Bergen, Norway: The Leprosy Museum and The Botanical Garden

It's a little embarassing that almost a month later, I'm still finishing up the postings on our Norway trip. And I think the pictures in this posting are going to look more familiar than those in my earlier postings. The reason: my favorite part of my trip to Norway was the plants, many of which grow here. I spent the most time in the back yard of the Leprosy Museum and the back yard of the Natural History Museum. That's a future posting--other people's backyards. I do get into them occasionally, not always by invitation (I'd love to get into some of yours . . .).

Ok, so the Leprosy Museum is quite famous--it's the former site of St. Jorgens Hospital, which was dedicated to the treatment and eradication of leprosy in Norway during the 19th century. Leprosy is also known as Hansen's Disease, named for the Norwegian, Armauer Hansen, who discovered the leprosy bacillus. The museum itself is fascinating and occasionally depressing--some of the patients' incredibly cramped quarters have been left as they were, and the medical instruments and depictions of the patients on display are a little frightening. The part of the museum I liked best? The medicinal garden in the back.

The herbs--more accurately, the medicinal plants--grew in slightly raised beds set between a small lawn and a walkway. The plants fell over the edges of the bed, providing lots of fragrance as I brushed by them.

The plants weren't marked, which was both frustrating and a little humbling. I kept thinking, "I know what this is!" But then I couldn't remember . . . (in some cases, still can't).

Of course I recognize coneflower, though I've started to think of it as ornamental, forgetting that it's Echinacea, the root of which was traditionally used as an antibiotic. I don't think I'm telling anyone anything they don't already know, but Echinacea root is sold in capsule form as a very popular means of boosting one's immune system. (The voles in my garden have been going after my coneflowers--maybe they're gearing up for flu season?)

Another wonder herb--allium. This is one of those things that I'll probably be embarrassed by--but I'm not sure exactly what this is. I've read that onions and garlic are among the most beneficial foods we can eat. Almost everything I cook starts with garlic, onion, and red pepper (ok, so maybe not brownies). But I don't grow garlic or onions--this is some kind of garlic, right?

And this next one--I'm pretty sure it's some kind of Eupatorium--I guess they might still be growing Boneset for historical color. There was no flower, so it's pretty hard to identify.

And I loved this flower! The Curmudgeon says it's a Saponaria. I've grown the kind called "Bouncing Bet," which is taller and pinker. This one is gorgeous--I think it might have been a volunteer in their tansy bed.

And could this be Gunnera? At first I thought Norway must be too cold, but then Bergen has a milder climate than we do in Eastern Virginia. I've never heard that Gunnera has a medicinal use, but this was the more ornamental edge of the garden--or, just as likely, I don't what the medicinal use is . . .

From the Leprosy Museum, I headed over to the Botanical Gardens--they're behind the Natural History Museum at the University of Bergen. I was there on an unusually sunny day--and like students in Virginia, the students in Bergen were making the most of it.

The gardens had a huge collection of Primula, a number of which I'd seen in other gardens. This long border is mostly Primula and ferns.

This one is Primula vialli . . .

I couldn't find the tag for the next one. I think it might be Primula sikkimensis--I love the flower:

This next one is embarassing. I thought I'd included the tag in the frame, but I missed half of it (so I can see c-a-p, maybe -i?)--I haven't been able to find it in my books--the flowers look a little bit like an allium, though the leaves are pretty clearly Primula.

This flower was in a bed of Rudbeckia, and again I couldn't find the label. I love it--is it possible it's Inula?

This was another flower I loved but couldn't find a tag for--my friend Jackaranda thinks it might be Impatiens balsamina.

I did run into another tourist in the garden, but he didn't know the names of anything:

I was happy to see that, like me, the Botanical Gardeners occasionally missed a spot (or maybe they just want some things to go to seed?)--I loved these yellow flowers on the ornamental kale (it's kale, right?--I might actually get some if the flowers look like these).

And the sign says this next plant is a cherry belle radish!

I have grown cherry belles, but I never let them go--will they really get this big?

Anyway, the Botanical Gardens were lovely. These are very familiar plants--two of my favorite annuals, marigold and heliotrope--the arrangement falls under the category "why didn't I think of this?"

So I came away from my trip with some ideas for my garden next year--and I have been working in it (one reason, in this cooler weather, that I haven't been posting very regularly). I'll be back to my own flowers soon--after one more post on Europe--on Amsterdam's flower market--coming soon. Adjo, for now.

Bergen, Norway: Mount Floyen, the Bergenhaus Festning and Lille Lungegardsvan

We've spent the morning waiting for Tropical Storm Hanna. And speaking of depressions:

School has started. Summer is (all but) over. Time in the garden is hard to come by.

So by way of repressing the depressing (and because Hanna is dropping some much needed rain and keeping me inside), I'm going to return to Norway for a little while.

The best view of Bergen (the city we visited, the second largest in Norway) is from the top of Mount Floyen. It's about a 45 minute hike to the summit (at 1050 feet)--but to save energy for the trails at top, I took the Floibanen, a funicular railway with huge windows and a glass roof that affords spectacular views of the city center. This is a view of Vagen Harbor.

The harbor opens onto the Byfjorden. You can see a cruise ship moored on the north side of the harbor (top right); the Fisketorget (fish market) is at the end, and our hotel is the red building on the south side (to the left). Here's a closer view of the hotel, above the trees in the foreground.

The slopes of Mt. Floyen are typical of the forest in the fjords--lots of spruce, pine, aspen, oak, birch, and mountain ash (or rowan). The rowan trees thrive in incredibly rocky conditions; this time of year, they are covered with red berries.

At the summit of the mountain is a restaurant surrounded by balconies with spectacular views and beautifully landscaped lookout points.

Potentilla seems to flourish in Bergen's climate--besides roses, it was the most common perennial I saw in the cultivated gardens. In this border alongside the restaurant, it's nestled alongside a sedum and an adorable little yellow flower that I haven't been able to identify--maybe some kind of impatiens? Does anyone recognize it? I love it--and though I haven't had much luck with potentilla, sedum does well here--maybe this yellow flower would grow in Virginia?

Here's more potentilla in a larger, more sprawling border . . .