SRI LANKA - Royal Botanic Garden

Royal Botanic Garden Peradeniya, encompassing an area of 147 acres, is the largest and most important garden in Sri Lanka. Located about 5.5 km from the city of Kandy, visitors often stop here for a walking tour of the botanic garden before or after visiting Kandy.

Used as a royal garden since 1371, it was transformed into a Botanical Garden in 1821.


The map of Royal Botanic Gardens, Paradeniya Sri Lanka. You will be given a map at the entrance of the garden after you have paid the entrance fee of course.


You can try some Sri Lankan fresh milk before starting your stroll at the Botanic Garden.


First stop, the Orchid House.


Numerous species of orchid flowers can be seen here.




Peek-a-boo! Can you see my beau?




The Orchid House is a red building near the main entrance.






Meant to be the Queen’s pleasure garden when King Wickramabahu III ascended the throne in1371.


Made a Royal Garden during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe.


When the British conquered Sri Lanka, it was transformed into a Botanical Garden in 1821.


The Royal Botanic Garden’s well tended landscape is separated into variety of themes.


Many past European royalty has planted a tree here in the Botanic Garden such as Princess Henry of Prussia in 1899, Tsar of Russia in 1891, King of Greece in 1891 and Emperor of Austria in 1901.


Trees were also planted by Yuri Gagarin (first human in outer space) and Harold Macmillan (former Prime Minister of UK).


Some of the many beautiful flowers in the garden.


Sri Lanka’s first tea trees were planted here at the Royal Botanic Garden Peradeniya.


Coffee, Tea, Nutmeg, Rubber and Cinchona were tested here at the garden of which Tea and Rubber became the mainstay of the economy of Sri Lanka.


The tree sure does have a weird looking roots.


The garden is really beautiful and maintained excellently.


The Royal Palm Avenue.




Bamboo Collection.




The Couroupita Guianensis or better known as Cannonball Tree was planted by King George V and Queen Mary in 1901. The fruit sure does look like a cannon ball. 


According to the garden’s brochure, there are some wildlife to be seen. Maybe I am not very observant, but all I could see was a white cow with a pair of horns.


I’m now at the Fernery. It’s where the Fern leaves are planted. Hmmm where to next?


View of the Great Lawn.


That sure is one peculiar tall tree.


Java Fig Tree indigenous from Malaysia and introduced to Sri Lanka in 1861. It seems that the tree is over 100 years old.


Under the Giant Java Fig Tree.


The Royal Botanic Garden serves as an important recreation place for the locals.


Children playing around the Great Lawn of the Royal Botanic Garden.


School outing trip. 5% of the school children of Sri Lanka visits the Royal Botanic Garden every year.


Gardner’s Monument commemorates George Gardner, the Superintendent of the park from 1844 – 1849.


Coco de Mer is one of the rarest plants in the world.


Also known as the Double Coconut Palm, this plant has the largest and heaviest fruit in the plant kingdom, weighing some 10 – 20 kg. The tree is so productive that it is not unusual to have 20 nuts on a tree.


A man made lake.


Lake? Well, a dried up lake anyway.


There are still some water left at the side of the lake where you can see some lilies and papyrus reeds.
  





Time to make a move.


With over ten thousand plants and trees, the Royal Botanic Garden of Peradeniya is definitely a place to visit especially for plant lovers. I personally enjoyed my walk around the garden but the heat from the sun was a bit too hot. Well I should have come here in the morning instead of in the afternoon. After my trip to the garden, I proceeded my journey to the Central Highland of Sri Lanka where the weather was cooler.


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