Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Przyroda

Swimming in a sea of strange plants

The treasure chest is open in the Canarian Garden

Even if another 100 years elapse. 100 more years will pass, and we will continue hiding it. 1000 years, or whatever it takes. We are willing to continue guarding the hundreds of plants, trees, and special flowers kept in the Canarian Botanical Garden. For this is our treasure, our gold.

View of a path in the Botanical Gardens of Viera y Clavijo

Although this gold is a natural treasure, which comprises a botanical repertoire that we keep in a garden. An enclosure right on the edge of the Guiniguada Ravine, where tourists may contemplate the vast plant life riches of the Macaronesian region.

Such is our special treasure chest. A botanical garden set up by an extraordinary Swede, Eric Sventenius, who in 1952 decided to put together a representation of the entire flora of the Canary Islands. Enter the Viera y Clavijo Garden, in Tafira, the capital of Gran Canaria.

Flower in the Botanical Garden Viera y Clavijo
Path in the Botanical Garden Viera y Clavijo

Are you interested in nature? Why are the plants of the islands so different? Why does it seem that the Macaronesian flora came from a different planet? Sventenius provided us with many answers, just in case you are into questions. To show us the exceptional value of the Canarian flora, the Swede visited every single corner in the archipelago, as part of a mission as wild as many other naturalist stories. Gathering samples in inaccessible places. Reaching the steepest spots.

Red flower in the Botanical Garden Viera y Clavijo

And he set it up for us, for the multimedia men and women of the 21st century, who seem to be determined to live far from nature. The Canarian Botanical Garden, apparently nothing more than a place with many different plants and some strange flowers, is all for us. Apparently. Perhaps it hides something else. Especially if you happen to be one of the select few to appreciate the uniqueness of a plant, for… is it true that plants are so important?

More information: www.jardincanario.org