The Garden of Fibonacci

Okay, I admit it. The garden I've highlighted today in this post is actually one that lies between the buildings here at Waitakere Gardens.  And it is not really called the garden of Fibonacci. I made that up. I did so because of the plant you see directly below.  This is a spiral aloe, Aloe polyphylla. (I'm pretty sure) 

This is a very special aloe and I got excited to find it. When I saw it, I immediately rushed back to our apartment for my camera.(Not that it was going anywhere) For one thing, if you do any reading about growing succulents, you'll learn that this aloe is not easy to grow. I was impressed that there are several of them growing in this garden. It says something I think, about the quality of the gardening staff that works here, and also of the efforts made by the volunteer gardeners that live here. (Jeanne is now one of them.)  

It's a beautiful plant and it shares something with the items you'll see in the next two pictures.  

This is a cooks turban shell. It is a large marine snail (gastropod mollusk) that happens to be delicious.  I bought a kilo of live ones from a salt-water tank at our favorite fish market in Henderson one day. I couldn't bring myself to throw out this particular shell and now, I'm glad that I didn't since I'm using it in this post. (This one is about 3 inches across) 

This is a cactus that Arram gave to Jeanne for Christmas this year. Recently, it surprised us with these flowers. They open and close each day responding to the light.  

As I said, these three items all have something in common that is quite amazing.  I'm going to tell you about it shortly, but first, let me show you the rest of the pictures I took in and around this garden.  (It's real name is The African Garden. I guessing because of the little elephants that you see on the right) 

  

This uncurling fern is 12 to 14 inches tall.  It reminds me though of the fiddle-head ferns that I used to pick along the Cedar River in Michigan.  

These are only a few inches tall, with the curled portion the size of my thumbnail, not my fist.  

Taken in 2013, just off River Road. Of all the green wild foods I've tried, these are my favorites. 

Well, I hope that you enjoyed the photos. It must take an enormous amount of work to maintain our gardens in such perfect condition. We are very lucky. 

But now, let's get back to talking about Fibonacci. He was an Italian mathematician, and about the year 1202, was busy thinking about numbers.(not surprisingly)  Long story short, after some especially strenuous thinking, he came up with what is now known (no surprise here either) as the Fibonacci numbers. This is what the sequence looks like.  0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144...and so on to infinity.  Each number is the sum of the previous two.  

The truly amazing thing is how often Fibonacci numbers occur in nature. I have shown you three examples in my first three photos, but pineapples, pinecones, and cauliflowers all exhibit Fibonacci numbers in their spiral patterns, and lots of other things do as well. I often feel a sense of wonder when I learn about our world and get a glimpse into how it is set up. These examples absolutely floor me. I wanted to share this with you in hopes that you too, might feel delight and awe. Who knew?  (right Fred?)  

And Barb, I understand from Jeanne that you have enjoyed my posts. I hope to continue to provide something of interest.  

Until next time everyone, take care.                           -djf

And don't forget, have some pie on pi day, 3/14/21. 

Update:

I was talking to Jeanne about this post and she asked if DNA showed Fibonacci numbers?  I thought I might have heard at one time that it did and looked it up. We all know that DNA is shaped like a double helix, a spiral.  The length of one full turn of the spiral is 34 angstroms and the width is 21 angstroms.  Check out the sequence I listed above. Amazing, right?