The museum garden is visited a lot, and one can understand that. And since the beginning on 4 May 1898, the garden has only gotten prettier and prettier, many believe.
The garden is protected, but…
– The fact that the garden itself, the gardener’s residence and the plant house are protected – which it was ten years ago, does not mean that everything must remain untouched. The structure of the garden itself, with its walkways and beds, can be tampered with – but the plants themselves are not protected, and these must be replaced at various intervals, says Hilde Margrethe Moen Selstø, who is the operations manager of the fantastically beautiful garden.
– Look how beautiful the handkerchief tree is now.
We are on an ever so small tour of the garden, and Hilde shows off the tree which is certainly worth a closer look.
– And over there in the corner of the garden are what we think must be the oldest rhododendrons we know in the rhododendron city of Bergen, points out the operations manager.
– Jørgen Brunchorst, who was the garden’s founder, has said that he got these from his stepfather who had a nursery in Sandviken. They were probably introduced in 1870. They are therefore older than the garden.
The large stone bed facing the University Museum reveals a small treat.
– When the manager of the Muséhagen, Rolf Nordhagen, removed the artificial burial mound in his time, he laid a stone bed in 1927 and planted a perennial flower cress, which we enjoy to this day.
Now it is just before the flowers pop out on the “old one” that has multiplied and is fine in several places in the stone bed. The cress from the mountain areas of Chile and Argentina has also bloomed every single year!
– And when we are first in on everyone who has been with us over time, we can’t get past the big oak tree up on the hill. It has a history going back as long as the garden itself, and is perhaps much older than that.
In other words, the museum garden is full of big and small stories. Some probably unknown to most.
Special Sunday
That is why UiB wants to show that the Muséhagen is for everyone, and turns the anniversary celebration into a proper family Sunday. And to everyone who has perhaps never set foot in the Muséhagen, or just wants a different Sunday trip, Hilde says:
– Come by on Sunday, then we’ll deliver the little extra…
Operations manager Hilde says that there will be popular bumblebee walks with children, activities and puzzles for the youngest and adults.
It all starts at 1,200 and then it goes on and on with birthday cake, organized hikes and tours – plus a concert. And then there will be more stands.
2023-06-10 19:08:09
#time #gardening #years
