As usual when I’m in a new city, I like to go to the botanic gardens just to see how things differ compared to at home in Sydney. I also like to go to these gardens as they are usually a lot calmer than the surrounding streets, which is always a nice thing! This time it’s the turn of Belfast-a lovely small city with very friendly people.

The Botanic Gardens of Belfast were originally opened in 1828 by the Belfast Botanic and Horticultural Society, eventually selling it to the Belfast Corporation who reopened the gardens in 1895.

The gardens are located in the south of the city. They open at 7.30 am every morning. Closing times vary by the season-in summer the gardens close at 10pm in the height of summer, and in the coldest, darkest part of winter, they shut at 4.30pm. The gardens are free to enter.

On walking through the gates, I headed straight to the Palm House. I really enjoyed being in here, but it was a slightly odd experience. All the plants in there are ones that I can grow easily at home outside, but the climate in Belfast is very different to that of Sydney!

Plants include lots of different echeveria’s and cacti, along with a few cultivars of Ficus elastica and a Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), which is a native of Australia.

I then went over to the rose garden, which was my favourite part of the garden. The main thing that I noticed was how healthy and happy the rose plants seemed compared to the roses grown in Sydney. They are a lot bushier, the leaves are greener and glossier, I couldn’t see any fungal problems at all and, most importantly, each plant had far more flowers on them too. I really enjoyed my walk around the rose garden with all the fabulous roses-below are my favourites.

After this, I took a walk around the rest of the gardens, which was a pleasant walk in the sunshine.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable walk through these gardens and would recommend visiting if you get an opportunity.