The Hortus Botanicus.

This is a public garden established in the 1600's for the study and cultivation of medicinal plants. Today it has an enormous collection of interesting flora. Shown here (behind the bench) is a metasequoia (known to Americans as the dawn redwood, although the tree tag calls it a "water fir") about 60 feet high. It's a deciduous conifer (like the bald cypress) just starting to leaf out in the early spring. This species was first observed in fossils and thought to be extinct. Then, in the late 1940's live specimens were discovered in China. Today these trees are sometimes used as ornamentals.

The most amazing thing in the Hortus Botanicus is a greenhouse set up as kind of biosphere for butterflies. When I was there the insects were flying all around, seeming very happy to be with the selected plants within. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it.

Greenhouse at the Hortus Botanicus.

Tropical conditions are maintained in this greenhouse year round. It's filled with exotic plants.

Inside the tropical greenhouse at the Hortus Botanicus.

At the entrance to the Gigeliwald, a public forest on the outskirts of Lucerne.

The concept of a public forest, protected by the government for the benefit and enjoyment of its citizens, seems unlikely to catch on where I live, in sprawl America. Real estate developers would demand that those trees be cut down and the land be put to a better and higher use; for example, for another tract of vinyl houses on concrete slabs, or a new Walgreens, or some billboards advertising fireworks.

Parco Civico.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

At Villa Carlotta, Lake Como.

Villa Monastero, on Lake Como.

Villa Cipressi/Monastero, on Lake Como.

Villa Cipressi, on Lake Como.

Isole di Brissago, on Lake Maggiore.

The large tree at the center of this picture is a sweetgum, native to South Carolina.

Isole di Brissago, on Lake Maggiore.

Isole di Brissago, on Lake Maggiore.

The tall tree in the very center of this picture is a California redwood (sequoia sempervirens).

Isole di Brissago, on Lake Maggiore.

Isole di Brissago, on Lake Maggiore.

Giant Sequoia (sequoiadendron giganteum) in Montbenon Park.