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    The St Vincent Botanical Gardens are the oldest in the Western Hemisphere and perhaps in the tropical world. The magnificent Botanic Gardens offers an attractive, alluring and peaceful retreat and is currently one of the most visited sites in St Vincent & the Grenadines. It is a venue for weddings, photographing, family celebrations, studying and other special events, hence fostering a sense of public ownership and increased appreciation of the Gardens’ historic and cultural significance. 
    The Botanic Gardens is an historic landmark of major national, regional and global significance. The Botanical Gardens was founded in 1765 and occupy approximately 20 acres about one mile out of capital Kingstown along the Leeward Highway. Conservation of rare species of plants has been practiced since 1765. The Nicholas Wildlife Aviary Complex located within the Gardens also plays vital conservation role as part of the captive breeding program to conserve the endangered St Vincent Parrot, “Amazona guildingii”, the National Bird. These endemic parrots can be found in the wild and also in the aviary at the Botanical Gardens.  
    In the early 18th century great emphasis was laid on introducing valuable and commercial plants from the East to Kew Gardens in England to be sent later to the American tropics. Prizes and awards were given by the Royal Society to anyone fostering the introduction, establishment, and dissemination of highly prized species, and so it came about that in 1765, a 20-acre botanical garden started in St Vincent.
    Under the capable and enthusiastic guidance of several successive curators, either British or French, the Botanical Gardens quickly attained an enviable reputation and received wide acclaim. It was a great time for the exchange of valuable plants in the Caribbean, from French Guiana to Jamaica.
    Among the wide variety of tropical trees and shrubs is a third generation breadfruit tree, a sucker from the original plant brought by Captain Bligh (of the Bounty fame) in 1793. In 1787-88 Captain Bligh made his ill-fated voyage on the H.M.S Bounty to Tahiti to collect breadfruit and other useful plants for the West Indies. Despite the famous mutinous outrage, undaunted he returned to Tahiti on the H.M.S Providence and completed his mission in Kingstown on January 23rd 1793. The Curator took great care of these plants, and the success of all those efforts is evidenced in the widespread distribution of breadfruit, the most useful food plant throughout the West Indies.
    The first half of the 19th Century was a lean time for colonial botanic gardens, and due to a lack of interest and maintenance, St Vincent  gardens fell into disrepair in 1850.  Local efforts in St Vincent started for the resuscitation of the gardens in 1884 and by 1890 it was reactivated as part of a larger agricultural and botanical scheme.
    The Botanical Gardens soon regained its former glory and beauty, and the plant collections were recovered. Considerable attention was given in the gardens to experimental work on economic crop until 1944 (cotton, arrowroot, cacao and sugarcane). The layout of the re-established Gardens was improved by the construction of a small Doric Temple, roads and by the continuous introduction of plants to maintain and add to the collection. After 240 years the Botanical Gardens remain a beautiful tranquil link with St Vincent & the Grenadines’ history.   While in St Vincent & the Grenadines – visit the Botanical Gardens!

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