Cactus House, Seaton, Devon

A few years ago, after not being able to get out for a decent day's mission - and having massive photo withdrawal symptoms - I decided to go on a local walkabout with my camera. This is one of the places I visited; one of those hidden gems that sometimes get overlooked and a fab place to wander around with lots of photo opportunities. Some of these photos were taken then and some on a later visit.

There isn't any history or interesting information about it, that I can find, and the only mentions I found are brief ones in recent tourist guides. It's a cactus house (or Hot House) in Seafield Gardens, and that's about it really. Somewhere that I didn't know was open to the public and only came upon by chance on my walk.

 
Running along part of the centre is this pond with waterlilies and some lovely Koi Carp. I didn't really notice the reflections in the water as I was concentrating on taking photos of the fish, so the resulting photos below were a delightful surprise. I still use a 35mm film camera, for lots of very good reasons, so I don't know exactly what I've got until the films are processed - which is also part of the enjoyment.

Looking back down towards the entrance, below.

The photo of the Pitcher Plants below turned out to be one of my favourites, although I didn't expect much of it at the time because I had trouble getting the angle I wanted. Happily, that happened a few times on this shoot.

There are quite a few different kinds of plants in the greenhouse, including this grapevine, below.

 

At the farthest end is this gorgeous and dramatic tropical plant. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a fan palmate of some sort.

And tumbling over the pond railing is this beautiful Passion Flower, so called because Spanish missionaries who discovered it thought that the number of its parts - petals, stamens, etc - correspond with the passion of Christ during crucifiction.

Some more fish.

And at last some cacti!

 
The one below looked so soft and cuddly. It isn't...as I found out when I couldn't resist the temptation to touch!

 
Another kind of palm plant...

...and a few succulents in an earthenware planter by the entrance.

And finally, looking in from the outside glass. As I found with some of the fish photos, I don't always notice the reflections when I'm focussing on something, but the camera does and often with lovely surprises. :)