Walking Talking Gardeners: Exploring Europe’s Last Living Acclimatization Garden — Our RHS Bursary Research

How Tenerife’s La Orotava Botanical Garden Preserves a Lost Chapter of Colonial Plant Science

Walking Talking Gardeners are proud recipients of two Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) bursaries, awarded in recognition of our commitment to horticultural research, education, and public engagement. Our most recent bursary supported a study visit to one of Europe’s most historically significant yet often overlooked horticultural sites: the La Orotava Botanical Garden in Tenerife.

This garden is not simply a beautiful collection of plants — it is a rare surviving example of an 18th‑century acclimatization garden, a type of scientific landscape once central to Europe’s colonial trade networks. Our research aimed to uncover its history, understand its micro‑climate engineering, and identify how its techniques can help UK gardeners grow borderline‑hardy plants today.

🌿 Why Acclimatization Gardens Mattered

During the age of European colonial exploration, long voyages demanded reliable access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Scurvy — caused by vitamin C deficiency — was a constant threat to sailors. To combat this, colonial powers established “Ports of Call” where ships could replenish fresh produce.

In 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) created the first European garden outside Europe at Cape Town. This model inspired other nations, including Spain, France and the UK, to establish similar gardens along their trade routes.

Over time, these gardens evolved from food‑supply stations into scientific centres for acclimatization — the process of adapting tropical and subtropical plants to cooler European climates.

Acclimatization involved:

identifying micro‑habitats similar to a plant’s native environment

propagating plants over multiple generations

selecting offspring with improved cold tolerance

gradually shifting plants into cooler micro‑climates

This work aimed to make economically valuable crops easier and cheaper to grow in Europe.

🍅 A Botanical Influx from the Americas

Following Spain’s conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, a wave of new crops entered Europe:

tomatoes and beans from Mexico

cocoa from Central America

potatoes from Peru

tobacco and corn from the Americas

These plants were unfamiliar and often tender, requiring careful acclimatization before they could thrive in European gardens.

To support this work, Spain established two major acclimatization centres:

La Orotava Botanical Garden, Tenerife (1788)

The Gardens of Aranjuez, Madrid

La Orotava’s mild subtropical climate made it the ideal stepping‑stone for tropical species destined for mainland Spain.

👑 Royal Ambition and Exotic Plants

King Carlos IV of Spain sought to enrich the royal gardens at Aranjuez with exotic plants from Spanish colonies, particularly South America and the Philippines. These plants were first sent to La Orotava, where gardeners matched each species with a micro‑climate resembling its native habitat.

Through vegetative propagation and selective seedling growth, hardier generations were produced — better suited to the cooler conditions awaiting them in Madrid.

This work represents one of the earliest systematic attempts at climate adaptation in horticulture.

⚔ The Decline of Colonial Botany

The early 19th century brought political upheaval:

Spanish American wars of independence

Napoleonic wars

Abdication of the Spanish royal family

With the collapse of Spanish colonial power, the search for economically valuable exotic plants ended. Many acclimatization gardens across Europe were abandoned or repurposed into pleasure gardens.

But one survived.

🌺 La Orotava Botanical Garden: A Living Relic

Today, the La Orotava Botanical Garden is believed to be the last surviving acclimatization garden in near‑original condition. Its terraces, micro‑climates and historic layout still reflect its original purpose: adapting tropical plants for European cultivation.

This makes it uniquely valuable for modern horticultural study — and directly relevant to UK gardeners seeking to grow borderline‑hardy plants in a warming climate.

🎯 Our RHS Bursary Research Goals

Our RHS bursary supported a study visit to La Orotava with three key objectives:

1. Illuminate the garden’s historical role

We documented how La Orotava contributed to the introduction of exotic and economically important plants into Europe.

2. Understand its micro‑climate engineering

We examined how terraces, walls, orientation, and environmental manipulation created the conditions necessary for tropical species to establish in Tenerife’s mild‑subtropical climate.

3. Apply these principles to UK gardening

We identified how micro‑climate manipulation techniques used at La Orotava can help UK gardeners successfully grow borderline‑hardy plants in warmer regions.

Alongside our formal report, we will produce a series of YouTube videos to share these findings with a wider audience.

🌱 Why This Research Matters

Our RHS bursary work demonstrates how historical horticultural science can inform modern gardening practice. Techniques used centuries ago to acclimatize tropical plants for European gardens can help today’s gardeners:

protect tender species

extend growing seasons

create micro‑climates

improve plant establishment

adapt to changing UK weather patterns

This research strengthens our mission as Walking Talking Gardeners:

to blend academic horticultural knowledge with practical, accessible advice for gardeners everywhere.

🌿 A Note of Thanks

We are deeply grateful to the Royal Horticultural Society for supporting this research. Their bursary programme continues to empower horticulturists to explore, learn, and share knowledge that benefits the wider gardening community.