Introduction

With so much of our green space concreted over, it is no wonder that we seek to find beauty in nature on our doorsteps. Starting around 200-300 years ago, the highest in society sought to recreate a little exotic greenery from travels abroad ‘ the botanical garden was born. Though initially private playgrounds, they soon became of national interest and today seek to bring the wonders of the world to a small corner of it

1. Kew Gardens, London, UK

Thanks to a succession of landscape artists in the 18th century and a much older fascination with large, formal gardens in England ‘ the country stands out as having some of the best examples of botanical gardens in the world. The most famous garden in England and known formally as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is in southwest London and covers 120 hectares of park and botanic glasshouses. It was built over a number of generations until King George III set out a massive expansion plan and it became an official royal palace.

 2. Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, New York, USA

Founded in 1910, it contains a number of specialist plant collections over a 52ha site, a conservatory and special themed areas for plants from around the world ‘ including gardens styled on international traditions. It receives in the region of one million visitors every year and is considered one of the best botanic gardens in the USA. One of its most popular attractions is the Shakespeare Garden which contains a reconstructed English cottage and some 80 plants mentioned in the Bard’s works

3. Montreal Botanical Garden

Certainly the most treasure botanical collection in Canada and considered one of the most important collections in the world, Montreal houses 75ha of plants and trees from all over the world and in 2008 was designated a National Historical Site of Canada. It has a large greenhouse and a number of segregated themed gardens. Due to weather, the outdoor gardens are covered in snow during the winter months but the large greenhouse remains open. The most popular attractions are The Chinese Garden, The Japanese Garden, The Alpine Garden and the First Nations Garden

4. Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden

The national garden of India is more commonly known as the Calcutta Botanic Garden and was founded in 1787 by Colonel Robert Kyd (who was an army officer of the British East India Company). He initially started it for studying plants of Asia that might have global commercial value ‘ hence teak was one of the first trees planted there. Its most prized possession is The Great Banyan ‘ a specimen claimed to be the largest tree in the world with a circumference of over 330m (the banyan is a cloning and colonial tree)

5. Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens

Kirstenbosch is the national botanic garden of South Africa and is located at the foot of Table Top Mountain, Cape Town. Kirstenbosch was the world’s first with a dedicated mission to preserving the country’s native flowers, plants and trees ‘ an ethos later adopted by other such gardens. It covers 528ha of the lower slopes of the mountain and aside from showcasing the national plants it also has a number of conservatories to display plants from all over the world

6. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

Kirstenbosch seems to be the most picturesque setting but this one comes in a very close second. Located on the banks of Sydney Harbour, this 27ha is the oldest botanical garden is Australia. There are some 5000 different plants cultivated on site ‘ many of them native species of the country and it too is dedicated to conservation of native plants. Within the grounds is the National Herbarium of New South Wales containing over one million examples of herbs from around the world

7. Singapore Botanic Gardens

The tropical climate of Singapore is worth visiting for its amazing plant life so the Botanic Gardens are always worth a visit. Particularly impressive is the world’s largest collection of orchids ‘ containing over 1000 specimens and a further 2000 hybrid species. Entry is free except to the National Orchid Garden. It is also open for a very impressive 19 hours a day (5am until midnight). To tantalise the nose, there is also a Ginger Garden which is a one-hectare garden dedicated to the spice in all its forms

8. Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Germany

Considered one of the most important botanical gardens in the world, this 43ha site in Berlin houses around 22,000 different plant species; its most impressive feature is the enormous glasshouse which is the largest of its kind in the world (called The Great Pavilion). There are 15 other glasshouses on the site part of the largest is dedicated to an enormous collection of bamboo. The garden is part of the Free University of Berlin and it is a fine centre of learning with a prestigious botanical library

9. United States Botanic Garden

The national botanic gardens of the USA are unsurprisingly in the capital of Washington DC, Maryland. It is on the Capitol, near to Garfield Circle. It is under the direct jurisdiction of Congress and receives over 750,000 visitors every year. The gardens are open free all year round though a large glasshouse is open 9-5 daily. The park is a treasured institution of the country, housing over 10,000 specimens

10. The Eden Project, UK

Located in Cornwall at the southwest tip of England, this unique project which reclaimed a spent tin mine houses two biomes (one tropical house, one temperate house) and an outdoor biome containing plant species from all over the globe. It is heavily dedicated to environmental awareness and education of climate change. The centre collects and stores rainwater for feeding the plants; it recycles as much material as it possible can in order the create a truly sustainable tourist attraction

Conclusion

With such a strong focus on climate change and with the conservation of native plant species as important as animals, the modern botanical gardens have an amazing part to play in educating us about the wonderful plants that millions of years of evolution have given us. Many of the above examples of botanical gardens are also important research centres