Liberec Botanical Gardens

(1876), 1895 - the present day 

Liberec Botanical Gardens was established in 1876 and is the oldest institution of its type in the Czech Republic. It was originally sited on the site of what is now the Museum of North Bohemia in Liberec. When planning the construction of the museum building the Friends of Nature Society (Verein der Naturfreunde) purchased land in what is now Purkyňova ulice and in 1895 the gardens were reopened at the site they can be found today. The gardens’ biggest attraction is its extensive complex of greenhouses. Its collections of rhododendrons and large rock garden are the most popular outdoor features.

 

The original purpose of the gardens was to produce wood to keep the town looking beautiful. It is interesting to note that during both world wars the gardens were used to grow vegetables to keep the region supplied with food. The fully-fledged Botanical Gardens were not established by the town authorities until in 1954. The greenhouse for growing exotic plants had been part of the site since 1930, although the actual greenhouse complex was not completed until 1980. Given the shortage of building materials and the lack of professional skills during totalitarian era, the complex quickly became dilapidated and its upkeep was too costly. In addition, maintaining constant temperature conditions for the plants was also a major problem. Massive changes were made to the garden layout during the 1990s and between 1995 and 2000 a new greenhouse complex was constructed following plans by the architect Pavel Vaněček. The ground plan of the complex has been designed to match the cellular structure of plant tissue. In 2014 another greenhouse was added to the complex, with tropical water lily plants dominated by victoria regia. The park part of the gardens contains collections of perennials and roses; various types of rhododendrons, planted all around the perimeter, have become an iconic feature of the Liberec gardens. The outdoor exhibits are dominated by an extensive rock garden, which particularly contains plants representing the rocky steppes of the Bohemian Uplands, moorland and mountain flora of the Krkonoše and Jizera Mountains. Near the greenhouse complex there is an oriental garden and since 2014 the outdoor exhibits have included a section with the flora of wetlands and water gardens. Other unique features include the attempt at humour in the so-called “depressive” garden design (installed in 2010) and the “folk” garden (since 2017). The greenhouse exhibits are divided up by floral realm, and the complex also includes an Australis section (presenting a large number of Australian endemites), Palaeotropics (tropical rainforest with the main attraction being the Titan Arum) and Neotropic (the Neotropical realm of Central and South America). There are also displays of carnivorous plants, a pavilion of large cacti and also a flowerpot pavilion, whose vast collection of camellias commemorates the era of professional plant hunters and chateau orangery collections. The greenhouse complex is complemented by smaller exhibits in the form of collections of succulents (including a female specimen of Welwitschia mirabilis), small desert cacti, exhibitions of bonsai, orchids, etc. The exhibitions also include an aquarium part with freshwater and sea fish and a bird aviary.

 

References

Studnička, M.: Botanická zahrada Liberec: expozice, sbírky, zajímavosti. Liberec 2017.
Chytrá, M.; Hanzelka, P.; Kacerovský, R.: Botanické zahrady a arboreta České republiky. Praha 2010.
Webové stránky Botanické zahrady v Liberci. URL: http://www.botaniliberec.cz/ [20. 12. 2018].

jam

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