I was put in mind of my idea that science is nearer than you think when I visited Horncastle in Lincolnshire. This is a town famed for its antique shops but walking along Bridge Street I came across the shop of the Sir Joseph Banks Society.
Sir Joseph Banks (1743 – 1820) had an estate in Lincolnshire and spent many hours as a boy exploring the countryside. Later he sailed as a botanist with James Cook on the Endeavor and brought back plant specimens from their voyage around the world. Banks went on to encourage others to take up botany, travel the world and send back specimens to Britain where he developed the Royal Gardens at Kew into the most famous botanical gardens in the world.
Behind the shop is a tribute garden to the explorer and botanist. It is stocked with seventy species of plants. They have a direct link with him as either having been recorded by him on his voyage on the Endeavor or having been collected by botanists who he inspired to explore.
There are plants for sale at the garden and I bought four to set up in my own garden as a tribute to a truly inspirational scientist.
My new plants
The plant with blue flowers is Ajuga reptans commonly known as the bugle which grows naturally in Europe.
The plant behind it is Euphorbia dulcis a member of the spurge family. Species of Euphorbia can be found growing in habitats almost all around the world.
The plant with the round green leaves is Gunnera magellanica from the west side of South America from Ecuador to Tierra del Fuego.
The plant with the long red leaves is Unicinia rubra commonly called the red hook sedge. It grows naturally in New Zealand.
