Botanic Garden

 Magdalen Tower peeks out from behind the Botanic Garden greenhouse

Following our punting expedition, we walked through the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. The oldest botanic garden in Great Britain, it contains more than 8,000 different plant species used for the university's research.

 

  

  

Dahlias

 

  

Cactus garden 

Authors such as Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Philip Pullman found inspiration for their stories in this peaceful place. Here are a couple of photos of Tolkien's favorite tree. When I saw this Austrian pine, I couldn't help but think of the Ents--the animated trees of Middle Earth.