Two hortuses, two living plant collections
In Leiden and Amsterdam, the collection is a garden that grows, is cared for and changes with the seasons.
A visit to a botanical garden is a walk through a living collection. Plants are collected, grown, studied and displayed there. The Hortus botanicus Leiden and Amsterdam’s Hortus Botanicus each have a long history and their own layout. What grows in a bed or greenhouse also depends on care, growth and season.
Leiden was founded in 1590 to teach medical students. Today’s Clusius Garden recalls the garden laid out by Carolus Clusius and Dirck Cluyt. It is a reconstruction: the original disappeared from the site plan and was later recreated from historical sources. In 2009 the garden returned to a location behind the Academy Building. The photograph shows today’s garden, rather than an unchanged sixteenth-century site.
Leiden uses its gardens and greenhouses to make different plant groups visible. According to the garden, its tropical orchids from Southeast Asia form its largest research collection. A botanical collection is therefore more than an attractive walk: it also supports research, education and plant conservation.
Amsterdam began in 1638 as a medicinal herb garden. Today the Hortus reports more than four thousand plant species from around the world. Alongside historic medicinal plants are a Palm House, Butterfly House and Climate House with different habitats. The second photograph shows a small greenhouse in 2024, rather than the full Amsterdam collection.
Both gardens show ways to arrange and preserve plants, but their collections and programmes differ. Leiden is at Rapenburg 73; Amsterdam’s Hortus is at Plantage Middenlaan 2A. Their museum profiles provide a starting point, while their own websites carry current visitor information. A living collection can look different on every visit.