Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Unmissable Swedish Summer Experiences
Learn from Linnaeus’ green fingers History buffs and horticulture fans alike will come across fascinating finds at the Botanical and Linnaeus Gardens in Uppsala. This year, take the taxonomy father’s advice on self-sufficiency and learn to grow your own vegetables. By Linnea Dunne | Photos: Uppsala Universitet
“Linnaeus did a great deal of experimenting with growing for self-sufficiency; he liked the idea of growing plants that were expensive to import and asked whether we couldn’t just grow our own bananas, coffee and expensive herbs,” explains Lotta Saetre, communications officer at the Botanical Garden of Uppsala University. Carl Linnaeus is of course mainly known as the father of modern taxonomy, due to his creation of a system for naming organisms, but it is his passion for cultivation and harvesting that has inspired this year’s programme. “For ten days in September, there’ll be an exhibition in the Orangery just about everything connected to growing and harvesting,” says Saetre, explaining that Uppsala will be full of interesting ways to learn, from a small stage with talks and performances at the central Fyris Square, 70 | Issue 100 | May 2017
to a multitude of pallet collars and other spaces for planting and harvesting throughout the city. “Our exhibition will be a treat for the eye as well, but our aim is to inspire and provide help for those interested in an environmentally conscious approach to growing vegetables. We’ll talk about ways to use weeds, how you can extend the growing season, and a long-term perspective for strengthening the soil from one year to the next.” The wider heritage of Linnaeus is naturally still present in numerous ways beyond the harvesting theme. The botanist first came to Uppsala mostly due to his fascination with the Linnaeus Garden, before it was named as such. Today, this garden is what Saetre describes as “a living textbook of Linnaeus’s sexual system”, perfect for history fans and Linnaeus nerds. This is also where the Linnaeus
Museum is located, in what used to be the Professor’s residence. It now boasts items and furniture from the 18th century and tells the story of the Linnaeus family as well as his work, much thanks to the Swedish Linnaeus Society, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. “You enter a complete calm – like taking a step back, going 250 years back in time,” says Saetre about the Linnaeus Garden, the oasis in the heart of the city so well hidden that many people cannot even find it. “The Botanical Garden is more varied – you can easily spend half a day here. Have a picnic, visit the Tropical Greenhouse, play hide and seek behind the hedges and enjoy the grandiose Baroque Garden next to the castle.” What do Linnaeus and Saetre have in common? They are both pedagogues at heart. Visit Uppsala’s beautiful gardens to soak up their green expertise. For more information, please visit: www.botan.uu.se