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Great Gardens of Europe Season 1 Episode 1 EnglishMovie cdrama drama engsub chinesedramaengsub movieshortfull
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00:00From vibrant blooms in every imaginable shade, to magical landscapes that feel like they've sprung from a fairy tale, breathtaking clifftop vistas and lush tropical sanctuaries alive with the extraordinary.
00:18This UV light will reveal what insects see.
00:20It is so symbolic of the flower figures on the island.
00:24Four of Europe's most enchanting horticultural wonders.
00:29It only flowers once every ten years.
00:32Everything grows so tall that we feel like we are being smashed by nature.
00:36Where every garden tells a story.
00:39This is our star of the garden.
00:41It really tells us the history of the garden instead.
00:45And every corner reveals a secret.
00:48You realize why they picked this point for the Game of Thrones?
00:51This has been like a vault with all our most precious treasures.
00:55We'll share tips and tricks for your own gardens.
00:58Are they starting to turn brown? Are they losing petals?
01:01And immerse ourselves in the legacies that continue to inspire garden lovers the world over.
01:08Welcome to Europe's greatest gardens.
01:12Nestled on the Dutch coast, just south of the vibrant city of Amsterdam, is Leiden, known as the City of Discoveries.
01:25Though small in size, Leiden is a treasure trove, bursting with a rich tapestry of history and culture.
01:38There's charming cobblestone streets and serene canals lined with historic buildings and bustling green spaces.
01:44Home to the esteemed Leiden University, this city has been a beacon of knowledge and innovation since the 16th century.
01:57And right at its heart is one of Leiden's most cherished gems, the Hortus Botanicus.
02:04This is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands and it was founded in 1590.
02:09It was open to the public since the beginning, which is quite special.
02:13But also we are a scientific botanical garden, we are linked to the university and that means that there's a lot of research being done here and this is also very important.
02:25This is a garden of wonder.
02:27As we journey through the retreat, we're greeted by serene pockets of beauty.
02:36Here, vibrant flowers bloom in a kaleidoscope of colours, while towering trees from all corners of the globe stand tall.
02:46But this isn't merely a sanctuary of beauty, it's a haven of great significance.
02:51Within these grounds, the garden's first director, esteemed Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius, popularised tulips throughout the land.
03:04But that's just the beginning of this garden's remarkable story.
03:08In the 1800s, it emerged as one of the pivotal forces in revolutionising European horticulture, by introducing a stunning mix of plants from the Far East.
03:18Among these treasures were wisteria and hydrangeas, plants that transformed the very fabric of gardens across the continent.
03:31At the heart of this oasis, we discovered the true stars of the garden, a complex of glasshouses, showcasing some of the rarest and most unusual plants from around the globe.
03:43Including the majestic giant water lily, and the largest orchid in all of the Netherlands.
03:56Our journey begins in the Winter Garden, the first glasshouse we encounter when we enter this Eden.
04:02It's very spacious, but it's most of all very practical, and it's because we use it to store our tub plants in the winter.
04:11In the top of it is where we keep a very special, very popular collection.
04:15Rogier van Wucht is head of horticulture, and has worked here for over 15 years.
04:24He's responsible for all the flora in the collection, including this rather sinister mini-jungle of killer plants.
04:31This is a bogland. It's a completely self-supporting ecosystem of mosses, and between the mosses you have various species of carnivorous plants.
04:44And carnivorous plants are, for me, one of the reasons why I love plants.
04:49When I was a kid, the fact that a plant would lure and then capture and then eat an insect was something otherworldly,
04:57because it's just not something that plants are supposed to do, but they do exist.
05:00By far the most famous of these carnivorous plants is the Venus flytrap.
05:11With its bright green fanged leaves often tinged with red, it's visually striking, but it's also as fearsome as it looks.
05:21Because they are waiting for an insect, and when the insect enters the leaves, they will shut, they will close,
05:27and then they will kill and digest the insect.
05:31One of the most amazing things about the Venus flytrap is not that it can only move, it can also calculate.
05:38On every leaf half, there are three little trigger hairs.
05:42If they are touched once, then it could be, for example, a fallen leaf or a raindrop, and nothing will happen.
05:48However, if they are touched twice, the trap will close and it will capture the insect.
05:53And if the insect keeps moving, they will shut even more tightly, and then it will digest the prey.
06:01You can grow these killer plants quite easily in the UK, provided you create the right conditions to mimic their natural habitat.
06:10For best results, plant them in a pot filled with acidic, well-draining soil, such as a mix of sphagnum and sand, with plenty of sunlight.
06:19This miniature world really is like looking at alien invaders from a sci-fi movie.
06:30The Venus flytrap may be the most famous, but there are actually hundreds of species of carnivorous plants that grow everywhere from the Arctic to Australia.
06:41One of the most beautiful is this, the sundew.
06:46But don't be misled by its beguiling looks, it too is a killer.
06:52The sundews are in fact related to the Venus flytrap, but they work in a very different way.
06:58Their leaves are covered in long hairs and on the tip of every hair there is a droplet of sticky fluid, like a sort of mucus.
07:04Once an insect is attracted to these leaves and it will land on the leaf, it will be glued, stuck.
07:10And more tentacles will bend towards the insect to cover the insect in the fluid, and inside it are enzymes which will dissolve the insects.
07:19And then the fluids of the insect will be absorbed by the plant, and this is how the plant eats.
07:23And this is a South African species.
07:25There are, however, several species which are native to our continent.
07:29In the UK, for example, you have three different species of sundew.
07:34All three British species thrive in boggy environments, many of which are protected due to habitat loss.
07:42Fortunately, these native varieties, the oblong, great and round-leaved sundews, can be bought from many nurseries or specialist growers.
07:49This South African cape sundew is one of the easiest and most forgiving to grow, making it perfect for beginners.
07:58Grown in peat moss on a sunny windowsill, sundews can thrive in your home, adding a touch of exotic beauty and functional pest control.
08:07While all of these weird and wonderful specimens are on show for all to see, there is one glass house that remains strictly out of bounds to the public, for very good reason.
08:26Well, welcome in one of our most sacred places.
08:34This is basically like a vault with all our most precious treasures.
08:39And this is because some of the plants are of very high scientific value, and therefore the risk of them getting stolen or damaged is too big.
08:47Among the rarest and most valuable plants kept here are a number of carnivorous pitcher plants.
08:53Maybe not as fearsome as the Venus flytrap, or as pretty as the sundew.
09:00They are one of nature's botanical marvels, blending beauty and ingenuity with a touch of the macabre.
09:07This is a pitcher plant, and this is not just any pitcher plant.
09:15This is an apentis rigidifolia, and it's one of the rarest species in the world.
09:19It comes from Sumatra, and it's nearly extinct, but it's a very good species to explain how a pitcher plant works.
09:26So the pitcher is formed at the end of a leaf, and it's basically a tube from which the inside is very smooth.
09:34So any insect that drops in is not able to walk out anymore.
09:38On the bottom there's a little bit of fluid, which will help to digest the insects.
09:43And there are little pores inside that can absorb the nutrients.
09:45If we move up to the pitcher, we see this band when insects are attracted to it, because it has a bright color.
09:53But it's also slippery, so when they are close to the edge, they often drop in.
09:57And then on top of the pitcher you have the lid, and it has two functions.
10:01First of all, it prevents the pitcher from raining full with water, because if it would, then every insect that falls in can just walk out.
10:07But there are also tiny nectar glands, and these nectar glands produce very sweet nectar.
10:13And wasps and ants and all kinds of insects are attracted to it, and they are on the underside of this lid.
10:19And every now and then, especially if there's a raindrop falling on top of it, the insect will drop in to be devoured by the plant.
10:26So another nice trick to lure insects is the color of the peristone.
10:31So for us it's a reddish color, but for insects it looks even better than that.
10:35But to show that I have a UV light, and this UV light will reveal what insects see, and suddenly the rim turns a beautiful bluish hue.
10:45Especially at night, this is very, very spectacular.
10:48So it's really the rim, the opening of the pitcher, where the plant wants the insects to go.
10:58Beyond their alluring appearance, pitcher plants are masters of survival.
11:02Thriving in nutrient-poor soils by transforming insects into sustenance.
11:08But be sure to buy from reputable outlets.
11:11A species like the Nepenthes rigidfolia have been driven to the edge of extinction by illegal poaching and loss of habitat.
11:18So these plants are absolutely priceless when it comes not just their financial value, but also the fact that they are very, very important for the future of the species.
11:31Coming up.
11:34Way before the stock markets, way before the Bitcoin.
11:38We uncover the captivating history of a Dutch icon, the tulip.
11:42This tulip bulb was the first economic bubble.
11:47And we meet one of the garden's true stars.
11:50It's unbelievable to see how fast everything grows.
11:52The majestic giant water lily.
11:55We're in the charming city of Leiden.
12:13Just 40 kilometers south of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
12:19Hidden away from the bustling streets and canals, lies a green oasis.
12:25The Hortus Botanicus.
12:27One of the oldest botanical gardens in the world.
12:30In 1593, this remarkable garden appointed its first director.
12:36The plant pioneer, Carolus Clusius.
12:41Renowned for his extraordinary contributions to botany, Clusius was among the first in Europe to celebrate flowers and plants for their stunning beauty, rather than simply their practical uses.
12:53Notably, he was the man who brought tulips to the masses.
12:57Thanks to his legacy, 400 years later, the Dutch are still the largest producer of tulips in the world.
13:04And just up the road from the Hortus Botanicus is the family-run Pennings Farm, one of the biggest in the Netherlands.
13:14We grow now about 200 million tulips, about 450 different varieties on 200 acres all over the Netherlands.
13:23But before they became so common, tulips were highly sought after and extremely valuable.
13:30Way before the stock markets, way before the Bitcoin, this tulip bulb was the first economic bubble.
13:39And in 1636, they paid 10,000 guilders.
13:42And that's now calculated with inflation, 2.1 million euros for a single tulip bulb.
13:52With single bulbs being so precious back in the 16th century, Clusius established a dedicated area for them at the Hortus.
13:59A replica of which still exists, and is still used today.
14:07Clusius had this fenced section.
14:11I think the fence is not so much to save them for stealing, because you and I can jump over the fence, but more to express the value, the rarity of these very new novelty bulbs.
14:27Carla Thuner first came to work at the Hortus almost 60 years ago.
14:33She was the world's first female head of horticulture at a botanical garden, and even had a tulip named after her for her 70th birthday.
14:41And it is a beautiful tulip, pink-purple.
14:45Although now retired, she still likes to muck in planting tulips in the same way that Clusius did 400 years ago.
14:52I have been planting bulbs since 2014, a lot of crocus, all the small ones, and I'm now at 150,000.
15:02Very beautiful one. One.
15:05In the time of Clusius, they planted one, or two, or three, because tulips were still very rare in those days.
15:13In the early 1600s, everyone who was anyone wanted tulips in their garden.
15:22And this tulip mania meant that a huge area south of Amsterdam was taken over with tulip production.
15:27But in 1637, the bubble burst. Prices plummeted, and investors were ruined.
15:39The tulips, though, have proved somewhat more resilient.
15:43The Netherlands is still the largest producer of tulip bulbs in the world.
15:50Around 2 billion are grown each year.
15:5375% of the global market, worth billions of dollars, are exported to over 100 countries.
15:59I absolutely adore the flower. It's, I think, the best flower in the world.
16:05It's so diverse in shape, in color, in size, also with the richest history. It's just a phenomenal flower.
16:13Surprisingly for Sylvia and her family, it's not the flower that holds the key.
16:19Just like Clusius 400 years ago, the true treasure lies in the bowl.
16:28Every year, this vibrant, multicolored blanket is cut down in its prime.
16:34We top the heads of the stem of the flower, and it's, of course, a very sad period.
16:41Visitors to our area are sometimes literally crying next to the field, like, what are you doing to the field?
16:46But we do that to make the bulb grow and to make it start to make baby bulbs.
16:53So as soon as you cut the head off, the energy from the bulb goes, instead of upwards, back into the bulb,
17:01and that's what makes the bulb grow.
17:03So we are bulb growers. We do nothing with the flower.
17:07So it's organic feeding for the soil.
17:10In late summer, the bulbs are dug up and taken inside this giant nursery building.
17:16Where they're cleaned, dried, and peeled.
17:20So, this is the smallest bulb we have.
17:23This is size one.
17:25And it takes seven years before you have a sellable bulb out of this small size.
17:30So we plant these smaller bulbs back into our, on our fields in November again.
17:36So seven years, it has to be harvested again, planted again, peeled again, for the whole process, for seven years.
17:44The bigger the bulb, the bigger the flower.
17:47So you need to have a lot of patience before you have, yeah, a big sellable bulb out of this small baby bulb.
17:54Tulips prefer sunny, sheltered areas with well-drained soil, making them ideal for beds, borders, or pots.
18:02Plant the bulbs in autumn, with the pointed end facing up.
18:06In the UK's mild climate, they are often grown as annuals.
18:09But you can extend their life by lifting and storing the bulbs in a cool, dry place after flowering for another season of blooms.
18:18400 years ago, they were a lot more expensive during the tulip mania.
18:22It's a shame we don't live in those ages anymore, otherwise I would be probably on Hawaii or something.
18:2720 minutes away, back in the Hortus Botanicus, we have more to thank Clusius for than just tulips.
18:42He was a pioneer in the use of glasshouses in botanical gardens,
18:47recognizing their advantages for creating controlled environments for plant growth in the late 16th century.
18:53This practice laid the foundation for modern greenhouses in both botany and horticulture.
19:04A practice that's continued today in greenhouses around the world.
19:09After a sensitive restoration of its historic buildings, today, Leiden features three sprawling glasshouses.
19:16One of the most impressive is the Victoria glasshouse, built especially to house a remarkable giant.
19:24The Victoria Amazonica, or giant water lily.
19:31Introduced here from the Amazon River Basin in South America in the late 1800s,
19:36this species is celebrated for its impressive size and striking beauty.
19:41In conditions that mimic its natural habitat, the giant water lilies are thriving.
19:55In fact, they grow so quickly that horticulturalist Theo Oteske has a job keeping them under control.
20:01Yeah, for me, every day it's unbelievable to see how fast everything grows.
20:07For example, this leaf will be in one week as big as this one.
20:12So it's really, really powerful.
20:15It's a very aggressive plant.
20:17If you let it go, it will take all over the whole pond.
20:20So I have to cut some leaves out to make space for the new leaf.
20:27I cut two leaves in one week.
20:31And most of the time, we have two flowers in one week.
20:35So every time you get one leaf and then one flower and then one leaf and then one flower again.
20:41In the wild, these giants can stretch up to an awe-inspiring three meters in diameter.
20:53Their edges curling upwards like a delicate rim, forming a natural basin to catch rain and keep the water from spilling over.
21:00With their vibrant green hue, they float gracefully on the river surface, supported by air pockets in their thick leaves.
21:13A look at the underneath of the leaf reveals some fascinating secrets to this plant's success.
21:20So what you can see here is that the underside of the leaf is very aggressive to animals.
21:26Otherwise, the fish will eat it.
21:29So it's very important that he can defend himself.
21:33It really works because they are very, very sharp.
21:36And I cut myself many times, even when I use gloves.
21:40And what you also can see here is you see some airbags.
21:45For this plant, it's very important that it will stay on the surface.
21:49And when it's raining, there comes a lot of weight on the leaves.
21:52The airbags are not only in the leaf, but also you can see them quite well in the stem.
22:01You can see here they're quite big.
22:04While cultivating these giant water lilies requires tropical conditions like this, many varieties can thrive in the UK climate.
22:18Hardy species such as Nymphaea alba and Nymphaea maliac can withstand cooler temperatures.
22:25Just be sure your pond has a depth of around two feet in the centre to protect the plants from freezing during the winter months.
22:31These aquatic wonders are regarded as the most beautiful and colourful in the water garden, leaving a lasting impression.
22:42The full-size leaf of a giant water lily is often reported to support up to a whopping 80 kilos.
22:48And its blossoms are nothing short of spectacular.
22:54As evening descends, these magnificent flowers open to reveal pristine white petals.
23:00And then as the sun rises, they gradually transform into deep pink, releasing a sweet intoxicating fragrance into the air.
23:07Creating a fleeting yet enchanting spectacle that makes every appearance truly special.
23:18Coming up.
23:19This is the deadly nightshade.
23:21As poisonous as hell.
23:22We dive into the dark but fascinating world of the apothecary.
23:26It's from this latex that heroin, all those opiates are produced from.
23:30And say hello to one of the rarest plants in the entire collection.
23:36This is our Amorphopholis titanum, also known as a giant penis plant.
23:40We're visiting the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world.
24:02While its many glass houses are home to an impressive mix of exotic species,
24:09the garden's rich history is firmly rooted in its outdoor landscape.
24:17Just next door is the University of Leiden, which established the garden in 1590,
24:23to support the emerging study of medicine, botany and pharmacology, key to producing essential medicines.
24:32At the forefront of this venture was Carolus Clusius, the garden's first director and renowned botanist,
24:38who played a vital role in shaping its collection.
24:42This area of the Hortus has been meticulously recreated from Clusius' original drawings and notes,
24:48showcasing the very plants he cultivated here.
24:51So what we know from the original planting scheme is it's not just medical plants.
25:01There's quite a variety. I mean, some of them are very familiar to us.
25:04Most of us know rosemary and thyme from the kitchen herbs that everyone uses.
25:10There is some medical plants that people use for all kinds of things,
25:14from headaches to treating infections or burns.
25:19Roderick Baumann is the scientific collection manager here at the Hortus.
25:24Every medical student had to learn during their studies about different plants,
25:28some with medical uses, some with which ones are poisonous and you should avoid them,
25:34and which ones are poisonous but fine in small doses.
25:37So you have this one, which is a species of foxglove, which is poisonous.
25:44The other one is this one.
25:47This is the deadly nightshade.
25:50It's poisonous as hell.
25:52In its Latin name, it's called Atropa belladonna.
25:55And belladonna is then for pretty lady.
25:57And that's from the old story that people used to use part of this plant,
26:02not too much, of course, to make your pupils dilate and that you then become prettier.
26:10Actually, most of this plant is poisonous, not just the very nice bright black berries,
26:17but also like the leaves, which is actually most of the plants in this family, the Solanaceae.
26:22But we like this family. Other plants in this family, it's the potato, the tomato.
26:28I mean, the tomato is there, even Clusius had them.
26:32In the 1600s, the Hortus Botanicus played a vital role in the study and use of medicinal plants throughout the world.
26:43And it inspired another garden which began to take shape on the banks of the River Thames, here in London.
26:49This new garden concentrated on cultivating plants specifically for the city's apothecaries, the Chelsea Physic Garden.
26:59There was a desire to have a bit of an accreditation to give people training how to correctly dispense herbs, spices, plants as medicine.
27:09Because some plants are so toxic that it's all about the dosage.
27:15And so 351 years ago, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, who are kind of like modern day pharmacists, created this garden here.
27:24But the gentlemen of Chelsea's Worshipful Society had a problem.
27:28So for the first 10 years of the garden's existence, they actually struggled to find a gardener or a curator to run the garden.
27:37And eventually they recruited a man named John Watts, who was an apothecary.
27:40And John Watts then approached Leiden University Botanic Garden and started a seed exchange between the two organisations to try and get more plant specimens for the garden.
27:53And so this seed exchange programme opened up the potential for London and Chelsea to start studying medicinal plants that came originally through the Dutch colonies.
28:00So it opened up a potential source of new medicines to treat the London population, which was hugely beneficial.
28:07There's a myriad of different plants that either through ancient knowledge or scientific experimentation were found to have medicinal qualities.
28:17So this is a really common garden plant, the poppy, loved by many people, lots of symbolism with poppies.
28:23But actually, a really important plant has been used medicinally for millennia.
28:26And if I make a little incision on the poppy seed here, you can start to see a white sap, a latex, starts to ooze out of it.
28:37And it's from this latex that things like morphine, codeine and heroin, all those opiates, are produced from.
28:45While the effects of opioids are well known and often contentious today, the medicinal benefits of other plants are more surprising.
28:56For thousands and thousands of years, humans were known to chew the bark of the willow tree when they had a toothache.
29:03And when scientists then synthesised the chemical from the willow, it was salicylic acid.
29:08And that chemical now creates what we know as aspirin.
29:11So aspirin has its original basis from plants such as the willow tree.
29:15The initial sharing relationship between the gardens of Leiden and Chelsea evolved into what was known as the Index Seminum.
29:26An international seed exchange programme which included nearly 400 botanical gardens and universities in all corners of the globe.
29:34So the long-term effects of this seed exchange programme is really evident in the gardens that we see today.
29:42If you look at the common garden plants you might find, many of the ornamentals are not native to the UK.
29:48They're from all around the world that have been spread by botanic gardens and have then ended up in our ornamental spaces.
29:54So a good example is the seed of Lebanon, a huge tree that we now see in lots of our parks.
30:01It's a conifer and that tree came to London through Chelsea via Leiden.
30:06So Leiden gave us the seeds and Chelsea then propagated them and grew them all around the UK and shared them.
30:13So whenever you see a seed of Lebanon in the UK or London, there's a high chance that it might have derived from Chelsea and before that from Leiden.
30:19So from such a small beginning has become a really important programme in botanic garden seed exchange.
30:28And that legacy I think is still really important today.
30:33And nowhere is it more important than back at the Hortus, where they study and preserve some of the rarest and most endangered plants in the world.
30:41Including one of the most unusual, originating from the rainforests of Sumatra and Indonesia, and now residing in Leiden's tropical glasshouse.
30:54Well, this is our Amorphophallus Titanum, also known as a giant penis plant.
31:03You're very lucky to see it because it only flowers once every 10 years roughly.
31:09And it flowers for only two nights during that whole period.
31:13And the moment that we see here, it's already flowered for two nights and it's just closing up again, but still very pretty and impressive sight to see.
31:21The name Amorphophallus comes from the spadix that you see here, this big thing.
31:27And Amorphophallus literally means shapeless erect penis.
31:31So the person that gave it its name thought that this whole structure resembled an erect penis and that's why they gave it this name.
31:39You know, size does matter, I guess.
31:41And this is actually one of the smaller ones we have.
31:45The bigger ones that we had were two, three times the size of this one.
31:50Yeah, they can get much, much bigger.
31:52But its phallic appearance is just one of its unusual qualities.
31:55This plant smells like a dead corpse, so a dead animal.
32:00That's why it's also known as corpse flower.
32:02I'd say a badger that's been left on the road for three weeks, full with maggots.
32:07That's what I'm smelling right now.
32:10Yeah.
32:11It secretes that bad smell because it's pollinated by carry-on beetles and flies.
32:14And if you want to attract those, you have to smell like a dead animal pretty much.
32:17And so it mimics a rotting process and besides the smell, it also produces heat, warmth in this spadex.
32:28If you were to put a heat camera on it, you could actually see it light up.
32:32And with a rotting process, you get a bad smell and warmth.
32:37And so it really tricks the pollinators into thinking that it's a dead animal.
32:41Flowering for just 48 hours once every 10 years, it's critical that the plant pollinates in order for it to thrive.
32:50For this, Jeff needs to give it a helping hand.
32:53It's not going to be full circumcision, don't worry.
32:55It's just a little window so we can collect the pollen so that we can put it into the freezer
33:00and pollinate another individual with this one's pollen.
33:04So, as you can see, it's quite an interesting structure.
33:09It's spongy and it's very cool because if you look at it, then you can see the female flowers here at the bottom
33:17and the male flowers there at the top.
33:20I have a little spoon and a brush here.
33:24And what I'm going to do is I'm going to hold the spoon underneath the male flowers
33:29and I'm going to brush the pollen onto the spoon.
33:35And here you can see these little yellow dots.
33:39And so I will put it into this little paper envelope that I have here.
33:45While this plant features both male and female flowers,
33:49self-pollination is avoided to ensure a rich genetic diversity.
33:53This plant flowers in two nights in two separate stages
33:56and it does that exactly to prevent self-pollination.
34:00In the wild, this plant relies on other plants nearby,
34:04opening up on the same two days every ten years.
34:07But with wide deforestation in its native Indonesia,
34:11this is less and less likely to happen naturally.
34:14So these tiny bits of pollen will go into the freezer
34:18until a different plant, maybe on the other side of the world, opens up,
34:22ready for pollination.
34:23Two years ago we had two that were flowering which we pollinated
34:29and those seeds have gone all over Europe pretty much.
34:32And hopefully one day we can help restore them back into the wild.
34:42Coming up...
34:44Everybody wanted to have it.
34:46We discover how one man changed European gardens forever.
34:50He started a revolution.
34:53And a ground-breaking project to tackle climate challenges.
34:57It's sort of a climate-proof garden for the future.
35:00As our journey through the serene Hortus Botanicus in the city of Leiden draws to a close,
35:22there's one more remarkable reason to celebrate this garden's legacy.
35:30Back in the 1830s, pioneering botanist Philip Franz von Siebold arrived here,
35:36fresh from an adventurous eight-year exploration of Japan and the Far East.
35:39During his travels, he meticulously studied the diverse flora and fauna,
35:47and returned with a bounty of seeds, planting them right here at the Hortus.
35:53And in doing so, he established a significant collection of Far Eastern plants.
35:57From all the garden plants that we use now, 65% is Chinese or Japanese.
36:08So, Japanese is very much his contribution.
36:13He brought wisterias.
36:15We have floribunda, longer blue pinnacles, and we have floribunda alba, the white one.
36:21Very sweet-smelling.
36:23It was new.
36:25Everybody wanted to have it.
36:27But he brought so many novelties, unknown plants, never-seen plants,
36:33that he started a revolution.
36:37Siebold is widely recognized for introducing several key species to Europe,
36:42including a variety of hydrangeas that would go on to capture the heart of gardeners across the continent.
36:49Hydrangeas in Siebold's time were almost unknown in the world.
36:54Siebold was so taken by this plant, so impressed,
36:59that in his flora japonica, that has now 146 beautiful printed plates,
37:07there are 13 of different hydrangeas.
37:10One is the otaksa, this one, the pink ones,
37:13the pink ones, and there is Ardentia paniculata, with panicles,
37:18also a very famous garden plant in Europe, in America now.
37:23But he introduced them, and he liked them.
37:26And it was new, so he could sell it.
37:29Nowadays, you see them everywhere.
37:32And they are easy to grow, easy in pots, in the shadow, and lots of water.
37:37Plants with big leaves need lots of water, but they are easy.
37:40They have never any disease.
37:43They grow easy, they flower richly, so people love them.
37:47And this one is Hydrangea otaksa.
37:51Siebold named this after his very much beloved lady, Taki, otaki.
37:58And the fun is, it is otaksa.
38:01Tak is from her name, Taki.
38:02And ksa is shrub, or plant.
38:06So it is her plant.
38:08Siebold, his bust is standing here.
38:11When the Japanese professors made this garden in 1990,
38:16they decided to plant her around him.
38:21So she is embracing, with her arms, Siebold.
38:26So they are together again.
38:27It wasn't just plants and flowers that Siebold brought back.
38:35He also had a collection of trees, including magnolias, cherry trees,
38:41and this striking Japanese elm.
38:42This is Zelkova serata, and it is one of the original trees that Siebold brought back from his first trip from Japan in 1830.
38:56And it's a beautiful tree.
38:58In Japan, it's very much beloved because of the bark.
39:01The way the Japanese and the Chinese paint the clouds in the sky, it's almost like here.
39:10It's the way they paint clouds in the sky, so it's almost saintly, this tree.
39:17And what you can do? Peel off the bark.
39:20See?
39:22People like to use it in their Christmas decorations.
39:25So sometimes they ask, can we take a piece?
39:28And I said, no, not you. We take it off for you.
39:32Otherwise, they plunder the whole tree, and that's not good.
39:36Doesn't do any damage. There's always fresh bark underneath.
39:40We take a piece.
39:43With over 400 years of history, safeguarding this cherished garden remains a top priority.
39:50However, like many gardens around the world, the Horta Spartanicas faces the pressing challenges of climate change.
39:58As winters become wetter and warmer, and summers turn drier and hotter, resembling a Mediterranean climate,
40:04the team has initiated an innovative experiment to protect the garden's vibrant legacy.
40:11We're here in the Mediterranean garden where you will find Mediterranean plants.
40:16We have stone pines, lots of different lavenders, kistas, and then, as you can see here, of course, olives.
40:23And we actually have olives growing on here as well.
40:27The garden features plants from Spain, Italy, Turkey, and North Africa.
40:35They're plants that do well in a dry climate that don't need any extra watering in summer.
40:41And that's why we designed this garden, because it's sort of a climate-proof garden for the future.
40:46But the damp clay soil of Leiden isn't ideal for these types of plants.
40:50So the team designed their own unique hybrid soil.
40:55The soil that we have here right now is pretty dry, and that's what these plants love.
41:01It's mostly local clay mixed with lava, grit, and some rice husks for some organic material.
41:09And we amended the soil like that because the plants that come from a Mediterranean climate,
41:14they prefer it when they don't have wet roots the entire time.
41:19So they like a good rain, but then the water needs to get off their roots fast and full of minerals, which they like also.
41:27The ultimate aim for this Mediterranean garden is to create a thriving ecosystem that requires no watering at all.
41:34If successful, this initiative will not only enhance the garden's resilience to the impacts of climate change,
41:42but hopefully set a benchmark for sustainable gardening across Europe.
41:47We're future-proofing the hortis in a way that we can show people that we can grow lots of different plants from different climates
41:55that we haven't even thought of taking plants from to grow.
41:58Horticulture will always change, but as nature adapts, we adapt also.
42:02This will continue the pioneering legacy of the hortis botanicus, further cementing its status as one of Europe's greatest gardens.
42:13More and more, you can see that our goal is getting more important.
42:19So, not only the protection of endangered species, but also to be this ambassador for people,
42:26so that they can see how important plants are, and also that we can give them the inspiration of how to do things,
42:31and how to do it differently in a way that we all have a better future, and that we can go strongly into the next 425 years.
42:40Next time, a botanical fantasy in the magical Portuguese mountains.
42:51This would have been equivalent of having a Ferrari parked on your front floor.
42:55With a fairytale palace.
42:57Nobody ever mentioned that paradise had a house. It's just in front of us.
43:01And its very own folly.
43:02This is the most important building in the garden.
43:06Not forgetting a Mexican surprise.
43:09The Mexican garden, it's something that is totally different in Portugal.
43:13venantal repository of my wife
43:17and I Rose is the only as a Harold and Susan.
43:19This won't actually either go in it.
43:21May I hope you build schemes with chills in Portugal.
43:23With gardens on мнеiko, I agree with the people ofidad.
43:26Can I help you buildÆ°á»›iha as a sculptor?
43:28To be in the garden to the home of Brazil?
43:32Can I help you with cucumber?
43:34I love your future like that story.
43:36Can I help you with 가지 on the glory of the garden?
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