Whenever I visit a bigger city, I try to go to their botanical garden with a green house. Yea, I’m that damaged. If it’s in tropics, then the whole garden is my play ground. This time when in Riga I checked out the Palm House in the botanical garden of University of Latvia.
Photo from Panoramio by Toms Grīnbergs
Not so big in area, the Palm House has a rather impressive height, which make it possible to accommodate really tall specimens. Winter temperatures inside is about 14-16°C (57-60°F) so it’s a subtropical climate inside. So they don’t have really tropical plants there, but do have some magnificent Fenix canariensis. Two other impressive palms are Syagrus romanzoffiana and a Howea forsteriana worthily of the Lord Howe Island. A collection of Camaedorias is finishing the line of palm department.
Someting I have never seen in other green houses are very large 2 or 3 different species of Araucaria and probably the tallest Ficus spp. under the roof. Near the Ficus you’ll find also an ancient Monstera deliciosa. A fruiting right now Musa paradisiaca is standing for some more tropical feeling as well as two large Strelitzia nicolai.
In one of two adjacent low green houses one interested (I’m not so) will find a collection of succulents, mostly cacti. Other building is labeled as tropical plants, but I didn’t find anything of interest there. Probably a couple of really neglected Ti plants made me repress my memories.
Getting out and following the signs you’ll come to the Butterfly house. As for me I was mostly impressed by a large exposition of flowering azaleas.
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