Botanic Gardens Reflection

The Botanic Gardens is a huge piece of land on the waterfront that has hundreds of different plants. Walking through the garden I felt small in comparision to the large trees that cover the space. It was quite interesting the way that Ms. Ruth shared about the leaves on many of the Australian trees; the leaves face down or at an angle so they do not get sunburn, whereas an Oak tree the leaves get very sunburn because they are in direct sunlight. Each plant type in the garden had a specific purpose and was documented by people who work at the garden. The aboriginal section provided a large amount of information for me, not only from the signs posted but also from Ms. Ruth. I never realized how much went into planting and production of these plants. These plants reminded me of a small community where everyone needs to work together to help out the community as a whole. Each plant has a specific purpose and provides in some way for the soil and other plants. The aboriginal flag deminstrates this quite well with how the colors sit and what each different color means.

The gardens influenced me in a new light, I was able to see how all the different plants worked together as one unit to create the beautifulness of the garden. Many of the plants I saw in teh garden I would not see back home in Chicago because they would not be able to last through the rough winters and hot summers. But I found it extremely interesting that all these different plants are able to sit and live together as one.

Not only are the plants and important factor in the Botanic Gardens, but so are the animlas that live here. Birds would be a typical factor fo a very tree infested area to have; but I was not expecting to see an animal I mainly associate with Halloween. A bat. A large winged bat, which I was able to see amazingly well at night, hanging in groups on all different trees.