| The Botanical House in Balboa Park is built of wooden slats with
spaces between, but no glass. This gives the plants some protection from the
hot summer sun but allows in plenty of light and fresh air, which gives the
plants the chance to grow more naturally. Most of the plants here are the
sort that we have to grow in pots in conservatories or on the windowsill,
such as this aphelandra. |  |
 | It surprised us just
how many of the plants were still in flower when we visited, but some had
obviously flowered rather earlier as they were now bearing fruit. This is
just as striking as many of the flowers. |
| I have never seen a monstera in flower or with fruit, but that is
what this is. The large white object is the inflorescence which develops
into an edible fruit with a banana/pineapple flavour. Otherwise as the seeds
ripen the outer sheath dries and splits, allowing the seeds to eventually
drop off. |  |
 | Small plants like these would be lost among the general planting,
but displayed as part of this small water feature they really catch the eye. |
| Unfortunately not all
the plants are labelled so I am not sure what this is, but the tulip-shaped
cup of petals are filled to bursting with the bright yellow stamens. |  |
 | This display of airplants looks really happy and healthy, unlike
the two specimens that Jan tried to grow at home. |
| There is quite a
collection of begonias here, which sounds fairly ordinary to us. Some have beautiful double flowers, but the
most spectacular are the ones with striking foliage... |  |
 | and when we get
spotted leaves like this at home we think it is water damage - this variety
has been deliberately bred. |
| This would look really good growing in our garden - if we lived
in the Canaries. It is a variety of hibiscus. |  |
 | Another houseplant
that is difficult to grow successfully, anthurium. |
| But perhaps the most fascinating group of plants, if not always
the most beautiful, is the orchids. This one on the right looks more
like an almost dead spider plant, and we almost missed it as a result, but
most of them are are more showy. And the range of colours covers most of the
spectrum, as the other examples below show. |  |
 | . |  |
| The exhibits are not confined to inside the building. This pair
of fan palms is quite beautiful. |  |
 | We were visiting at
the wrong time of year to see the water lilies, but the labels show that
this pool would be a riot of colour in the summer. In the winter the grasses
and the reflections of the building behind still make it a beautiful
feature. |
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