Cambridge Botanic Garden

Just when I thought things couldn't get better after my day at the Hunterian, I made a date with the very impressive Prof. David Kohn for a Sunday afternoon at the Cambridge Botanic Garden. I know, given my love for all things creepy, how could a garden possibly compete? Well, I have to say, David’s tour of the CBG is like nothing I have ever experienced. I knew it would be good, after all David shares my love of good cappuccinos and Henslow, but I didn’t know it would be THAT good.

David has this incredible ability to make the gardens come alive in unexpected, wonderful ways. David’s CGB isn’t simply impressive trees and gorgeous flowers. It is Henslow’s unique herbarium mirrored in his garden. It is Darwin’s Beagle voyage and Darwin’s orchids. It is promiscuous primroses and certain purple flowers embrace their own botanical Kama Sutra. It is Linnaeus’s sexual system of plants and Erasmus Darwin’s Loves of Plants. It is Gilmour’s attempt to bring history, philosophy, and botany all together in one beautiful magical place. That is David’s CBG.

You may think I am biased when it comes to my assessment of David's tour. After al I am a budding historian of biology, with an unholy love of natural history. After all, I am using his textbook in my course. I should point out that as we bounced around the systematic beds and greenhouses, I noticed more than a few people following us at what they deemed to be a discrete eavesdropping distance. I even caught one woman telling her garden companion to hush so she could hear David’s stories. David is, in fact, that captivating.

We weren't the only ones having too much fun in the CBG.