The Lifecycle of Plants at Bowood House
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Bath Society of Botanical Artists was invited by Lord Kerry in 2024 to illustrate plants from the Bowood collection for an exhibition in the Garden Studio, located within the Walled Garden. Opens 27th March - 1st November.
Tickets are available on the Bowood House website.
Entitled The Lifecycle of Plants, the exhibition features paintings of plants from the Bowood Gardens and Arboretum. The Bath Society of Botanical Artists is a thriving, friendly, society with about forty members. Their aim is to promote an interest in botanical art and develop their skills in all forms of botanical illustration.
Passiflora Caerulea Watercolour 50cm x 50cm
Passiflora caerulea is a charming, fruiting, winter hardy evergreen climber from South-America. From mid-summer, its distinctive structure is made up of captivating large flowers with an explosion of blue or purple filaments. Vibrant orange fruits can appear in Autumn if grown in a hot spot Midlands South or under cover further north.
The fruits yield aromatic and unmistakably delicious pulp with a tropical, sweet flavour. But on most of the vines available as ornamental plants here, the fruits that form after the flowers are soft, yellow and squashy.
Pollinators include bats, hummingbirds, bees and moths and the Longwing is especially attracted to the plant as it needs the plant to survive.
Magnolia Sayonara 50cm x 50cm
This stunning tree was found in the Woodland Garden at Bowood House. 'Sayonara' is a medium-sized deciduous tree or large shrub to 6m, with ovate leaves and goblet-shaped white flowers to 10cm in width in late spring, the broad tepals tinged purple at the base.
Magnolias are primarily pollinated by beetles. As ancient plants existing before bees, they evolved to attract beetles with fragrant, sturdy flowers (often white or pink) that produce abundant, protein-rich pollen. Beetles facilitate pollination by visiting flowers, often trapping themselves overnight to transfer pollen between plants.
Tickets are available on the Bowood House website.
Comments