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Four miles from Las Palmas, nestled in the Guiniguada ravine, is Spain's largest botanical garden, Jardin Botanico Viera y Clavijo. Showcasing all the flora of the Canary islands and said to be at its most beautiful in January after the Winter rains have worked their magic, the timing for our trip to Gran Canaria couldn't have been more perfect. We hopped on a guagua and were there in less than 30 minutes.
Swedish botanist,
Eric Sventenius set up the garden in 1952, aiming to create a space where people could enjoy plants from across the islands without needing to get on a boat. The gardens opened to the public in 1959 and, after Sventenius's death in 1972, British naturalist
David Bramwell took over the reins and began to develop the garden as an investigative centre as well as a public park.
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The gardens have two entrances, the one we accessed was on the upper terrace with numerous signs warning of danger - the steep stone steps were perilously close to the ravine but thankfully we survived the climb down. For the less adventurous, or those with walking difficulties, the lower terrace offers a less precarious way of visiting although a lot of the garden won't be accessible if you're not good with steps.
There be dragons! A subspecies of the legendary Draecaena draco (or dragon tree), the Draecaena tamaranae (below) was discovered on Gran Canaria in 1972. One of the rarest trees in the world, its sap runs red and is known as dragon's blood.
Until the last ice age, much of Europe was covered in laurel forest (laurisilva); the only surviving examples of which are found in the Canary Islands and Madeira. An area of the garden was planted with laurisilva in 1964. Within it are some rare species including the Garoe tree, sacred to the inhabitants of El Hierro, the second smallest of the Canary Islands.
The lowest part of the garden is home to an amazing array of cactuses of both native and imported species. We've tried - and failed - to grow cacti indoors, the bloody things always die on us which is so disappointing as I absolutely love them. I obviously need to move to Gran Canaria.
There are around 2000 varieties of succulent plants on display, a third of the world's known species! Feast your eyes on this lot.....
Jardin Botanico Viera y Clavijo is incredible and, at 10am on a Monday morning, other than the friendly team of gardeners, it was practically deserted.
Fancy seeing Jardin Botanico Viera y Clavijo for yourself ? The garden opens daily from 9am, closing at 6pm between October and March and at 7.30pm from April until September. Admission is free.
Getting there: From Vegueta take the 301 from the guagua stop at Teatro and look out for the brown "Jardin Botanico" sign (or ask the bus driver to give you a shout). Buses run every 20 minutes and fares are €1 each way. Don't forget to pack a mask as they remain mandatory on all public transport in Spain - no mask, no ride!
Thanks for reading, see you soon!
