Grand Cayman’s QEII Botanic Park
Jan Hintze August 12, 2012
A few days ago I was on Grand Cayman Island, on my way to Panama for the Heliconia Society International Conference and my daughter took me to visit this garden. It is just beautiful, a credit to the Caymanese. It has been established for many years, and is also a refuge for the native blue iguana.
The garden has several sections, specialising in different aspects of local and exotic genera. There are orchids, palms, Heliconia, ginger, crotons, Datura and Brugmansia, all beautifully landscaped and maintained. It was rather unexpected, I must say, since other gardens I have seen in the Caribbean have been somewhat rudimentary, but this was excellent, with a pleasant visitors centre, well marked and maintained paths and a variety of collections.
One special feature was a food and medicine garden, complete with a small restored Caymanian House in the centre of the garden. The soil was almost pure sand, which is a difficulty in cultivation on the island, and no attempt has been made to grow grass or ground cover in between, which is a traditional way. There were many plants, all of which were labelled with common name, latin name and
the use to which the plant was put.
The orchid garden is still under development, but there is a broad range of plants tied into the trees, with the aim of having some flowering at all times.
The palm garden contains a significant collection, although not all are native.
There is also an area of natural swamp, with pools of fresh and brackish salt water which is typical of a lot of the terrain on the island, and a large number of plants have adapted to this environment.
The colour gardens are mostly stocked with exotics, but are landscaped beautifully, incorporating several small lakes, which are interconnected. Flowering trees, shrubs, crotons, cordylines, all combine to make a beautiful and colourful spectacle.
About Jan Hintze
Jan is a professional flower grower, horticulturist & consultant, specialising in tropical plants including fruit and vegetable production and cut flowers. Darwin, Northern Territory
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