The Botanischer Garten Grugapark is a municipal botanical garden located in the

Grugapark The Grugapark is a central park in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was first opened in 1929 as the first "Große Ruhrländische Gartenbau-Ausstellung". Adjacent to the Grugapark is the Grugahalle concert hall and the Mess ...

at Virchowstraße 167a,

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged. The garden was established in 1927 for recreation, teaching, and research. Parts of the garden were destroyed in World War II but gradually rebuilt and re-designed for the Essen

Bundesgartenschau The Bundesgartenschau BUGA is a biennial federal horticulture show in Germany. It also covers topics like landscaping. Taking place in different cities, the location changes in a two-year cycle. BUGA cities *1951 – Hannover *1953 – Hamburg ...

of 1965. Today its major sections are as follows: * Alpinum - mountain plants from the Caucasus, the

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

s, and the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, including gentians, alpine violets,

asters ''Aster'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Its circumscription has been narrowed, and it now encompasses around 170 species, all but one of which are restricted to Eurasia; many species formerly in ''Aster'' are ...

, and pine trees, as well as Taiwania. * Asia section - dove tree, Japanese elm, and Asian hydrangeas, maples, and walnut trees. * Climbing plants - self-described as Germany's largest collection of climbing plants, including clematis, honeysuckle, climbing hydrangea, wolfberry, and wild vines. * Conifers (planted 1927) - self-described as one of Europe's largest collections, including native

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

araucaria ''Araucaria'' (; original pronunciation: .ɾawˈka. ɾja is a genus of evergreen Conifer, coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. There are 20 extant taxon, extant species in New Caledonia (where 14 species are endemism, ende ...

, thuja,

ginkgos ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within t ...

, sequoia, dawn redwood, and the oldest cryptomeria group in North Rhine-Westphalia. * Forest valley - American

sweet gum ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae ...

s, pin oaks, bald cypresses, and a meadow with wild herbs. * Herb garden - medicinal herb garden in a medieval style. * Mediterranean orangery (built 1987) -

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

s, bay laurels,

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

trees, and lemon and orange trees. * Rhododendron valley - 500

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

species and cultivars. * Rose garden (planted 1927) - rose cultivars and

water lily Water lily or water lilies may refer to: Plants * Members of family Nymphaeaceae * Formerly, members of the genus ''Nelumbo'' (the genus to which lotus belongs) * Some members of the genus ''Nymphoides'' Other uses * ''Water Lilies'' (Monet ...

pond. * Sensory garden - primarily roses and

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s. * Shrubbery (planted 1964) - several thousand

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s from Asia, the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and Europe, as well as cowslip, delphinium,

Carpathian harebell ''Campanula carpatica'', the tussock bellflower or Carpathian harebell, is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. Description ''Campanula carpatica'' is a low-growing herbaceous perennial. Plants possess basal leaves and thi ...

heuchera ''Heuchera'' ( or ) is a genus of largely evergreen perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. Description ''Heuchera'' have palmately lobed leaves on long petiole ...

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

, red hot pokers, primrose, and giant

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...

. * Westphalian cottage garden (circa 1925) - medicinal and culinary

s and local vegetables representative of a Westphalian farmer's garden. * Wetlands - bald cypress, bamboos, reeds, willows, etc. The garden also includes three

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s, built in 1985, for its tropical

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

collection,

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s, and primeval plants from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and tropical South East Asia. Other features of interest include a

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

garden, a scenic pond (the ''Margarethensee''), and a

Ronald McDonald House Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children. RMHC has a global network of c ...

References

Botanischer Garten Grugapark

Essen municipal description

BGCI entry

GardenVisit entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grugapark, Botanischer Garten Botanical gardens in Germany Gardens in North Rhine-Westphalia

See also

References