October and Pushkin, the Poet

                  Alexander Pushkin,   ‘Autumn’

                  1799-1837,  Russian Poet

   

October has arrived - and now the grove

Has shed its final leaves from naked boughs.

The autumn cold has blown – and frozen roads.

Behind the mill the burbling brook still sounds.

But now the pond is still. My neighbor goes

Off to the distant field to hunt. His hounds

Will wake the woods with all their barking noise,

As winter wheat is crushed by frenzied joys.

Men often curse chill autumn‘s final days

But I, my dear reader, always see with love

Her gentle beauty, with its somber blaze,

She touches me the way a child does,

For whom none cares. And frankly I must say,

That fall’s the only time of year I love;

She’s kind and good; and in her I discover

A wayward dream to charm a humble lover.

                        

 Translated by James E. Falen

 From ‘Selected Lyrical Poetry’  (2009)

Autumn Colors in the Garden

   These October days the weather was good. I took my camera and went to the Botanical Garden. I have not been there for almost 10 years.

The Garden is beautiful, and there are new plants, rocky gardens and rockeries.

Rhododendrons were still blooming, different colors fuchsias grew in the open air near the rhododendrons.

Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden is the oldest garden in Russia, was founded by King Peter I in 1714 for cultivation of medicinal plants, as well as rare and interesting "foreign" plants. The Garden grounds served as a "Pharmaceutical Garden".

In 1823 the Garden has been named the Imperial Botanical Garden. At the same time the park-arboretum was created and the Conservatory was built, which largely preserved to this day.

 During WWII Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden was very affected by the bombing.
The first bomb fell on the Garden territory in October 1941, the blast blew out windows in Tropical greenhouse, a boiler stopped working. Under these conditions, a tropical collection was almost lost, because of freezing weather overnight. 

After the war, the garden has been recreated, greenhouses and their huge collection restored.

 I walked and saw a very old tree. I remember this old tree from my childhood, "when the trees were big".

 Finally I found a large flower bed in front of the main entrance, it surprised me. A Banana  tree was in the center, Cannas were planted around it, and ornamental cabbages grew around Cannes.

Now the Botanical Garden Conservatory has more than 75 000 living plants collections.  The Garden boasts a collection of woody and herbaceous plants in the open air in one of the most northerly Botanical Gardens in the world.

There are a lot of beautiful places in the October Botanical garden, I enjoyed the warm colorful fall day.

 Yesterday I was nominated to Sunshine Award by Satu http://satumaistaeloa.blogspot.com

I appreciate this Award very much, Satu!

Thurs Claim this award, one must answer seven questions. 

favorite number: 7

favorite non-alcoholic drink: juice

favorite animal: cat

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook

Passion: gardening

Favorite day of the week: Monday

Favorite flower: Hydrangea 

Now I want to nominate blogs:

1. Betty, blog Gum Leaves  http://gumleaves.blogspot.com

2. Tammy, blog Casa Mariposa  http://ts-casamariposa.blogspot.com

3. Boriana, blog The flowers, forest, food  http://borianaboeva.blogspot.com 

4. Arek Cin, blog I assume the Park  http://zakladampark.blogspot.com/

5. Lucia-Maria, blog Glass, Eye and Heart  http://czarownyswiat.blogspot.com/   

Congratulation!                            

                                             

Orchids and Turtles

 The rain intensified and I decided to go to the Conservatory of the Munich Botanical garden and to see a plants collection.

This plant collection is very extensive and includes tropical, subtropical, high mountains and desert plants. As soon as I entered into the tropical greenhouse, it became hot and humid and I forgot about the cool and rainy day outside the glass wall.

One of the halls was dedicated to orchids, plants living in the jungle.

Air orchids are the largest group of orchids, they live on trees or other plants, getting nutrients from decaying wood and moisture out of the air.
All these are developed with the help of their aerial roots.

I want to grow an orchid Phalaenopsis at my home, it is not demanding and prefers soft diffused light. They are well suited for sunny sites in the room, a few away from windows and direct light. 

Orchids were hanging from trees, a creek murmuring at the bottom run into a small lake.

Some turtles and goldfish lived in the lake. There were a lot of turtles and they were very curious.

It seemed to me that I was actually in the jungle, but I would look at other halls and I went further in desert.


to be continued