LIKE ANY GREAT CITY, the history and culture are complimented by nature. The city of Cluj-Napoica is of no exception. There are many parks are gardens that offer serenity and peace. Rick and I were looking for a store that sells needle work ( Of course, if you didn't think so !) In a department store I found what I was looking for. A Romanian who spoke English fluently helped us. When we asked him about the Cluj Botanical Gardens, he and his wife offered to drive us the entrance. We generously accepted the offer and we arrived at the front gate.
The Alexander Borza Botanical gardens was founded by Alexandr Borza in 1920. It is the city's most important landmark where there is the Roman Gardens, the Japanese Gardens, The Desert and the greenhouses. The statue of the goddess Ceres is in the heart of the Roman Gardens You will find plants here that were the home of the ancient Romans.In the Japanese gardens we found a traditional Japanese House and a red Japanese Bridge. Rick and I even did some You Tube videos in the garden. The Pam Tree Greenhouse which houses 80 species of palm tress was closed that day. We walked, sat, had cafe, and just took in the views.
I was especially amazed by the variety of Dahlias. The Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous herbaceous oerennial plants. These plants are native to Central America. Rick and I never saw so many species of this flower. Dahlia are members of the Asteraceae or Compositae. There are related species which were also present in the garden which included the sunflowers and the zinnias. There are 36 species of the dahlia with mainly hybrids. Many of the photos are hybrids. As I photographed every dahlia I thought of the Black Dahlia. Does the black dahlia exist ? The Black Dahlia was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short who was the victim of a gruesome much publicized crime. She was nicknamed this by the newspapers at the time who wanted a colorful title for murders. Her body was sliced inhale at the waist and found in Los Angeles California.
Why would a plant exist in the color black? These flowers are rare in nature but I am sure some exist. t wouldn't look good in a vase or in a pretty flower combinations. The survival of any species depends on the goodness of pollinators. I doubt a honeybee or the many hummingbirds we saw ( on the zinnias) would ever be attracted to a black flower. I cannot see a honeybee being 'turned on' by a flower.
Photo credit: Patrick Fratellone MD RH
Until tomorrow
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