Greenhouses of the Zaporizhzhia City Children's Botanical Garden (Tropicana, Winter Garden, Cactusarium)

The Zaporizhzhia City Children's Botanical Garden goes back to a decision of the city executive committee dated 18 March 1958. The site in the Shevchenkivskyi district was a wasteland and former municipal dump, cleared from autumn 1958 by schoolchildren, students and volunteers. Local press says that the Winter Garden, the oldest glazed section, has existed since the foundation. According to Ukrainian Wikipedia, a complex of six greenhouses plus three film-covered ones totalled 1,200 m² in 1977; the greenhouses built in the 1960s were rebuilt at the end of 2017 with a new frame and new glazing, and the Winter Garden was raised from 8 to 10 m. A November 2025 article in 1news.zp.ua dates that reconstruction to 2019.

The large Tropicana glasshouse, with a central pool and a height of more than 15 m, was built in 2021 according to three zprz.city articles, in 2022 according to 1news.zp.ua, on the site of an old block of greenhouses. The garden then closed, first because of Covid and from 22 February 2022 for security reasons, until 1 September 2024. The war has left its mark: a missile fell near Tropicana on 16 March 2022 without exploding; a drone attack caused heavy damage in the garden on 27 August 2024 and a missile strike damaged greenhouses on 23 January 2025; in the night of 23-24 September 2025 the windows of the old greenhouses and of the Winter Garden were broken. The garden closed on 24 September and reopened on 4 October 2025.

The complex is not a single building but a group of glazed greenhouses linked by corridors. Local press counts eleven of them (November 2025), while Wikipedia mentions twenty greenhouses covering 2,000 m² today: the tally depends on what is included. Tropicana is the largest, described by zprz.city as a new glass orangery of 910 m², more than 15 m high, arranged around a pool and containing an indoor winter garden of its own. Its minimum temperature is 14 °C; heating comes from the municipal boiler house, with a generator on standby in case of a power cut. During a cold snap in April 2025 the interior fell to 1-3 °C, whereas the director considers 15 to 16 °C necessary, and wood stoves burned all night to protect the plants.

The older Winter Garden stands 10 m high since its roof was raised and its glazing replaced. The lemon house, one of the oldest parts of the complex, is ideally kept at 8 to 10 °C in winter.

Tropicana brings together about 1,500 rare tropical and subtropical specimens, all moved from the garden's existing collections with no extra purchases, according to 1news.zp.ua. The Winter Garden grows bananas, date palms and bamboos, some several metres tall, around a pond with koi carp; a dracaena flowered there in summer 2024, a rare event in such conditions according to zprz.city. The Cactusarium is the main place for cacti and succulents: agaves, yuccas, pereskias, mammillarias and euphorbias are cited by Wikipedia. The lemon house gathers lemon trees (with fruit of 700 to 800 g according to Wikipedia), mandarins, oranges, kumquats, grapefruit, carambola, figs and persimmons; in November 2025, closed to the public for glass replacement after shelling, its citrus trees were still fruiting.

Other greenhouses are devoted to roses (hybrid teas, miniatures, climbers), ferns, chrysanthemums and calla lilies, plus a stock house of tropical indoor plants. Outdoors, the garden counts more than 4,000 species and varieties.

The garden stands on Charivna Street in the Shevchenkivskyi district and can be reached by minibus no. 89 or by tram no. 12 or 15, according to zprz.city. Guided tours are booked in advance; the garden also offers sensory tours, adapted in particular for visitors with impaired sight. The same article recommends late summer for the outdoor walk (ginkgo, liquidambar, bonsai, conifers, roses) but adds that there is also something to see in winter, which mostly means the glasshouses. Zaporizhzhia is close to the front line: air-raid alerts and temporary closures, like the one of September-October 2025, remain possible, and the lemon house was closed for repairs in November 2025. It is wise to check opening status before travelling.