The
Orman Garden
is one of the most famous
Botanical gardens in Egypt
. It is located at Giza, in Cairo. It dates back to 1875 and the reign of Khedive
Isma'il Pasha
who established the garden on a larger site than it presently occupies as part of the Palace of the
Khedive
. A great lover of gardens, the Khedive entrusted the design of the garden to the French landscaper
Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps
. It became a public botanical garden in 1910/1917 and put under the Ministry of Agriculture management.
[1]
The garden covers about 28 acres. Today, the garden contains a
rock garden
, a
rose garden
,
cactus gardens
, and probably the most notable feature, the
lotus
pond.
Orman Garden is located west of the
River Nile
and east of
Cairo University
in the
Giza Governorate
. "Orman" is a Turkish word, which means "the forest".
[2]
A small botanical museum attached to the garden shelters
herbaria
dating from the Ismail khedive and furniture from the king
Farouk
.
Spring festival
[
edit
]
Since 1920, the Orman Garden has hosted an annual spring floral exhibition. The Spring Festival usually starts in March every year and is an important Egyptian cultural event in spring. In 2021, it started on March 13. Officials from the ministry of agriculture open the exhibition. The spring fair usually lasts a month. During that time, many companies exhibit their various plant offerings including ornamental plants, cut flowers, cactus, seeds for growing many plants, fertilizers, gardening tools, and pots. In addition, local goods like woven baskets, Aswanian honey, essential oils, souvenirs, and jewelry can also be found at the exhibition. Prices for plants start from as low as 5 LE and rare varieties can reach thousands. Huge plant producers like Egypt Green (Safwat Habib) and sellers of clay pots from the Fustat Souq in Old Cairo participate in the exhibition.
Special collections
[
edit
]
Conifers
,
palms
,
cacti
,
succulents
,
roses
,
bamboo
,
ficus
,
aquatic plants
,
strelitzia
Orman Garden has a
seed bank
and publishes it own
Index Seminum
.
Gallery
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]