Frequently asked questions

Botanical garden

We listen & answer your questions

Why do we close the Garden during winter?

For just a few winter months the Garden is closed due to bad weather conditions. The trees in the arboretum are cleaning themselves in the wind from the smaller dry branches, the leaves are covering everything and the paths are muddy – in all, the Garden is left to sleep. We do plan to have the Garden shortly open during the winter, after the reconstruction of the exhibition greenhouses.

Why are the greenhouses not open to pubic?

Our small greenhouses were filled up with plants already by 1900s and they could no longer be public. We have launched the restoration project of the old greenhouse in 2015; the progress is slow, but we are trying to find the money necessary to finish up the work soon and to open the greenhouse to public after more than a 100 years! They will host a small collection of most interesting plants which, unlike most of our exotic plants (taken out every spring and placed all over the Garden), never leave their greenhouses – e. g. cocoa plant or tropical orchids.

Why don't we allow walking on green surfaces and in the rockeries?

Walking outside garden paths is not allowed because many more plants grow in the fields, not only grass. Even during the summer, when the grass is regularly cut down, the grounds hide many seedlings, bulbs and tubers of plants that will flower next spring. This garden rule is a good example how the botanic gardens differ from public parks. Only large botanic gardens with plenty of space, have designated meadows or fields which can be used for rest.  Our rockeries were not constructed to accept large number of visitors – they are crowded with plants and the paths are narrow so there is a chance of damaging them.

Why don't we cultivate plants for sale?

As a part of an educational and scientific institution, the Garden differs in many ways from a plant nursery. Throughout the year our gardeners propagate new plants in order to maintain and develop our collections. Surpluses of perennials we have been growing for years are sold occasionally in plant sale. We also cultivate and sell several endemic and endangered plants of Croatian flora, according to special permits (licence) from the competent Ministry. Such is our most famous endemic plant, Degenia velebitica.

Why can't we accept all the plants you offer us?

Many people offer us their green pets, usually because they very big and to heavy to transport. In most cases those are typical ‘house’ plants which are not so valuable to us and we can not accept them due to lack of space in our greenhouses. We do sometimes accept rare and exceptional specimens of plants we don not have in our collections.

Why don't we accept turtles?

One of the most popular pet in last decades was a small red-eared turtle, found in may pet shops. Unfortunately, this carnivorous and aggressive turtle is a fast grower and not suitable for small home aquariums. Disposing them in our ponds without asking resulted in more than a hundred specimens which devastated our pond plants, fish, frogs  and even our tame European pond turtle.  The Mexican red-eared slider is no longer available in the pet stores as it is on EU invasive animals list.

Why do we have no dogs, no weels, no jogging policy?

We do not allow entering the Garden with dogs (or any other pet), no matter how small or adorable, on leash or in the bag. This is 130 year old rule, same in most other botanic gardens in Europe. To many dogs would be impossible to control, which would result in devastation of our plants. Simple as that! The only exception to this rule are certified assistant dogs. Similarly, we do not allow entering with vehicles of any kind – those have to be left at the entrance, with the exception of wheelchairs and baby strollers. Jogging and other sports, as well as picnicking are not allowed, because the Garden is very small and we do not have enough space even for our collections, and there are many public places in the city for those activities. Simply look at botanical gardens as museums in the open, and you cannot jog in s museum, or enter with a bike or jog, can you?

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