National Botanic Garden of Latvia, Salaspils: what to see and when to go

This large botanical garden in Salaspils, Latvia, covers 129 hectares and holds over 14,000 types of plants. Visitors find old parkland, themed gardens, a modern conservatory, and educational exhibits, with displays ranging from roses and irises to rare native species.

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Holds over 14,000 plant types from around the world
Features a modern conservatory with four climate zones
Rose garden has nearly 400 varieties and over 5,000 plants
Conserves rare Latvian plants using outdoor beds and tissue culture
Botania centre offers interactive nature education

What is National Botanic Garden of Latvia?

The National Botanic Garden of Latvia is a public park and plant collection in Salaspils, stretching across 129 hectares. Its grounds mix mature parkland with newer plantings, a terraced rock garden, and a large conservatory. Visitors can walk among old trees, see displays of roses, irises, and seasonal flowers, and explore a greenhouse with succulents and tropical plants. The site also features educational exhibits and areas dedicated to rare native species.

The history of National Botanic Garden of Latvia

The garden traces its roots to a commercial nursery started in Riga in 1836, which later moved to Salaspils. After several changes in ownership and purpose, it became a state-run nursery in 1944, focusing on fruit and ornamental plants. In 1956, the Latvian Academy of Sciences established the botanical garden, using the nursery's collection as a base. It gained national status in 1992 and has since undergone several changes in administration, most recently coming under the Nature Conservation Agency in 2026.

What there is to see

The garden’s layout combines older park sections with newer themed plantings. The arboretum is split into two: one area arranges trees by botanical relationships, while another groups them by their region of origin. The rock garden, built in the 1960s, features bulbs, small shrubs, and perennials. The conservatory, opened in 2015, has four halls with different climates for succulents, tropical, and subtropical plants. Collections are built through seed exchanges, wild collecting, and propagation.

When to go

Open to the public, the garden offers plant displays, educational programs, and nature activities year-round. The Botania centre, opened in 2024, provides interactive exhibits and school programs. The garden also serves as a site for conservation, growing rare Latvian plants and maintaining a laboratory for plant tissue culture. Seasonal flower displays attract visitors, and the grounds host seminars and conferences.

Parts and collections

The garden’s collections include more than 5,000 types of trees and shrubs, nearly 400 rose varieties, and over 2,000 greenhouse plants. The arboretum features both taxonomic and geographic groupings. Its rock garden contains over 400 plant types. The food and medicinal plant section includes currants, gooseberries, and sea buckthorn. Rare native species are grown in special outdoor beds and in laboratory culture.

Why National Botanic Garden of Latvia matters

The garden plays a key role in plant conservation and education in Latvia. Its rare-plant program began in 1981, with in vitro propagation added in 2003. The site has helped preserve species like the Alpine butterwort, which disappeared from the wild in Latvia. The Botania centre supports nature education for schools and families. The garden is a well-known destination for plant lovers and a resource for conservation efforts.

Questions people ask about National Botanic Garden of Latvia

Where is the National Botanic Garden of Latvia located?

It is in Salaspils, Latvia, covering 129 hectares and easily accessible to visitors interested in plants and gardens.

What can I see at the garden?

You can explore old parkland, themed gardens, a terraced rock garden, a large conservatory with tropical and succulent plants, and displays of roses, irises, and rare native species.

What is special about the garden’s collections?

The garden houses more than 14,000 plant types, including extensive collections of trees, shrubs, roses, and greenhouse plants, as well as rare and endangered Latvian species.

Does the garden offer educational programs?

Yes, the Botania centre provides interactive exhibits, school programs, and family activities focused on plant life and nature education.

How does the garden contribute to conservation?

It maintains rare native plants in outdoor beds and laboratory culture, and has worked to preserve species that have vanished from the Latvian wild.

Good reading and sources

Official websiteOfficial site

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "National Botanic Garden of Latvia", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Phool rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Opening times, prices and bloom dates change: check with the place before you travel. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Sim's Park, Coonoor: Thangaraj Kumaravel, CC BY 2.0, source

Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute: No machine-readable author provided. Shyamal assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY 2.5, source

Baldha Garden: Muntasir du, Public domain, source

Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source

Pedunculate oak: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Small-leaved Lime: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Jāņi: Heinrihsons, CC BY-SA 2.0, source

National Botanic Garden of Latvia