more like a festival pop-up with overpriced, too simple food and draconian measures to make sure you return the cutlery, plates and glasses. Okay, we can get over that, at least we’re hydrated and not starving, even if regretting not stopping for a snack at the organic bakery near the S-Bahn station..
Onwards! Number 88 is the garden of useful plants, then to 65 for the swamp and pond plants. We exit towards the exciting looking alp area. This a series of steep but tiny hills, planted with specimens from specific ecosystems like the Iberian peninsula, the Pyrenees or the Alps. Each tiny mountain has a few stony trails and an abundance of plants amid the rocky landscaping, each accompanied by its little sign with the latin name and the area where it occurs naturally. Super fun, even if we have to duck and time our dodges around the heavy duty sprinklers. We don’t explore the entire plot of hillsides, since we still have the whole medical and perennial plots to do!
I’ll skip the detailed description from here on, just picture me hopping through the rows of plants, oohing and aahing every few meters. My mom follows more sedately but is impressed with my latin skills. It’s simply by necessity, if you have planted a diverse garden at home you can only find correct info if you search by latin name! More pictures are taken, I will spare you most of those as well.
Of further note are the Japanese section and the mixed flower beds. Also of note is the bad news that DHL tried to pick up the package but reported that it wasn’t ready for them. Frustrating.. we phone the customer service in Belgium but they don’t know what’s going on either, they can only reschedule the pick-up for Monday and send on our remarks about how to reach the reception. We’re not sure this is going to work out, but can hardly do something from right here.
We walk out around two, stop for a well deserved piece of pie at the bakery and then return to the apartment. Still no further news from DHL. The problem is we won’t be here anymore on Monday, so if there are further issues we won’t be able to formulate a plan B. We briefly consider just taking the bike packs on the train, but no, that’s what we’re trying to avoid. Then mom remembers she used UPS last time she was here and that worked out fine as well. Why haven’t we done that since? Because they refuse to ship bikes.. but the bike is coming on the train anyway. We call the UPS pick-up point nearby, but they don’t pick up. It’s not far, so mom just walks over there. Not open, but there’s a phone number. They don’t understand her bad German, so I call, they don’t pick up. I’ll spare you the rest of the complicated proceedings, it ends well around six when we leave the box with them and the price is even cheaper than DHL.
We decide to spend our much earned saved money on burgers and fries, delicious, but of course that could be the taste of victory and peace of mind. Two more days in Berlin!
Febe writes 