You’d think after two years living in Guildford we would have visited RHS Wisley on many occasions. It’s the RHS flagship garden, only 15 minutes drive away and everyone raves about it. Shamefully, we’d not visited to see what all the fuss is about. It’s not that we didn’t want to go, we really did, we’d just hadn’t found time.
The Doves spent the entire festive period entertaining, over indulging and watching television. Once our visitors had left and we were a three person family again, we were definitely overdue a day out. Even though it had rained solidly for days. And yes it was STILL raining.
We looked at suitable places to take POD that offered some kind of shelter. Then it hit us. We’d still not visited RHS Wisley. And RHS Wisley had a glasshouse. We left the house with such enthusiasm that we forgot our wellies, hats and an umbrella but it really didn’t matter. We even saw a glimmer of brightness in-between the black grey clouds. In typical British fashion though the rain re-appeared when we got out of the car!
But the Doves were at RHS Wisley. For the very first time. Today was RHS Wisley day.
On arrival we were provided with a map and advised which route to take. At this point the rain was like a tropical monsoon so we speedily made our way to the confines of The Glasshouse.
The Glasshouse looked pretty impressive. Tranquility greeted us at the entrance and POD was duly released from her buggy. The Glasshouse has three climatic zones, recreating tropical, moist temperature and dry temperature habitats. It also features a special interactive Root Zone, the Clore Learning Centre and the Horticultural Theatre. It really had been built to the highest specification, using the most up-to-date technological advances with tempered glass allowing maximum light transmission, greater strength, wind resistance and thermal efficiency.
RHS Wisley describes The Glasshouse as ‘The World under Glass’. And it truly is a world tour of plants from every corner of the globe. Not only that it was fascinating and felt rather magical somehow. The Glasshouse definitely takes you on a journey of discovery while you pass rocky outcrops, waterfalls, still pools and sloping gradients.
Raised viewing platforms were also located at various points so you could experience what you were seeing from unusual vantage points. If you look closely in the waterfall photograph, you’ll see POD with Daddy behind the water.
The Dry temperature zone appears sparsely planted but it contains a rich diversity of tough, slowing growing and often prickly plants growing amongst the scree and rocks. This included desert cacti and succulents from
countries including Chile, South Africa, Madagascar and Australia.
The Moist temperature zone is kept humid and houses native plants of the forests from South America and Australasia as well as parts of Cornwall and Scotland. A groundcover of ferns and other plants grows beneath the understorey of shrubs and epiphytes, which are in turn shaded by a canopy of trees and tree ferns.
The Tropical zone contained lush foliage and dramatic flowers that flourish in heat and humidity. The combination of heat and moisture promotes fast growth, immense leaf size and extravagant, brightly coloured flowers.
Look out for banana, bromeliads, palm trees and fast-growing climbers, as well as familiar houseplants growing here to their natural sizes, such as the Swiss cheese plant and giant Maidenhair fern. This was our favourite zone in The Glasshouse, not least because it reminded me of times gone by when I lived in Australia (albeit not in a rain forest).
Whilst in The Glasshouse, we also visited the UK’s first root zone. This is an interactive area where you can learn about the interrelation between plant, plant health and what takes place underground. POD thoroughly enjoyed pressing every available button.
On leaving The Glasshouse, we were delighted to find the rain had eased slightly. Although a shorter walk than we would have liked, we did get to see a bit more of what RHS Wisley had to offer. And POD absolutely loved the ducks. There was much excitement when she spotted them initially. When we said goodbye, POD waved at them and said ‘bye bye ducks, see you later’ in a way only a two-year-old can.
So ‘bye bye, see you later’ summed up our visit to RHS Wisley. It was utterly fabulous and we’ll be back very soon because we are now RHS members. And because we are desperate to see those butterflies in The Glasshouse.
