Dominica Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens were laid out in 1891 on former sugar land below Morne Bruce to trial crops for the colony, and forty acres of lawn and specimen trees survive. Two things draw people: the aviary holding sisserou and jaco parrots as part of the recovery programme for both, and a school bus still lying under the baobab that fell on it during Hurricane David in 1979, left where it landed as a memorial. Jack's Walk climbs from here up Morne Bruce.

History

The gardens were established while Dominica was a British colony: the Crown government began planning them in 1889 to encourage crop diversification and supply farmers with properly propagated seedlings, and the 16 hectares of former sugar plantation on the Bath Estate were sold to the government in 1891 by their owner, William Davies. Planting began in 1890 under the first curator, Charles Murray of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Henry F. Green planned and laid out the grounds, and from 1892 Joseph Jones managed them for the rest of his life, introducing ornamental plants alongside the economic and experimental ones, while Kew supplied tropical species from around the world. By the 1930s they were counted among the finest botanical gardens in the West Indies. Hurricane David in 1979 destroyed many of the old trees, and a giant African baobab that fell and crushed an empty school bus remains where it fell; many plants have since been restored (Wikipedia, Dominica Botanical Gardens).

What you'll find

• The parrot aviary - sisserou and jaco held for the recovery programme.
• The crushed bus - the vehicle left under the baobab that fell in 1979.
• The specimen trees - the collection planted from the 1890s onwards.
• Jack's Walk - the path climbing from the gardens up to Morne Bruce.

When to go

Year round; open daily during daylight. Mornings are cooler and better for the aviary. Hurricane damage has thinned the collection since 2017.

Things to know

Successive hurricanes have destroyed much of the original planting and the gardens are patchy. Labelling is limited and inconsistent. The aviary is small and the birds are not always visible.

Nearby

Morne Bruce is above, and Roseau's historic district is west.

Key facts