Everyday we are surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s hard to find our own place where we can rest a little bit on the bosom of nature. But not so far away from the city centre of Mainz in Germany is a special green place. It’s “Botanischer Garten”, which is located on the campus of the Johannes Gutenberg University.
This is a science garden, where, you can learn how huge is the spectrum of plant diversity, and also just take a walk, have a picnic, or a nap. You can find there almost everything, from little wood with sequoias trees, through steppes and ending with flowers meadows. But it’s not all about walking in the beautiful park surrounded by green life. The main goal of this botanical garden is researching and helping to protect regional rare plants, which are very often from the region of Nadrenia-Palatynat. The University is organizing a guided tour, during them participants have opportunity to take a full breath, listen to birds chirping and learn why is it important to keep endangered species in their natural habitats.
Mainz has a very good relatively dry climate, which allows for cultivation of many thermophilic plants all year round. In “Botanisher Garten” you can also find plants from every side of the world. Johannes Gutenberg University can be proud because in their garden is the biggest in Europe collection of sage of the genus Salvia. The most important thing, except learning next generation about environmental protection, is cooperation with different botanical gardens and universities in the whole world, thanks to the Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Thanks to this “Botanischer Garten” can acquire new seeds and plants, so visitors can enjoy a green spot in the city. Since 1946 workers of the garden are trying to continue their mission and help to save a lot of endangered species of plants. They’ve made a place where people can run away from their reality with fumes, congestion of people and noise. You don’t have to go far away to rest surrounded by nature, you just have to go on Franz von Bentzel-Weg 9 to the “Botanischer Garten”.
Texte et photos : Sara