Walking in Paradise

Europe

Norway

The Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden in Tromsø, Norway is the world's northernmost botanical garden. It is part of the University of Tromso specializing in Arctic and Antarctic plants as well as species that are native to the Himalayas. South America, and Africa. Most of the plants flower between May and October.

You'll delight in flowers that grow from craggy rocks and hardy breeds that come from the deserts of Chile. One of the highlights during the flowering period is Rhododendron Valley.

England

Kew Gardens in London, England have the largest and most diverse botanical collections in the world, The botanical garden opened in 1759. There is a lot to explore here including the Great Broad Walk Borders, Temperate House and Kew Palace which is the smallest of all the British royal palaces. You can go to Treetop Walkway and get a look at views all around from 59 feet off the ground. Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Here you'll find over 50,000 plants and those which would not normally thrive in England are in the climate-controlled Princess of Wales Conservatory. The glasshouse is divided up into zones with one dedicated to carnivorous plants like the Venus Flytrap. There is also a zone dedicated to dry tropics with succulents and cactuses and the humid and tropical zone with Victoria Amazonica, the world's largest water lilies. There is also a rock garden with a tiered waterfall and an arboretum with 14,000 trees among them giant redwoods and black locusts that date back from the 18th century. Enjoy the 37-acre storybook forest that meets up with the River Thames and has an elevated trail leading through colorful wildflowers.

Foundation Monet in Giverny, France the garden that belonged to Claude Monet, the Father of Impressionism inspired his iconic series of water lily paintings. The lovely flower garden with the pond might not be a botanical garden but it is just as wonderful to see. There are peonies, cherry blossoms, and forget-me-nots.

There is even a Japanese inspired water garden shaped by Monet. Not only can you visit this beautiful garden but you can also see Monet's two-storey house.

Asia

Singapore Botanical Gardens are over 160 years old. There is a section of the city's primary rainforest, an orchid garden, a ginger garden, and you can see an exhibition on ethnobotany, taking a look at how plants are rooted in traditional culture and medicine. In the botanical garden are a pair of swans from Amsterdam, a national flower called Vanda Miss Joaquim, and its own mist garden. The National Orchid Garden has over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids on display. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the first such site in Singapore.

Perinaya Royal Botanical Gardens is the largest public garden in Sri Lanka. The centerpiece in this lovely garden is the Avenue of Royal Palms.

You can also enjoy fragrant plants, the orchid house, and a collection of exotic trees such as the Giant Bamboo of Burma, soaring up at 130 feet.

Africa

Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, Morocco was once the personal garden of French painter Jacques Majorelle. He spent his life designing the garden and after sixty years fashion designer Yves Saint Laurant and his partner continued working on it, The decor mixes French cubism with traditional Moroccan architecture.

There are rare cacti and over 15 species of birds from North Africa. You can also enjoy an exhibition of YSL's personal collection of regional fabrics and textiles from North Africa as well as traditional Barber art.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa is located on the east side of Table Mountain. The garden is one of the world's most biodiverse gardens and a leader in conservation science, There are endangered plants that have been cultivated since the early 1900s. You can explore them from up above along The Boomslang treetop walkway. The lovely sculpture garden has a bust of Nelson Mandela and amazing Mambo sculptures carved from opal stone.

Australia

Adelaide Botanic Garden in Adelaide, Australia features the Palm House, a restored Victorian glasshouse that was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875. There is a collection of Madagascan plants of which many are endangered in their native habitats.

The garden also has a 1989-built conservatory which is the largest single-span glasshouse in the southern hemisphere. The garden offers diverse landscapes like wetlands, rose gardens and a mini rainforest inside the conservatory.

North America

Montreal Botanical Garden in Montreal, Canada is located in Maisonneuve Park. It has ten greenhouses and 30 thematic gardens. There are plant sculptures shaped like animals, as part of the "Mosaiculture" exhibition of the Montreal festival.

The USA

New York

Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, New York is located behind Eastern Parkway. Every year they feature the Sakura Matsuri Festival when the cherry blossoms bloom on over 70 trees along Cherry Esplanade.

There are many types of flora and in the Bonsai Museum, you can see the biggest display of Bonsai trees outside of Japan. The garden has tranquil spots like the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden, the first Japanese-inspired garden built in the US and the Shakespeare Garden with plants such as primrose and crocuses mentioned in Shakespeare's works.

New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx, New York is a National Historic Landmark that was established in 1891. It is a lovely garden close to an old-growth forest and near the Bronx River. There are 50 specialty gardens with over a million plants and 12,000 species among them lilacs and magnolias. Among the highlights is the Victorian-style greenhouse conservatory with northeastern North American native plants and one of the world's most sustainable rose gardens.

Missouri

Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri was established in 1869 and is a National Historic Landmark. It is America's oldest botanical garden still in continuous operation.

The highlight is Climatron, a geodesic-dome greenhouse with a rainforest-like climate, dense tropical foliage, and a river aquarium with exotic fish. Over 2,800 plants grow inside among them cacao and coffee. There is a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden which is one of the oldest in the country and a glass butterfly conservatory with over 60 species of butterflies and 100 species of exotic flowering plants.

Arizona

Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona is located among the red rocks of the Papago Buttes. There are over 50,000 arid plants and 4,482 species in the unique collection. Of these 379 are rare and endangered and in existence for 81 years. The garden has desert landscaping and five themed hiking trails. The Desert Wildflower Loop features hummingbirds among cactuses.

South America

Jardim Botânico in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is located just under the giant Cristo Redentor statue right at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain. It is a UNESCO Heritage site. There is a rainforest with palm trees, monkeys, and more than 140 species of exotic birds. There is natural vegetation and organic forest from the mountain. The garden house has hungry carnivorous plants, bromeliads, and rare orchids. There is also the lovely Avenue of Royal Palms and an amazing Japanese garden. For bird watchers over 100 species of birds make this garden their home.

Buenos Aires Botanical Garden in Buenos Aires, Argentina was designed by French architect Charles Thays in 1891. You can walk along the dense foliage with marble statues and Art Nouveau greenhouses. The garden was declared a national monument in 1996. There are French, Roman, and Oriental gardens.