Wait..that grows in the desert??

Time has flown by here in Edinburgh, and I am now in my last week at the garden! I have had a wonderful time here and been inspired by many of the staff. Leaving the garden is definitely bittersweet. However, I am very excited for my time in France which is coming up soon! This Saturday, I will be taking the train from Edinburgh to London, where I will stay for a few days. On July 3, I'll travel from London to Paris, then on to Grenoble and finally a bus ride to Lautaret Alpine Botanical Garden! 

One of the areas I was captivated with from my first stroll through the glasshouses was the Arid Lands house. Many of these plants either come from or could grow in my native New Mexico! I was especially charmed by a roadrunner sculpture, which is our state bird. For four days, I got to work in this house and learned about some amazing plants from Gunnar, the gardener in charge of this area.

Before I came here I had no idea that ferns grew in the desert! When you take a closer look at these ferns, their adaptations to an arid environment are very apparent. The leaves are much smaller than ferns that grow in wetter areas. The leaves can also be hairy, thicker, and have edges that roll under to protect the spores and prevent water loss. The ferns also have a special protein which allow them to lose almost all the water in their cells, causing the fronds to shrivel up and look dead. Once rain falls, the cells rehydrate and the fronds perk back up again! Desert ferns are displayed both inside the Arid Lands house and outside in a covered bed.

A roadrunner streaks by a red-flowering Salpiglossis in the Arid Lands house.

This outdoor covered bed provides the ferns with air circulation, drainage and protection from Scotland's rains.

I planted this Cheilanthes gracillima outside in the covered bed. It was collected from cliffs in southern Oregon.

Argyrochosma nivea ssp. nivea is native to Peru, where it is used medicinally to help control blood sugar in diabetics.

A trio of A. nivea ssp. nivea I planted among the rocks.