Explore rare and exotic plants at St Petersburg's enchanting Botanical Garden. You'll find plants from all around the world including the unique Queen of the Night which flowers just one night a year every May.
The garden was ordered by Peter the Great in 1714 and built as the Apothecary's Garden. A greenhouse was soon added and later tropical plants, flowers, shrubs and trees were included in the collection.
The grounds now have a more English design with plants from Russia uncovered and the greenhouses for tropical and sub-tropical plants. Bamboo, conifers and orchids from the Far East have been flown over and there are giant water lilies that grow in the greenhouse pool in the summer, reaching two metres in size and able to hold up to 60kg in weight.