(Post and image provided by Grace Moeggenborg)
Today we had the amazing opportunity to explore the Uppsala University Botanical Garden (Linnaean Garden), a special piece of botanical and Swedish history! Founded in 1655 by a professor at Uppsala University, this garden was the first of its kind and was later redesigned and curated by Carl Linnaeus, an 18th century biologist and scientist who created the taxonomy system we now know. Each species was originally cultivated by Linnaeus and organized according to his logic. There are currently over 1,300 plant species in the garden!
We had plenty of time to meander through the garden, seeing peonies in bloom, a host of succulents, and a burgundy-leaved beech tree. We visited the Orangeri, where warm-weather plants are kept inside for the winter and even got to see still-thriving laurel trees in pots, planted by Linnaeus himself! Afterwards, we visited the greenhouse, which was filled with a variety of tropical and desert plants, including a few breathtaking species of carnivorous plants.
Due to the chilly weather, we decided to use the afternoon for exploration of Uppsala or time for homework in between our field trips!