Hortus Botanicus is a botanical garden in the Plantage district of Amsterdam. Founded in 1638, it’s one of the oldest in the world. It was create to serve as an herb garden for doctors and apothecaries. Physicians and pharmacists each received their training and took their exams there. We used to live next door, but with covid, it was closed to the public for a while. It reopened in June and I finally got to take a tour. It’s a very relaxing place. Even when it was closed, I used pictures from their instagram page as inspiration for my work about sweet bouquets.
Here’s some pictures. It was amazing to enjoy this green labyrinth, I had it almost all to myself as tourists are not really back yet. My favorite place was the large green house made of bricks and glass panels called the palm green house where you can see the famous and very tall 350-year-old Encephalartos altensteinii.
The “Sweet Bouquets” series is inspired by the beautiful plants on display at the Hortus Botanicus and the different type of cakes found in Amsterdam, France or the US.
From Amsterdam with love.
-F-