He says | She says: Immersing oneself in dryness

He says:

Normally, I write about culture for Kulturzüri, which is also my area of expertise. But now my latest mission is taking me into unfamiliar territory: the world of science. With my senses sharpened, I walk along the wall and examine the cheerful coloured panes of the greenhouses behind it. The entrance gate reads "experience, discover, understand". The first two are impressions that culture also strives for. So it can't be that unfamiliar. Besides, I have positive preconceptions.

I have been familiar with the Zurich succulent collection since I was allowed to visit here as a nerdy schoolboy and felt really cool: me in the big city, armed with my 2-in-1 magnifying glass/compass tool, surrounded by cacti, which, with their spines, are something like the bad boys of the plant world. It was unforgettable.

At least that's how it seemed to me at the time, because now I realise that I've forgotten everything. And what I haven't forgotten, I remembered as being much bigger, because I was much smaller. But I'm quickly reconciled, because there are information boards and I love information boards like other people love chocolate bars.

Sailors ate cacti to prevent scurvy! The baobab tree can live for over 1,800 years! Dragon fruit is pollinated by bats! Reading this, I feel like I'm back in the Boy Scouts. There's even a cactus safari, led by a woman named Dorn, of course.

But thanks to the self-doubt I acquired during puberty, this time I question whether the schoolboy was right in his impression of coolness. In order not to come across as a nerd to my companion, I hang around the American houses, looking for peyote and the San Pedro cactus, because they are used to make drugs, and that's cool again.

Perhaps I should have studied the opening hours instead of the information boards, because we were surprised by the closure and abruptly torn from our immersion in the world of succulents. At 4:30 p.m., it's closing time. Except once a year, around the summer solstice, when the succulent collection opens its doors in the dark: when Selenicereus grandiflorus blooms, the "queen of the night". Its flowers only open after sunset and are already wilted in the morning, but before that they are all the more magnificent.

She says:

The last time I visited the succulent collection was probably when I was a child. And that's despite the fact that I visit every botanical garden I come across when travelling abroad. So it's high time to pay the cacti another visit.

Entering the glasshouse complex on Mythenquai is like taking a little trip back in time. The collection was opened over 90 years ago, and it feels like it too. A little out of time, with a touch of exploration and pith helmets. Clearly maintained with a lot of love and passion to this day – and free of charge!

First, a quick no-go: it's better to leave your toddler at home. The damage they can do to the plants and the damage the plants can do to them may balance each other out, but it's still stressful. At least my daughter's hand pulls me into a meeting room a little way off, where I learn that of the 260,000 known plant species, around 12,500 are succulent (= water-storing). About a third of these are on display here. We are clearly in the world's most important collection of its kind.

The exhibition spits us out far too early. What a shame – I would have liked to have strolled through the lush corridors for longer, lost myself from continent to continent and marvelled at the diversity of these gnarled creatures. I would have loved to read everything about the colonial history of plant collecting or hear about the survival strategies of cacti. Did you know, for example, that they are often ribbed in such a typical way to partially shade themselves? See, me neither. A good reason to come back soon!

Zurich Succulent Collection
Mythenquai 88
8002 Zurich

Open daily (including Sundays and public holidays) from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission is free.