It never rains, it just pours, is what the good people at the Hortus of the Vrije Universiteit must be thinking. Although this time it came in the form of snow, and it didn’t shut down the garden.
[slideshow]
Last weekend one of the more prominent trees in the young botanical garden collapsed under the load of snow that has fallen in the past weeks. The pictures made by the Hortus above show the Pinus pinea (Stone pine or Umbrella pine, and in Dutch: Parasolden) tree fell into one of the paths of the garden. Luckily it does not appear to have damaged other plants.
This incident seems indicative of the dark cloud that hangs over this botanical garden, as it’s own Alma Mater threatens to close it and use the land for building purposes. I guess we only have the financial crisis to thank for the fact that these plans seem to be shelved. For now.
(click on the larger images to see the whole picture)
