Estonia's Native Plants

It was on the initiative of Director Gottfried Albert Germann who considered it important to raise awareness of local flora that species native to Estonia started to be cultivated in the Botanical Garden in the beginning of the 19th century. A separate Garden of Estonia's Native Species was created in the beginning of the 1920s. Its collection was renewed between 2015–2018 and was ready for the centenary of the Republic of Estonia in 2018.

Estonia's Native Species section stretches from the streetside wall of the Botanical Garden to the corner of the Palm House. Plants are presented in various cultivation sites that are modelled after our seashores, raised boglands, alvars and various types of forest and meadow.

It also has over 100 of Estonia's protected plant species. To be considered native to Estonia, a species must have reached the region before the 18th century – the number of such species is estimated at 1400, of which approximately one half are represented in the Botanical Garden.