Where Would I..? Trivia Quiz

Answer: William Shakespeare

In 1897, New York City was growing apace and open spaces were quickly disappearing. To safeguard against this, legislation was passed by New York State ensuring that 39 acres be kept aside for a botanical garden. In 1910, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was formed adjacent to Prospect Park with Charles Stuart Gager as its first director. Today this oasis of verdancy and calm covers 52 acres and hosts nearly a million visitors a year as people enjoy its charms away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The BBG, as it affectionately called, is renowned for its series of "gardens within the Garden" where a number of smaller gardens can be found, each planted and laid out to a specific theme. One of these is the Shakespeare Garden which is filled with plants mentioned in his works. Each plant bears a label not only giving its common and botanical name, but also a quotation from the work where it appeared. The BBG also hosts the month long 'hanami' or cherry blossom festival every spring where visitors can feast their eyes on the garden's over 200 cherry trees in all their glory.

Answer: True

The Orto Botanico di Padova does indeed hold the record of being the oldest continuously cultivated botanical garden that remains on its original site. The original site distinction is important as the botanical garden in Pisa is a year older, but has moved location several times. Established in 1545 in what was then the Venetian Republic, the garden was established to lead research into the medicinal value of plants being brought back from all over the world by Venetian traders to try and find natural remedies that could be used. Covering 3.5 hectares the garden is part of the University of Padua and is generally recognized as the place where botanical science and research started. An interesting point is that the garden has recently added a poisonous plant section because of the correlation between poison and medicine in plant usage.

The oldest part of garden still has its original layout of a central circular garden which was supposed to represent the world surrounded by a ring of water. This was walled to prevent theft of the prized plants. Some things never change! One highlight of a visit to this garden is the famed "Goethe Palm" which was planted in 1585 and mentioned by the author in one of his essays. It is today protected by a greenhouse.

Answer: London

The London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames is home to the famed Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Kew Gardens, as it is commonly called, is home to the most diverse collection of living plants in the world. The garden was started in 1759 on 9 acres by Princess Augusta, the mother of George III. When he ascended the throne, he combined this garden with the Richmond estate he inherited to create the current size of 300 acres. Ownership was transferred to the government in 1840 and the garden was opened to the public. It was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2003.

Where to start on its attractions? Not easy in a few lines, but here are a few to whet your appetite. The Herbarium, home to 7 million dried specimens, the Great Broad Walk Borders, Kew Palace, the smallest of the royal palaces, or the Great Pagoda built in 1762. Or you can visit Temperate House which is housed in the world's largest surviving Victorian glasshouse. It is also home to the "Loneliest Bachelor in the World". This is a male cycad tree that descends from the only plant of this species left growing in the wild in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Because it is a clone, it is male, as are all others in botanic gardens the world over. The hunt is desperately on in South Africa to find a female cone to ensure the continuation of the species.

Answer: Yves Saint Laurent

Tucked away on the Rue Yves Saint Laurent in the centre of the bustle of Marrakesh, the Jardin Marjorelle is a testament to a love and passion for gardens. The two acre garden was first established in 1924 by the French painter Jacques Marjorelle after he had fallen in love with Morocco and Marrakesh and purchased the land. For forty years he made the creation of this garden his life's passion. He had built the iconic cobolt blue cubist villa which today houses the Berber Museum. Unfortunately financial circumstances forced him to sell the property whereafter it fell into disrepair.

Step in French fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Berge who bought the property in 1980 when the villa and garden were set to be demolished to make way for a hotel. They were determined to save Marjorelle's legacy and set about restoring the villa and garden. The pair owned it until Saint Laurent's death in 2008. His ashes were scattered in the garden . Today it is owned by the Foundation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent and managed by a non-profit organisation. The garden houses a specialist collection of rare species of cacti as well as a variety of endemic north African birds. It is open to the public and is one of the most visited sites in Marrakesh.

Answer: Norway

Located above the arctic circle in Tromso, Norway, this surprising botanical garden is the world's northernmost botanical garden. It showcases plants from the cold climes of the world, including both polar regions and alpine areas around the world. There are 25 different collections of plants that can survive Tromso's winters without any outside protection, not to mention the midnight sun during the summer months. These winters are not quite as severe as would be expected this far north due to a moderating influence from the Gulf Stream which means a growing season that normally extends from the beginning of May until the first snows in October. There is even an African collection with plants from the high reaches of the Atlas and Drakensberg Mountains. The Rhododendron Valley is a must see riot of colour in early summer as the high altitude varieties of this species thrive in this climate.

The garden which opened in 1994, is situated on the campus of the University of Tromso and was established mainly to preserve the garden traditions of northern Norway. There is a North Norway Tradition Garden which includes over 700 plants collected from old gardens in the area. There are no fences and entrance is free to this wonderful example of the hardiness and adaptability of nature.

Answer: Canberra

The Australian National Botanic Garden is situated at the foot of the Black Mountain in Canberra, the capital of Australia. There are views over the city and Parliament House from the garden. The garden was established in 1949 with the aim of promoting and preserving Australia's native plants and sprawls over 99 acres organised by theme. Themes include Rainforest Gully where you take the Rainforest Walk, the Eucalyptus Discovery as well as a dedicated section for Banksias. In all, there are over 5000 species which make it the world's largest display of living native Australian plants. The garden was included on the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

Encouragingly for the future, the garden also includes an interactive walk for children to teach them the importance of plants and saving the heritage for the future. The garden also includes the Australian National Herbarium.

Answer: Rio de Janeiro

Overlooked by the famous Christ the Redeemer statue and nestled on the lower slopes of the Corcovado Mountain, the Jardim Botanico is a haven of peace and tranquillity in the middle of the teeming city that is Rio de Janeiro. Established in 1808 by King John VI of Portugal and opened to the public in 1822, this botanical wonder stretches over some 345 acres of which only 40% is cultivated. The other 60% is given over the natural flora that flourishes in this area.

Visitors are greeted near the entrance by the famous double row of Imperial Palm trees, 134 of them in total. The incredible fact is that each of these trees is descended from a single tree, the Palma Mater, which was sadly destroyed by lightning, but lives on through its offspring. The cultivated part of the garden houses numerous collections, organised according to theme. The Garden House with its collection of carnivorous plants, bromeliads and a variety of rare orchids is a high priority on most visitor's to-see list.

Answer: True

When the Singapore Botanic Gardens was placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on 4 July 2015, it became the country's first site to be awarded this status. This status was awarded not only for its work in plant conservation, but also for the role it played in developing the rubber industry in Southeast Asia where staff at the gardens were at the forefront of the quest to perfect a method of extracting the rubber latex from the plants. This technique is still used today.

The Singapore Botanical Gardens are indeed a treasure trove. It was established in 1859 and sprawls at the edge of the busy Orchard Road shipping district covering some 82 hectares in a tiny country where space is at a premium. Contained within this is a 14 acre original rainforest which was already in existence when the gardens were established and which has been preserved. Another gem in its collections is the National Orchid House with more than 1000 species and 2000 hybrids including the 'Vanya St Joaquim', the national flower of Singapore.

Answer: Desert

If your idea of a desert landscape is sand, rocks and barrenness, the Phoenix Botanical Garden in Arizona will probably change that. Home to over 50 000 plants in over 4000 species, this 140 acre site in Papago Park in the Sonoran Desert is a showcase for plants that can survive dry and arid conditions. Opened in 1939, this garden is the work of the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society who formed in 1937 under the initiative of a Swedish botanist called Gustave Starck with the aim of showing "the value in exhibiting, researching and conserving the plants of the Sonoran Desert".

There are five different trails within the garden offering different aspects of what the garden has to offer, including the Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail which highlights how endemic plants were used by the local people. Attracting over half a million visitors a year, the garden has been designated a "Phoenix Point of Pride"; a series of landmarks chosen by voters since 1992 that they think showcase the best the city has to offer.

Answer: Cape Town

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden has been called the "Jewel in the Crown of Cape Town", South Africa's 'Mother City.' It lies nestled along the eastern side of Table Mountain, covering some 528 hectares, 36 of which are cultivated. The remainder is given over to the natural flora and includes Skeleton Gorge, which is a common starting point for people climbing Table Mountain. The land for the garden was bequeathed to the nation by Cecil John Rhodes on his death in 1902. In 1913, Henry Harold Pearson starting laying out what today is one of the foremost botanic gardens in the world, harbouring over 7000 species of plants indigenous to Southern Africa. It also contains a section of the 'Van Riebeeck Hedge' which was a defensive barrier made of wild almonds and thorny shrubs planted in 1660 by Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutch founder of what is today Cape Town.

The garden's many collections contains a number of themed sections including a cycad amphitheatre and a Protea garden, the King Protea being the national flower of South Africa. A highlight of any visit is a walk along "The Boomslang" or the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway, to give it its formal name. This is a 130 metre walk that rises some 12 metres above the ground through the canopy of the Arboretum and which undulates in the wind.