• IN THE GARDEN •
• IN THE GREENHOUSES •
Life, with the garden
Location: Meise, outside of Brussels, Belgium • • • Visit: September 2017
Half an hour or so with a commuter bus from central Brussels lies the Meise botanic garden. It is BIG. Impressive. Covering 92 hectares of land, it can not be fully seen in a day. When I visited in 2017, I could have spent several days there, wandering around in the groves and thematic gardens.
There was a traditional, convent-style garden in full autumn bloom, inhabited by bright butterflies.
Another garden had only medicinal plants, with small signs explaining what the plants have been used for.
And a modern, globe-covering complex of greenhouses. Probably the largest I’ve seen. A long row of spacious, modern structures, covering the major biomes on Earth. If there ever was a place to learn about botany from all corners of the world, this was it.
There were parts of the garden that were dedicated to seasonal displays, and in early autumn: pumpkin season. Such a beautifully arranged space, with pumpkins of all different colors, shapes and sizes.
Yes, the garden in Meise is really impressive. A great example of a space for environmental education, where both wild and cultivated plants from all over the world and examples of seasonality is communicated in the garden grounds. It is not as lush and romantic as some older gardens, like the one in Montpellier or Copenhagen, but the way in which this huge garden is put together is systematic and pedagogical, and really speaks to the researcher and teacher in me. A model for outdoor education. I like it.
Katja Malmborg 