Botanical Garden Archives - Travel Sketches

A Miscellany

I have arrived in Merrie Olde England, but I still have a miscellany of thoughts hanging over my head. Let me get these out of the way before I conquer the largest of the British Isles.

Little Free Library

One of my interests as a former book dealer has been the promotion of books through the Little Free Library. This international organization began in Hudson, Wisconsin in 2009. It was here that Todd Bol built a model one-room schoolhouse. He filled it with books and put it on a pole in his front yard. It was an instant hit with his neighbors, so he built more.

Today, there are more than 150,000 such little boxes (and all kinds of other box designs) on every continent in more than 120 countries. More than 300 million books have reached the hands of readers. This success has been documented in The Little Free Library Book written by Margret Aldrich and published by Coffee House Press.

Illiteracy

Statistics tell us that more than 30 million adults in the US cannot read or write above the third-grade level. These same statistics have shown us that when children learn to read, their chance of graduating from high school is greatly assured. The Little Free Library comes to the rescue. Their mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes.

I stumbled on such a free library while in Germany. It was unlike any I had previously seen. This box was a free-standing structure with sliding glass doors. The books were placed spine out for easy access. It was not difficult to find soft cover English-language books (when they were placed there) as English spine titles read from the top down; German spine titles read from the bottom up. I was easily amused.

Is there a Little Free Library in your community? If not, perhaps you can start one.

City Park and Botanical Garden

Before leaving Gütersloh, I managed to get back to the City Park and Botanical Garden. I simply wandered around taking photos. This 38+-acre park is a visual delight. The City Park is laid out like an English garden, with curved paths, lines of sight, and ponds (which become skating rinks in the winter). Tall trees and numerous flower beds catch the eye.

The Botanical Garden is a series of these curved paths and squares, alongside of which are plantings of most of the herbs you could ever think of. Each bed is labeled in case the smell doesn’t tell you what the herb is.

Lying on the edge of the city center, this park is the people’s living room. What an assess this is for the city.

Travel Sketches on Facebook

I place my posts on my Facebook page in addition to my blog. If you read my posts on Facebook, you miss most of the photos I use. Facebook allows only one photo for my posts. A case in point is the post two weeks ago about the Miele Museum. With that post, I included photos of the bicycles and automobile they manufactured. I’m including these photos with this post for those of you who asked. You will always find my complete posts on my blog (TravelSketches.info) rather than on Facebook.

Fact: As of 2022, 21% of Americans over 18 years of age were illiterate
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An English Garden in Gütersloh

There is an English garden on the edge of city center Gütersloh. This city park, Stadtpark, or Volkspark (peoples park), is made up of 38.3 acres, seven and a half of which are a botanical garden. The entire park is very popular with the citizens of Gütersloh given its lushness and walkability. It has sometimes been referred to as Gütersloh’s green living room.

The Park is Created

This English Garden was created during the years 1909 to 1914, and included a botanical garden. Parks like this were developed in Germany at the end of the 19^th century, especially in industrialized cities. The rapid industrial and population growth at the time resulted in a deterioration in living conditions. Parks were created as places for respite, relaxation, recreation and physical exercise.

A popular area is the lake at the south edge of the park. It includes an island in the middle, known as the love park. In the winter, it becomes an ice-skating rink.

The Park is Restored

Old plans and photographs were used in 1992 to restore the park to its original design and expand the grounds. Toward the end of the restoration period, 1997-1998, themed plots were added in the botanical garden including sun, medicinal, fountain, and semi-natural gardens. I found the medicinal garden fascinating with 50 different herbs and plants that can be used in healing. I also walked down the perfume tunnel, along which a series of various plants offered subtle smells.

The following YouTube video is labeled the Botanical Garden, but in reality, it is much more the Stadtpark or English garden.

Sitting amidst the botanical garden is the Palmenhaus Café. It looks like a greenhouse without plants; instead, you can relax and enjoy a meal or a beverage while looking out at the various gardens.

Meiers Mill

When I visited the park, I approached it along its western side and saw this large, half-timbered building. In the center was a display showing that it was a bridal salon. I thought, “How strange.” I crossed a bridge and went on. On my way back, I saw a clever painting of a waterwheel on the side of the building which sat alongside the waterway I had crossed earlier. As I got closer, I realized it was the real deal. Then I could see the small waterfall cascading toward the wheel.

I did some research on Meiers Mühle (Mill) and found that it is the oldest mill in Gütersloh. I learned that about 800 AD there was a large farm with mill which the farmers used to grind their crops. That farm became the beginnings of Gütersloh. Some of that land must have also become today’s Stadtpark and Botanical Garden.

Fact: The Stadtpark receives about 170,000 visitors every year
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Cuenca’s Botanical Garden

Along with the old in Cuenca is the new. Not long ago, there was a large plot of land on the south side of the city at the junction of two of Cuenca’s four rivers – Yanuncay and Tarqui. The site was ripe for development.

The City of Cuenca and nearby University of Azuay developed a project in 2020 resulting in the creation of Jardin Botanico. The Schools of Biology and Environmental Engineering have accepted responsibility for the development of this garden. Both students and faculty are making this into more than a garden. It will also be a research center.

The School of Biology is charged with installing native plants in addition to creating a pollinator garden. The School of Environmental Engineering is establishing a weather station to research the quality of soil and water. Their research will look at nature-based solutions for environmental issues. The garden will serve as a natural living laboratory, to gain knowledge of and solutions to our growing environmental crises.

This garden is in its infancy, but the infrastructures have been put into place. An extensive network of boardwalks was built, travelling along and arching over the planned-for vegetation. The grounds include a pond and waterway, complete with ducks. Next, a series of low-lying buildings were constructed, including an auditorium, cafeteria, administrative offices, and potting sheds.

Botanical gardens grace the other three large cities in Ecuador. Cuenca’s garden will take time to further develop, for plants and trees to grow, and for the citizens to visit. Appreciation will grow along with the vegetation, and Jardin Botanico will take its place among Cuenca’s other must-see important sites.

Fact: Cuenca’s green belt project has given 12 square meters of green space to each citizen
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