Friends are invited to join Head Gardener Brendon Sims for an exclusive opportunity to explore the magnificent College gardens, including a rare glimpse of the impressive Oriental Plane tree (Platanus orientalis) in the Fellows Garden, which is typically off-limits to visitors.
A poem about the tree by the Spanish poet Luis Cernuda, who lived at the College during the Second World War, is entitled ‘El arbol’. The first verse reads:
Al lado de las aguas està, como leyenda
En su jardín murado e silencioso,
El arbol bello dos veces centenario
Las poderosas ramas extendidas,
Cerco de tanta hierba, entrelazando hojas,
Dosel donde una sombra edenice subsiste.
(By the side of the waters stands like a legend in its walled and silent garden the beautiful tree, surrounded by grass, interweaving its leaves, a canopy where a shadow of Eden still exists)
Booking code can be found on the Events page of the Friends Newsletter in the ‘How to Book’ box.