Gothenburg Botanical Garden – our wild origins

Everyone is working feverishly at Gothenburg Botanical Garden right now. Next year the garden will be first on stage as the curtain rises on Gothenburg Green World. This is where everything starts, in February, when we celebrate the arrival of spring in green Gothenburg and the doors open on an exclusive collection of flowering bulbs and tubers at Gothenburg Botanical Garden. Ever since the garden opened in 1923 the staff have been gathering these plants from every corner of the world, and today the collection is considered one of the finest in the World.

“We begin with individual flowering rarities in the greenhouses, and end in April with a sea of flowering bulbs out in the garden,” says Anders Stålhand, head gardener at Gothenburg Botanical Garden.

Anders Stålhand

Gothenburg Botanical Garden has always placed equal importance on knowledge and beauty, a fact that is appreciated by visitors, who can use the park as an oasis for relaxation, and as a source of reference information about plants, nature and biodiversity.

“The common theme at Gothenburg Botanical Garden throughout 2016 will be the wild, since all the plants in our scientific collections naturally come from the wild. Our botanists and gardeners have travelled around the world and gathered familiar and unknown species that now grow in our houses. There are 16,000 different plant species in our garden and you can see where and when each of them was collected,” explains Anders Stålhand, adding:

“In 2016 we will also be focusing on engaging with children, as this is obviously where we must start if we are going to preserve the world’s biodiversity. We have been working with school children of all ages for many years, but in 2016 we will start to create the Children’s Botanical Garden in the existing play area. This will be designed to give children a fun introduction to understanding how the Earth developed from the beginning of time until the present day. The play area is next to the school garden, where various schools in Region Västra Götaland grow plants in raised beds with the help of our teaching staff.”

…it’s great fun to be involved in putting Gothenburg and the region on the world horticultural map – again.

Anders stålhand

In summer 2016 a relatively unused part of Gothenburg Botanical Garden will open – a wooded valley known as Smithska Dalen. Staff are working hard there now to create an enchanting, forest-like setting that feels wild, but is in fact carefully planned. New paths and stone steps are being laid, rock outcrops are being exposed, plants are being planted and, most importantly, a lookout spot is being created where you can pause among the treetops and look out over the garden. A number of exhibitions, art installations and theme days are also planned for next year. Anders Stålhand and his team have busy days ahead:

“It’s crazy how much work goes into a big project like Gothenburg Green World, but also great fun to be involved in putting Gothenburg and the region on the world horticultural map – again.”