BOTANIC GARDENS OF THE WORLD

Tales of extraordinary plants, botanical history and scientific discovery 

- Deborah Trentham

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, England (1840)

THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS in Kew are thought to be the largest botanical gardens in the world, a 121-hectare (300-acre) site on the edge of London, home to the world’s biggest collection of living plants and more than 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens. It is a setting rich in history that spans from royal follies to colonial exploitation and wartime bombing. Kew states that its mission is to “protect plants and fungi for the future of all life on Earth,” and to investigate the plant world for new sources of food, medicine, fuel and materials. Kew continues to help us understand the wonders of nature and to question how we care for it in a world where climate is now dangerously being ignored. Installations like The Hive whirring away in the middle of a meadow, recreating life inside a beehive, remind us of the challenges bees face to survive. Designed by artist Wolfgang Buttress, it features a thousand LEDs lighting up according to the vibrations of bees, and creates a musical symphony in the key of C—the same key that bees buzz in!

Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier, France (1593)