On a brilliant fall day, paradise beckoned. I had heard the four-year-old Eden Project was big, colossal even, and that it was most definitely worth seeing. So, in the midst of an impromptu tour of Cornwall gardens, we planned a day in the gardens of Eden.
This paradise is located near St. Austell, in southwest England, a wonderful area with gardens scattered along the coast and in the rolling hills.
Upon arrival we were escorted by Eden's public relations director, David Rowe, to an overlook just outside the massive entry, store and exhibition hall and above the expanse of Eden. The site from above the project is unexpected. Sure, it looked big when driving along its rim to the overflowing parking lots (all named for fruits-we parked in orange), but at this range it looked like a city on a very verdant moon. The people down below wandering on the walkway looked pint-sized. Eden is, after all, the largest conservatory in the world.
A landmark millennium project in the United Kingdom, Eden's mission statement says the project is "to promote the understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants, people and resources leading to a sustainable future for all."
Imagined and founded by visionary Tim Smit and built in 2000 in a 35-acre china clay pit, the entire project is below ground level. Like the creepy creature from "Dune," the biomes seem like giant white worms crawling along the floor of the pit. They are covered with hexagons that are each approximately 29 feet across. The frame is galvanized tubular steel glazed with a triple layer of co-polymer foil, a transparent, recyclable foil, and should last for at least 30 years.
Surrounding the biomes are hills over which plants adaptable to the mild Cornwall conditions grow profusely. There are fields of lavender covering one slope, a heady patch of soaring hemp cover another. The sides of the old clay pit are also covered with wheat, sunflowers, masses of dahlias and many other kinds of vegetation.
But, as Rowe said, "the main event" is the huge, humid tropic greenhouse. "We call it the largest rainforest in captivity."
Visitors walk through the tropical island climate to the Malaysia climate to West Africa and then to tropical South America as they climb up into the 787-feet-long, 360-feet-wide and 164-feet-high biome. A hot air balloon floats high above the rainforest ceiling. The balloon is used to explore the canopy of the forest. An enormous waterfall cuts a swath from the top down into the valley of the biome. Its spray cleanses, purifies and humidifies the rainforest. The whole thing is lush, gorgeous and astonishing in its scope.
Inside grows the chicle (gum) plant from the Sapodilla tree, piper nigrum, konjac, oleander, fig, the kite tree, bananas, rubber, cocoa, coffee, teak, mahogany, neem, patchouli, rattan, balsa, yam, peanuts, mango, cola, casava, papaya, luffa, sugar cane and so much more. Having never seen many of the plants familiar food comes from it can be overwhelming-the plants, the height, the dome, the heat.
After making the climb up, and sweating profusely, one descends into sections separated by use and explained educationally: from crops and cultivation, to tropical displays, to pharmaceuticals from the land and tropical dyes.
In the temperate biome, the natural landscapes of the Mediterranean, South Africa and California are growing through a variety of soils, gravel and sands. This sunny biome smells divine thanks to some of the rare plants found inside. On the other hand, much of it is familiar: agaves, cork, peppers, grapevines. citrus, aubergines (eggplants to us Colonials) grains and olives.
All the plants in these biomes are grown from seed and cuttings and brought in from nurseries, research stations and botanic gardens all over the world.
When it opened to the public in 2001 there were over 100,000 plants representing 5,000 species from many of the climatic zones of the world. Today, that number has more than doubled.
Smit, a garden neophyte, moved to Cornwall in 1987 after a successful career in the music industry. He helped rebuild the famous Lost Gardens of Helligan. Afterwards, he moved on to create the oversize Eden Project. Like a suburban garden, the work at Eden is never done. An education center opened the week we arrived, and bulldozers were busy moving earth around in preparation for other gardens.
As well, there is a huge stage with a biome cover with grassy amphitheater seating where such events as England's Live 8 are held. The final element of what they call the "Living Theatre" is a semi-arid biome to be built sometime in the future.
Eden is not simply another stop on a garden tour. There are two fun rides: the helium balloon and a zip line from the rim of the pit down to the floor. Besides the education center there are ingenious places for children to play among the plants. There are also plenty of interactive displays, and a gigantic store with homemade, organic products made from plants growing at Eden including body lotions, hemp clothes and paper goods.
Though not exactly a garden theme park (as some have claimed), the Eden Project can rightly be called one of the great man-made wonders of the world.
The Eden Project in Cornwall, England. Express photo by Dana DuGan
