From 27 to 31 May 2024, the University of Maribor Botanical Garden hosted the event "Meet me in the Gardens 2024" or "Randez-vouz aux Jardins 2024".
As part of the lletus Meet in the Gardens initiative, interesting activities took place to awaken all senses when learning about plants. The activities took place between 10.00 and 12.00 on Monday and Thursdays, and during the garden opening hours on Fridays.
The organization of the events, which took place from Monday to Thursday in the garden, was made possible by participation in the ForestWell project, which was implemented by VCHT Maribor together with four other partners from Finland, Iceland, Ireland, and Denmark.
On Monday, tourism students took a guided tour of the Botanical Garden.
They learned that the Botanical Garden is located on the site of the central part of a large mound dating back to the Iron Age almost 3000 years ago. This part is now declared an archaeological monument by decree.More than twenty burial mounds have been preserved almost intact in the wooded area just outside the present-day southern boundary of the Botanical Garden. This offers an exceptional opportunity to bring a part of the landscape frozen over during the Iron Age to the wider public.
On Tuesday, the Velnes Year 1 students took a forest bath with Asahi Nordic exercises and, like all the other participants, they walked in the garden where, at the foot of Pohorje, the varied and lush vegetation of the Botanical Garden of the University of Maribor, where you can come to relax, socialize, learn and get to know nature, fascinated them; the area of the former castle park, a few kilometers south of Maribor, is home to many native and non-native species of trees, shrubs, and flowers, which you can learn about on a guided tour.
On Wednesday, catering students held a workshop on forest gastronomy, showing that the Botanic Garden offers more than just hot and cold drinks and snacks from a vending machine.
The Botanical Garden also offers temporary and permanent exhibitions such as hunting, geology, and archaeology during a relaxing stroll. Guided tours are available through prior arrangements, and larger groups can also visit the garden in winter when it is close to the public.
During or after the tour, relax in the rest area with benches and tables, where you can sit in the pleasant shade of trees.
On Thursday, we were again active with guided recreation. We also visited the Balsam fir tree planted in November 2023 as part of the ForestWell Project.
You are invited to a pleasant natural setting on eight hectares near Hoče from early spring to late autumn. The Botanic Garden will attract you as early as April, when the collection of more than 100 species of daffodils blooms; May, when the rhododendrons are in flower; and June, when the variety of colors is at its peak. In summer, the garden invites you to enjoy the pleasant shade of the mighty trees and the blooming roses, and in autumn, to see the various fruits and all the shades of autumn colours.The plantation of native and exotic trees includes sequoias that are more than 120 years old, a 364 cm wide sycamore, Caucasian firs, Canadian firs, Lawson cypresses, red-leaved beech, larches, magnolias and yew trees, among others.
