A walk through the Orto Botanico (botanical garden)

To cool off, I took a late afternoon walk through the Orto Botanico garden housed on Via Lincoln.  

Spread out not far from the sea in Palermo,it's the oldest botanical garden in this part of Europe (first designed in 1785 - it now belongs to the University of Palermo). 

Literally an open air museum, the gardens are filled with a range of species, many of extraordinary size… like the magnolia trees below… 

This year, the gardens were dry and barren (these photographs were taken from my visit in March a few years ago). Then, I took photographs of the Magnolia trees, all knotted and haunting, exotic buds, flowers, orange and lemon trees, pineapples, small citrus buds hanging from vines, and birds of paradise. In the back yard of one of the orange stucco palazzos,were picnic tables covered with bowls of fresh mozzarella, baskets of hot bread, bottles of wine and an "amor bio" or digestivo  named Barcho.  Barcho is a thick liquor  infused with plants, herbs and fruits including Salvo… I remember having a small glass and tasting almonds and anise… 

The most vibrant images on display this year were sketches of the gardens made by high school students who had just finished up a study of medicinal plants.