Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Top Summer Experiences in Sweden
Photo: Eva S Andersson
View from Håberget.
Photo: Eva S Andersson
World-class wildness, cherry blossom and a celebration of biodiversity Set on 430 acres of land in the heart of the city, the Gothenburg Botanical Garden boasts a range of extraordinary collections and rare species. With art exhibitions and wild fauna to boot, it is a place bursting with natural exploration and beauty. By Linnea Dunne | Photos: Gothenburg Botanical Garden
“This time of year, the Smithska Valley is at its most beautiful. The rhododendron is in full bloom,” says head gardener at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Anders Stålhand. “Kids especially love the koi carps, who are let out from hibernation into the Spegeldammen pond by the entrance during Hanami here at the Botanical Garden, Sweden’s largest cherry picnic and our biggest event. Hanami means ‘to behold flowers’ in Japanese and is a celebration of spring in Japan every year as the cherry trees bloom.” The Gothenburg Botanical Garden was founded in 1923 with the aim of presenting botany and biodiversity to the public in a beautiful way. Spread out across 430 acres, it boasts 16,000 plant species and hybrids – one of the largest collections of its kind in Europe – alongside one of 72 | Issue 112 | May 2018
the world’s greatest collections of bulbs and tubers. Add a spectacular waterfall, a herb garden, a Japanese valley and a multifaceted programme of events and exhibitions, as well as in excess of 1,500 species of tropical orchids, and you will see why botany and horticulture enthusiasts are impressed. Since 2016, the Gothenburg Botanical Garden boasts a new organic café and restaurant, AnyDay. Located right at the heart of the garden, only around 400 metres from the entrance, it serves lunch and coffee with homemade cakes and biscuits. In the coming two years, the garden will focus on pollination and this year in particular the importance of bees for biodiversity. Three bee hives are situated right by the entrance, and there will be a range of related activities throughout the year.
Those who wish to familiarise with the wilder side of nature can walk straight through the garden and out into the Änggårdsbergen nature reserve, which surrounds the garden and helps to challenge the boundaries between the tame and the wild. “What amazes many visitors is how close to wild nature you get here despite being in the heart of the city. The Smithska Valley is that wildness turned up to eleven – we’ve even had to reinforce the fencing to prevent wild boar from coming in and eating the bulbs and plants. We get the odd moose too,” says Stålhand and smiles. The Spegeldammen pond.
Web: www.botaniska.se