A Visit To Bogotá’s Botanical Gardens

As observant readers will have noticed, I love plants and I love botanical gardens. When I travel, I invariably try to set aside a day to go and observe a botanical garden in the place I’m visiting. It’s always interesting to wander through parks with plants that vary according to the climate of the host country, and I’m naturally fond of greenhouses, which often feature houseplants in their most resplendent state (arousing both wonder and, let’s face it, jealousy). While enjoying the magnificent botanical gardens of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, last winter, I thought I’d share them with the friends of The Laidback Gardener.

Colombia

Located in the north of South America, close to Central America, Colombia is a country of great interest in many respects, but particularly for its climate, flora and plant production. Although it’s a country where we often hear about various social problems, it’s worth pointing out that, over the last few years, enormous efforts have been made to improve security, stability and infrastructure, making Colombia a popular tourist destination, particularly rich in the multicultural tapestry that makes up the República de Colombia.

A climate? Climates!

Colombia’s geographical position and rugged landscape mean that the country’s climates vary considerably. “Climate” refers to a set of meteorological conditions (temperature, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, etc.) specific to a region. Quebec, for example, has a humid continental climate, with wide temperature variations and four well-defined seasons (hot summers but characteristic winters).

In Colombia, things aren’t quite so clear-cut; although the climate is predominantly tropical and humid, there are major differences between regions, and this has an influence on the flora and fauna – so divergent landscapes can exist side by side. Being a country located at the Earth’s equator, temperatures are constant all year round (hence my winter trip, where I left Quebec in boots and a coat, only to return in shorts and sandals).

The Beaches

In the north of the country, the Caribbean Sea is eternally warm, and the temperatures reflect this: it’s hot all year round, the sun beats down hard and rainfall is relatively low. This climate is also found in the famous vacation destination of Cartagena (Cartagena de Indias), a port city lined with beaches.

Slightly further south, low rainfall and high temperatures give rise to savannah in a semi-arid climate, an important reserve of wildlife biodiversity. These steppes are known as Los Llanos (the Plains). This section is illustrated on the map above under its other name, Orinoquía.

La jungle

As you descend into the country, the Caribbean climate gives way to a more tropical one, as you’d expect: hot, humid temperatures, little temperature variation and, above all, abundant rain all year round. In short, it’s the jungle! And that’s only natural, since Colombia is one of many countries crossed by the Amazon.

However, it’s not just rivers and latitudes that dictate the climate: altitude also has its say. The Andes mountain range runs right through the country, so that some towns are as high as 2,000 metres. Medellín, another major tourist destination, is nicknamed La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera, or City of Eternal Spring, because temperatures here are indeed spring-like: cool and comfortable. This is thanks to the Andean climate; here, the seasons are loosely defined, with alternating seasons of higher rainfall and drier seasons, and very little variation in temperatures.

So the higher you go, the colder it gets. On the summits of the Andes mountains, there’s even eternal ice, and this climate is, of course, known as the “glacial climate”. On the contrary, in some places, desert microclimates are emerging: intense heat, little precipitation, little vegetation (my own personal hell).

The Impact Of Climate On Biodiversity

I talk about different climates on a plant-related blog, because they have a direct effect on Colombian flora and its biodiversity. In fact, you won’t find the same plant profile in a tropical rainforest as in an Andean climate!

Mangroves, ecosystems made up of trees that grow directly in brackish water (a mixture of freshwater and salty seawater), are particularly valuable for biodiversity. These trees are known as halophilic, meaning they “like” the high concentration of salt water (or rather, they tolerate it well; indeed, if we watered our indoor plants with seawater… they would soon die). These are mainly red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), which can live in submerged areas and withstand the shock of the waves, while their roots and branches shelter their share of small creatures, crustaceans, birds and so on.

In semi-arid climates, we can see the typical savannah vegetation: low, dry vegetation dotted with small trees. It is only along rivers that we speak of true forests; otherwise, the flora is not dense at all. The plants that grow here have developed many ways of withstanding drought, as rainfall is concentrated over a restricted period of the year. On the other hand, some parts of this savannah are temporarily flooded during the rainy season, and the plants have to adapt to this as well.

Tropical Plants

In the Amazon basin, the Amazon jungle dominates. Many houseplants, rightly described as “tropical plants”, come from the jungle (pothos, philodendrons, aglaonemas, etc.). This is how they can withstand the temperatures that change little in our homes: the temperature range is small in tropical climates. Accustomed to high humidity and particularly dense vegetation that lets in very little light, jungle plants tolerate low light levels, which explains why they are so easy to adapt to our interiors.

Finally, the Andes are home to many different types of plant, again depending on altitude. Up to around 1,000 metres above sea level, we have typical jungle vegetation, but the higher you go, the more the vegetation has to withstand cold temperatures, strong winds and variable rainfall. We find more and more perennials well anchored on mountain slopes thanks to their extensive root systems or rhizomes, right up to areas sometimes buried by snow where only mosses and lichens grow.

Páramo

The Andes region is home to a unique biotope known as “Páramo”, including the Espeletia, found at high altitudes and endemic to the region (in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador). Espeletia trees have an important effect on these high-altitude regions: they are able to capture water from passing clouds thanks to their spongy trunks and release it into the soil by means of their roots, eventually leading to the creation of lakes and rivers that feed lower basins. They are very important in the culture of the inhabitants of Páramos, who call them “frailejones”, in honor of the first Spanish monks (frailes) and the suffix for “big”.

It’s certainly not the only special plant: it’s estimated that around 10% of the world’s species live in Colombia! So this is a country with a wide variety of endemic flora.

An Equally Diverse Production

With so many different climates, it’s not surprising that Colombia’s agricultural production is just as varied. We all know that Colombian coffee is famous for its unique flavor and quality, but Colombia also produces palm oil, avocados, cocoa, cane sugar and various fruits (bananas, plantains, pineapples, etc.).

Cut Flowers

But another export area that is often overlooked is the cut flower market. Colombia is a renowned producer of flowers, including roses of all kinds, carnations and chrysanthemums. Although the Netherlands remains the largest producer in the floral market, Colombia holds its own and is second in the world for cut flower exports. This market has been growing steadily in recent years.

The story of the Colombian floral market is an interesting one, since it was built on private entrepreneurship and is not the result of government intervention. The market is also a major employer of poorly educated workers, 70% of whom are women. Cut flowers are grown most extensively in the uplands around Bogotá.

The Perfect Altitude For This Crop

At over 2,500 meters above sea level, Bogotá is perched on a plateau in the heart of the Andes. It’s a densely populated city, and the world’s largest high-altitude city (although there are villages much higher up, there are no teeming urban centers as high up as Bogotá).

It’s precisely this climate that makes the plateaus around Bogotá the perfect place to grow flowers. Because of the altitude, the sunshine is bright, but the risk of drought is slightly reduced by stable year-round temperatures of between 10 and 20°C (50 and 68°F) and regular rainfall. This reduces the need for supplementary watering most of the time and eliminates the need for greenhouses, making it possible to grow flowering plants all year round – especially when it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, when imported flowers are in greater demand.

Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis

To the surprise of no one, the Bogotá Botanical Garden is located in Bogotá and therefore benefits from the favorable climate for plant growth that defines the Colombian floral market. It’s not just a botanical garden, but also a research station focusing on the Andes and Páramo ecosystems mentioned above. Plants from every Colombian ecosystem can be found in its parks and greenhouses. It is named after the Spanish botanist José Celestino Bruno Mutis y Bosio (incidentally, also a mathematician and priest), who led a 25-year expedition in 1783 to study Colombian flora.

So I was lucky enough to visit this botanical garden in the winter of 2024, on a gray, bright and rainless day. Admission to the garden is more expensive for tourists than for locals, but still very affordable. The large area covered is divided into various sections organized around more or less defined themes. Unlike some tidy gardens, there seems to be a certain carelessness about the Bogotá Botanical Garden: if it weren’t for the paths and landscape design (mechanical waterfalls, artificial rock formations, etc.), you’d be forgiven for thinking that the plants growing here were not planted by man.

Entrée

The entrance to the garden, as you’d expect, is lavishly decorated with plants that look exotic to me, but are actually very common to the Colombian landscape, such as the huge, messy monstera deliciosa climbing lazily up the enormous ficus trees (quite different from the one I have in my living room! This is another advantage of travelling to the tropics: for a houseplant lover, it’s amazing to see them in their natural state).

Introductory Garden

This is the name of the first garden you visit after passing through the turnstiles at the entrance. It surrounds a stretch of water topped by a pontoon in the center of which sits the very romantic gazebo – the perfect place for a wedding (I don’t know if it’s possible to book a botanical garden for a wedding, but that’s the image it conjured up for me. If that’s not possible, I’ll get married in the garden section of a hardware store, in the shade of young hibiscus in bloom). There’s a collection of exotic aquatic plants that I’m not at all familiar with; in any case, the garden is highly romantic and restful. This introductory garden sets the bar high for others!

Fern Garden

On the left as you enter is a very tropical garden, dotted with ferns and other Araceae. It’s a particularly dense garden, where the narrow paths allow you to admire the interplay between the vegetation and the various waterfalls. This seemed to be the garden left most to its own devices, and that’s what made it so charming. The only obstacle preventing us from feeling like we were in the jungle were the handrails that helped us to avoid falling on the wet stones (much appreciated).

Landscape Garden

If, instead of going left after the introductory garden, you go right, you’ll find a lovely café selling beverages (including, of course, Colombian coffee) and a few other local delicacies. Even though the visit to Bogotá’s Botanical Garden is far from over, it was already time for a break, and prices, especially for a tourist spot, are very reasonable. A few souvenirs are also on sale.

From the café, you can walk along a covered walkway where each column is assaulted by climbing plants of all kinds. Of course, this building was covered with a huge flowering bougainvillea, as well as other plants such as fragrant climbing jasmines. For a vine-lover like me, it was particularly delightful to see these enterprising plants threatening to form a green wall around us.

We then reached the landscaped garden (free translation of area de paisajismo), a much more orderly garden where exotic ornamental plants line up along a wide asphalt path, so straight it looks regal. Although the wilder gardens are very interesting, this landscaped garden was particularly beautiful, as it featured colorful alliances made from the intertwining of bright foliage and flowers that continually follow one another in this profitable climate. The landscape garden is a perfect place for a picnic.

Roseraie

From the garden, you can visit the small rose garden and, further on, the greenhouses (which I’ll talk about later). You can also admire the palm arboretum, an impressive place where the palms, since they are not confined to greenhouses as they are in Quebec, can reach up to the sky and are breathtaking in size.

Since rose production is an important part of the Colombian economy, the rose garden is a colorful and popular place, where tea hybrids and floribundas line up around a small fountain. Although the space allotted to them is limited, the roses are planted so densely that it’s hard to give each one the admiration it deserves. Indeed, each time I passed by, I found again and again my new “favorite flower”, distinguished by its shape or color. The fountain made it all very bucolic.

Jardin des Andes et du Páramo

This was the last area I had time to visit. It was already the end of the day: the Bogotá Botanical Garden is really big!

Less dense than the other gardens, it is made up of sunny paths, crossing a mixture of undergrowth and plains (indeed, vegetation at altitude is much lower than in the tropics). These long corridors are more reminiscent of a hike than a visit to a garden, a change of pace that’s not unpleasant; around the bend in the paths is an observatory, where you can admire the landscape – but not for long! Particularly on this small, uncovered viewpoint, the sun is beating down hard.

Other Attractions

The list of things I didn’t have time to see is unfortunately too long! So there are also:

• Various arboretums (of Columbian pines, oaks, Lauraceae, Rubiaceae, magnolias, Melastomaceae, “exotic trees”, etc.);
• The Founder’s Garden, organized like a Yin Yang seen from above;
• The circular medicinal herb garden;;
• The agroecological garden;
• The cold-climate fruit garden (I wonder if you can find the exotic raspberries and blackberries that grow everywhere here?)
• Bromeliad and orchid greenhouses for hot and cold climates (I don’t even know if it was possible to visit them);
• The propagation tunnel (I don’t know about that either, but I’d love to have seen their facilities!);
• The experimental aquatic plant zone (I have no idea what this is).

Greenhouses

Of course, the greenhouses are always my favorite part of any botanical garden visit. Immense and hard to miss, they are bordered by a small garden of outdoor succulents which, in the sun, are absolutely striking in color! The entrance building also features a photo exhibition of Colombia’s diverse landscapes, allowing visitors to appreciate their impressive diversity. The space is well organized: there’s only one way to visit the greenhouses, and you exit through the back of the building, avoiding traffic jams. A few footbridges lead back to the gardens themselves – they are surrounded by basins where aquatic plants grow.

The greenhouses at Bogotá’s Botanical Gardens are truly impressive, for a very specific reason: rather than being built lengthways, as in many other places, they are built high up. It was when I saw this that I decided to write this article.

Significant Height

The point of having particularly tall greenhouses is that, in the tropics, trees also grow particularly tall. The first and largest greenhouse has a humid tropical theme and represents the Amazonian climate very well. Thanks to its maze of walkways and bridges, you can admire several different levels of vegetation, from wetland plants such as Spathiphyllum to the tops of immense trees, which would never grow so high if the glass roof wasn’t so far from the ground.

Climbing plants grow all along these trees, allowing us to admire their shapes and sizes, which change depending on whether they’re low to the ground or well into their ascent (for example, syngoniums change from arrow-shaped leaves to multi-leaved ones, three, then five, and so on, the higher they climb). You can also admire the imitation of a mangrove as seen on the Pacific coast, since there’s a waterfall inside this first greenhouse.

We then move on to the dry tropical greenhouse, inspired by deserts and canyons. Here, of course, we find many cacti and succulents, as well as other plants that tolerate low humidity and warm temperatures, including certain trees and other hardwoods.

Useful Plants

This is followed by the greenhouse of useful plants, which groups together plants that are medicinal, edible or useful, for example, in the production of natural fibres. This varied garden is difficult to describe, since instead of grouping together a particular type of plant, it organizes in a rather attractive way plants that are important to Colombian history and culture. The only pity is that there are no explanatory signs, so it’s hard to grasp the theme of this garden when you’re there.

Finally, there’s a conservation greenhouse, where you’ll find a variety of plants. There are endangered plants, of course, but also plants considered “strange”, notably orchids and Bromeliads (I take it that by “strange” we mean “epiphytes”!), and plants from the Zamiaceae family. Once again, the lack of explanatory panels is to be deplored; fortunately, the extent of the orchid and Bromeliad collections makes everything sufficiently colorful for us to get lost in the spectacle of this more eclectic garden.

A Detour Not To Be Missed!

Well, between you and me, I was already sold before I went. After all, I always visit the botanical gardens of the cities I visit as a tourist, and I love it every time. Admittedly, it often comes down to the same thing: most gardens have greenhouses, and most greenhouses have tropical ornamental plants that are also grown as houseplants.

In the case of the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis, however, there are a number of elements that make it worth the detour, even for people harder to charm than me: Colombia is a highly biodiverse country, so in a single day you can admire landscapes reminiscent of its varied climates, enjoy the multiple levels of vegetation in a veritable jungle within the particularly high greenhouses, and feast your eyes on the colorful production of roses that are always in bloom. A detour not to be missed!