A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education.
The best botanical gardens in the world are treasure troves of natural beauty and wonder, while they also double up as tremendously educational excursions.
The origin of modern botanical gardens is generally traced to the appointment of professors of botany to the medical faculties of universities in 16th century Renaissance Italy, which also entailed the curation of a medicinal garden.
- Singapore Botanical Gardens | Singapore
IN ASIA More than 160 years old, tropical Singapore Botanical Gardens has it all: a section of the city’s primary rainforest, an orchid garden, a ginger garden and an exhibition on ethnobotany (looking at how plants are rooted in traditional culture and medicine), plus some wise old trees.
The Botanic Gardens was founded at its present site in 1859 by the Agri-horticultural Society. It played a pivotal role in the region’s rubber trade boom in the early twentieth century when its first scientific director, Henry Nicholas Ridley, headed research into the plant’s cultivation.
By perfecting the technique of rubber extraction, which is still in use today, and promoting its economic value to planters in the region, rubber output expanded rapidly.
At its height in the 1920s, the Malayan peninsula cornered half of the global latex production.
It even has a pair of swans from Amsterdam, a national flower called Vanda Miss Joaquim and its own mist garden.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens (the Gardens) was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Bonn, Germany.
The Gardens is the first and only tropical botanic garden on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It is the first in Asia and the third botanic gardens inscribed in the world following Orto botanico di Padova and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The inscription bid process started in 2010 following a feasibility study commissioned by the then-Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, in consultation with experts, academics and other stakeholders, like the Singapore Heritage Society.
The study then showed that there was a case for the Botanic Gardens to be put up as cultural site based on the UNESCO criteria, and there was broad consensus to proceed with the bid.
In January 2014, Singapore formally submitted the official Nomination Dossier for the bid, following an extensive four-month long public consultation process.
On 15 May, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) released a recommendation for the Gardens to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its evaluation guided the discussion of Singapore’s bid at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC).
Project director Paul Baker discusses Wilkinson Eyre’s award-winning cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.
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2. Brooklyn Botanic Garden | Brooklyn, New York
Those searching for a little peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle of New York City would do well to spend a few hours at this verdant oasis.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden features thousands of types of flora, laid out over 52 acres.
Each spring, crowds descend on the space for the Sakura Matsuri Festival, during which more than 70 trees bloom along the Cherry Esplanade.
But equally impressive are serene spots like the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, the first Japanese-inspired garden built in the U.S., and the Shakespeare Garden, brimming with plants mentioned in the Bard’s works.
The Site Of The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Was First Designated In 1897, Following Three Proposals For Botanic Gardens In Brooklyn In The 19th Century.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden BBG Opened In May 1911, On The Site Of An Ash Dump, And Was Initially Operated By The Brooklyn Institute.
Most of the BBG’s expansions were carried out over the next three decades under the tenure of its first director, C. Stuart Gager.
The BBG began operating three additional sites in the New York metropolitan area in the 1950s and 1960s, while its main garden in Brooklyn fell into decline.
The original Brooklyn Botanic Garden was expanded and restored substantially starting in the 1980s, and additional structures were built through the 2010s.
The BBG’s landscape includes many specialty gardens and a group of buildings on its eastern boundary, accessed from three entrances. A brook flows from the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in the north to the Water Garden in the south.
The BBG’s other specialty gardens include rose, native flora, Shakespeare, fragrance, and children’s gardens.
There are also more formal landscape features such as an overlook, a celebrity path, the Osborne Garden, and a cherry esplanade. The structures include the 1980s-era Steinhardt Conservatory, as well as the Laboratory Administration Building and a palm house dating from the 1910s.
Desert Pavilion
The Desert Pavilion displays plants native to arid regions of the world. One side of the pavilion is devoted to those from North and South America, including the southwestern United States, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.
The other side includes those from Africa, Madagascar, the Canary Islands, and Australia.
Lily Pool Terrace
Spectacular year-round, Lily Pool Terrace features two large rectangular pools bordered by the Perennial Border and Annual Border.
BBG gardener Wayken Shaw discusses the Garden’s collection of water-lilies, lotus and other aquatic plants on Lily Pool Terrace.
By the early 1920s, the BBG had 330,000 visitors a year, including over 15,000 students from across Brooklyn.
During 1921, BBG staff planted 2,000 lily bulbs within its Lily Pool Terrace, as well as thousands of daffodils and crocus bulbs.
The BBG also planted thousands of asters east of the Laboratory Administration Building.
Daniel Chester French designed the Alfred Tredway White Memorial for the botanical garden in 1922 following White’s death.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. offered to donate $250,000 to the BBG in 1925 on the condition that the botanical garden raise matching funds.
By then, 500,000 people (including 50,000 students) visited the BBG annually, and the BBG gave lectures and classes to another 25,000 people per year.
The same year, Ernest F. Coe donated 32 bonsai to allow the BBG to establish its Bonsai Collection, and Henry C. Folger gave the BBG $500 to establish a Shakespeare garden,[ which opened in May 1925.
Gager announced in 1927 that the BBG would create a rose garden, following a $10,000 donation from Walter V. Cranford (later increased to $15,000).
The rose garden opened on May 8, 1928, and was finished that June.
An anonymous donor contributed funds for a stone bridge at the BBG in 1928, replacing a wooden bridge across the botanical garden’s lake.
BBG’s Fragrance Garden
From its inception in the early 20th century, the BBG offered free lectures and classes to local students.
In the 21st century, the BBG has continued to operate programs in youth education, conservation, and community horticulture.
BBG gardener Jennifer Williams shares the history and intention behind the Fragrance Garden and educator Joanne D’Auria shares why it’s a special stop on the Garden’s Seasonal Highlights Memory Tours.
As of 2023, BBG membership starts at $75 for individuals. Members can attend events in the spring and summer months, including themed sunset picnic nights.
Each spring, a month-long cherry blossom viewing festival called Hanami is held at the Cherry Esplanade, culminating in a weekend celebration called Sakura Matsuri.
Other events include the Chile Pepper Festival, which has been held annually since the 1990s.
You’re still watching space.com, a show that is all about your environment. We have been exploring Best Botanical Gardens Around the world. We’ll be back with more.
ECONOTES
BOTANIC GARDENS – ADVANTAGES
They fight premature aging
Plant extracts are rich in antioxidants, which can protect the skin from the effects of harmful UV exposure. Some types of plants can even help promote collagen synthesis and weaken the activity of enzymes that degrade healthy, supple skin.
They prevent inflammation
Plant oils contain phospholipids, which exhibit anti-inflammatory properties that can help maintain homeostasis within our skin barrier. A healthy epidermis, or outermost layer of skin, is especially important for preventing harmful microbes and bacteria and maintaining a balanced pH.
They promote hydration
Plant oils can also create a protective barrier and help our skin cells maintain the water needed for proper function. As an added benefit, balanced skin is more hydrated and can better access the components that contribute to the skin’s natural moisture, called Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF).
Nature trail
Botanical gardens are landscaped over several acres with groomed or paved paths that are accessible for all age groups. They are an ideal way to get out in nature even when you are limited in mobility or have young children in tow.
Education
Botanical gardens are staffed with professional landscapers, scientists, archivists, naturalists and master gardeners. Part of many botanical gardens is a robust program of community education that may include demonstration gardens, public lectures, and even classes in subjects like botanical painting, composting, food forests, pruning, companion planting and medicinal herbs.
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- Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden | Cape Town, South Africa
Let’s take it Africa!
Touching the east side of Table Mountain (and used as a starting point for its hardcore climbers), Kirstenbosch is one of the world’s most biodiverse gardens and a leader in conservation science.
The sprawling site contains incredible forms of flora and near-endangered plants that have been cultivated since the early 1900s.
Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town.
The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa’s six different biomes and administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).
Prior to 1 September 2004, the institute was known as the National Botanical Institute.
Kirstenbosch places a strong emphasis on the cultivation of indigenous plants.
When Kirstenbosch was founded in 1913 to preserve the flora native to the South Africa’s territory, it was the first botanical garden in the world with this ethos, at a time when invasive species were not considered an ecological and environmental problem.
The garden includes a large conservatory exhibiting plants from a number of different regions, including savanna, fynbos, karoo and others.
Outdoors, the focus is on plants native to the Cape region, highlighted by the spectacular collections of proteas. It is a level IV accredited Arboreta by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum.
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Jardin Majorelle | Marrakech, Morocco
Still in Africa, but in the north.
Being positioned down an unassuming street in the north of the city makes this garden’s iconic hues of blue, yellow and turquoise tur-kwoize all the more vibrant.
This was originally the personal garden of French painter Jacques Majorelle, who purchased it in the 1920s and made designing the garden his life’s work.
Sixty years later, fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent eeve son loron and his partner took it on.
The decor meshes French cubism with traditional Moroccan architecture and features a selection of rare cacti and more than 15 bird species from North Africa.
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Montreal Botanical Garden | Montreal, Canada
AND BACK TO NORTH AMERICA, Canada, precisely.
Montreal mon-tree-awl Botanical Garden is based in the city’s spacious Maisonneuve Park, forming a large part of the Space For Life museum district.
The garden contains ten greenhouses and 30 thematic gardens and is a hub for plant lovers and experts to come together and get green-fingered.
It’s also been home to giant, trippy plant sculptures shaped like animals as part of the ‘Mosaiculture’ exhibition of the Montreal festival.
The Montreal Botanical Garden is a large botanical garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada comprising 75 hectares of thematic gardens and greenhouses.
It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008 as it is considered to be one of the most important botanical gardens in the world due to the extent of its collections and facilities.
The botanical garden faces Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. It contains a greenhouse complex full of plants from around the world, and a number of large outdoor gardens, each with a specific theme.
The outdoor gardens are bare and covered with snow from about November until about April, but the greenhouses are open to visitors year round, hosting the annual Butterflies Go Free exhibit from February to April.
The Garden Was Founded In 1931, In The Height Of The Great Depression, By Mayor Camillien Houde, After Years Of Campaigning By Brother Marie-Victorin.
The grounds were designed by Henry Teuscher, while the Art Deco style administration building was designed by architect Lucien F. Kéroack.
It serves to educate the public in general and students of horticulture in particular, as well as to conserve endangered plant species.
The grounds are also home to a botanical research institution, to the he Canadian Astronomical Society.
While it charges admission, city residents can obtain a pass granting free admission to the outdoor gardens, so many people visit regularly, even if only to sit under the trees. The nearest metro station is Pie-IX, which is located on the corner of the Olympic Stadium.
The Montreal Botanical Garden is one of four nature-focused attractions belonging to the City of Montreal in the Space for Life museum district.
The others are the Biodome, the Insectarium, and the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, all of which are near the Olympic Stadium.
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The main function of a botanical garden is to allow an audience to see and learn about plants. It is a cultural role. We can see the name of the plants, both the scientific and the vernacular names in local languages. You can also learn their use, which can be ornamental, medicinal, food, technical or scientific. Have you visited any? Tell us via our social media pages, especially Kingschat.
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