Ventnor

We managed one visit to Ventnor Botanic Garden this year (on the site of a large, but now near vanished TB sanatorium), opting for the car rather than a long bus journey in what might have been a crowded bus. As it was, the country route there was scenic, but took a little longer than we expected, given various diversions, I think due to Southern Water being up to something.

Started off with tea and cheese scone on the terrace overlooking the gardens. The scone was very fresh but was not very like the cheese scones we make ourselves. It was yellow inside and tasted, to me, more like cake than scone, albeit cheese flavoured. BH thought that they had put an egg into the mix. Certainly something was wrong. See reference 2 for the real thing.

The odd crumbs went to a small, very tame robin. I was rather impressed with the way that he could peck up a crumb by jabbing at it with his beak - with timing good enough not to keep ramming his beak onto the concrete. I have just tried picking up a biro with a similar jabbing motion, and while I am not ramming my fingers onto the desktop, I am not picking up the biro either. Maybe birds devote a lot of brain power to jab control.

From the terrace, looped around the garden clockwise, taking in another red squirrel. Our fourth lifetime sighting. BH got a couple of lizards as well, but at that point she was in front and they were well gone by the time they were pointed out.

A good looking heap of bricks in the yard on the southern boundary. But not convenient to add to my collection.

A grove of Echiums. We first came across them here, but now they have reached Hampton Court, not quite as exotic as they were. A native of La Palma in the Canary Islands. I don't recall seeing them on Tenerife which we used to visit, but it was a long time ago now.

More echiums.

Some kind of aloe with the giant yellow flower? With a couple of the few remaining sanatorium buildings behind. There are also some renting cottages, which attracted at first, but then we thought that Ventnor generally was a bit of the edge of things, a fair way from our usual haunts, and it is a fair walk to Ventnor town from the gardens. And not very accessible to the Island Line, not unless they reopen the Shanklin-Ventnor stretch (which they are thinking about), and even then one has to get to the garden from the town. So voted down, both as a main holiday destination(car) and as a weekend destination (train).

This aloe looked particularly healthy. Put the ones in pots at Hampton Court a bit in the shade.

Red hot pokers, presently yellow hot. I think it is the very hot house left, complete with giant lily. It was quite a hot day and I didn't fancy the wet heat, so left BH to do that one by herself. While I made the acquaintance of a chap on a motor cycle holiday from Potters Bar, but native to Barcelona. He knew all about these hot climate plants and generally seemed quite knowledgeable for a lorry driver - which was what I think he was. Apparently when you drive all day you don't want to do it on holiday, but swap the steering wheel for handlebars and all is well.

Took sandwiches in the usually fancy café by the pond for lunch - which apart from cake was about all they had to offer. But they managed to remember to leave the Branston's off my ham sandwich so that was OK. Even better if they had gone a bit easier on the butter. I also got a good dollop of those multicoloured crisps they make out of root vegetables - too many for me, but BH managed to get through hers. Quite a good choice of booze on offer, but a bit early in the day for that. Plus there was the drive home for one of us.

As far as we could tell, plenty of good sized pine trees, but no Wellingtonia. Possible that they lost them in the couple of bad storms they have had in the last thirty years or so, but my present bet is that they don't much like the climate on the east of the island.

On exit, three buzzards circling over the car park.

Reference 1: https://www.botanic.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/01/patisserie.html.