28th March 2020 By Colin Smith

Spring Colour in the Garden

We spent a long time in the Garden today lots of new things to see in the Mediterranean Garden although the weather was not as sunny and warm as Wednesday & Thursday last week.

For those who are not so local and are unable to visit the Garden at this time we have taken some photographs to keep you up to date with how wonderful the Garden is looking in early Spring.

I am working on reversing the content so that you will now see the most recent photographs at the top of the post. Further down the post the images may be a bit random.

To include more images for selection some images are in galleries. On your PC or laptop right click on the image and select ‘View image’, on your tablet or phone, long press and ‘Open image in new tab’.

**At the end of our walk.** **Buds forming on the spiral Aloe – Aloe polyphylla in the Arid Garden.**

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The Mediterranean Garden

*Cistus albidus* – Rock Roses receiving attention from the bees.

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**French Lavender in the Mediterranean Garden.**

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The Palm Garden

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**The fig tree by the waterfall already laden with fruit.**

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**Arum Lilly in the Southern Hemisphere Terrace and the first flowers to brighten the long border.**

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**Probably the last photos of the Japanese area as the last of the trees flower**.

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**The Mediterranean Border with a colourful Aeonium and Echiums coming into flower**.

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**The South Africa Terraces are already a riot of colour.**

**The Protea was spectacular but is fading now.**

**Butterflies and wall lizards are already enjoying the warmth of the spring sunshine.**

**The Japanese Garden looking north.**

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**…and the Magnolia stellata is at its best.**

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**The Prunus x yedoensis are looking good.**

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**The pond has been refilled and replanted with the fountain flowing and the terrapins are back in residence**

**The pond & fountain have been cleaned and the concrete repaired.**

**The area where the stairs were demolished has been rendered.**

**Work continues to keep the Garden looking at its best.**

**The daffodils on the site of the old Totem Pole still provide a wonderful show.**

**Neighbouring Steephill Cove, still wonderful but deserted.**

A Forum to share experiences

The Friends of Botanic Gardens Forum (FBGF) of which VBGFS is a member, was set up in September 2019 to encourage information exchange between Friends groups around the UK.

Although the groups operate within different financial and management structures, there is much to be gained by sharing experiences and ideas for activities and fund-raising, and much else.

If you enjoy reading about gardens and looking at lovely pictures, and are interested in what is happening at Botanic Gardens around the country, then head to their website https://fbgf.org to see the Gallery and read the Newsletters.

Rosemary Stewart was our representative from the beginning but relinquished the role to Val Pitts in 2022. In their Summer 2022 newsletter, Rosemary writes her valedictory article about how she became involved at Ventnor. She made a number of other interesting contributions to earlier editions, including one about the hopyard in November 2020. As you can imagine with Rosemary, all are well worth reading.

You can read Rosemary’s article here.

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Spring Colour in the Garden

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