The Garden

 The garden of Eden.  Even for those who do not believe in a literal garden, the image is of a place of beauty, innocence and serenity.  I have always felt that a garden is good for the soul, as well as the body.  

Wikipedia describes Terra Nostra Park as a botanical paradise.  Blame those Portuguese sailors who, while exploring the world, brought back all kinds of species and planted then on Sao Miguel island where anything grows.  So within steps of each other flourish tree ferns from New Zealand, eucalyptus from Australia, magnolias from the southern United States, cycads from South Africa, azaleas from China, oaks from Ontario, puhutakawa from New Zealand, taro from Hawaii, pines from Norfolk Island and camellias from Japan.  

It is the latter which drew me to the park yesterday.  February and March are camellia season and in addition to the hundreds of specimens in the park, there was a Camellia show in Furnas.  For two days and for an entry cost of 1 euro, one can see the spectacular variety of form and colour of the camellia.  Many of the samples came from the Terra Nostra Park.  I have been to the show in other years and the blossoms presented this year did not disappoint.

But there was something new which fascinated me.  In the middle of the floral displays, there were sliced 'logs' of highly decorative material.  The outside of the logs were patterned.  I had to know what they were.  Going to the lady at the entrance who took me to the gentleman who was the curator of the show, I learned that the logs were stems of tree ferns.  The ferns had not been cut for the show, but stems of plants which had died were used.  The inside of the logs was still full, though it decays quickly to reveal a hollow stem.  

And, the reason I guessed, was a little vase that I got in New Zealand about 38 years ago, which is on the shadowbox in our bathroom, second shelf on the right hand side.

So, there is always something new to learn, some new beauty to appreciate!