After six years and an unprecedented botanical operation, Edinburgh's famous Palm Houses are back. The historic glasshouses at the Royal Botanic Garden have been closed to the public for vital restoration work. Hundreds of plants had to be temporarily moved while repairs were done on the 19th century buildings - the vast majority of them surviving the experience.
But members of the public are once again able to enjoy the redesigned space. The shutdown had to happen because the buildings had become leaky and rusty and needed a complete overhaul. Glass house curator Sadie Barber is delighted that, after years of disruption, the palm houses are once again being used for their intended purpose - to protect rare and and endangered plants, and to allow people to enjoy the space.
The plants were decanted to temporary homes, and then carefully moved back into the renovated space. Sadie says this has been a great achievement that wasn't without risk. "I think whenever you move a plant and you take it out of the ground and then you stick it in a pot, it's going to suffer or it's going to get under stress.
"So there was a bit of trepidation when we picked up the biggest plants, moved them to another place, and left them there for a number of years. It feels like a huge achievement getting all these plants back in here and having them actually so well placed. "The glasshouse team have done an enormous job, a really exceptional job of getting the plants looking like they belong.
"So it's great to see them actually thriving already." The buildings have undergone a huge amount of work. More than five thousand panes of glass have been replaced, and the once corroding ironwork has been repaired and repainted. Stone work has been renovated and a partition wall between the two houses has been knocked down to create a light and airy space which shows off the historic architecture and living plants.
Prof Julia Knights is the Regius Keeper of the Botanic Garden. She says they have a wide range of plants and species, many of which are endangered. "We've got palms, conifers, ferns, begonias, all of those families, plants are hugely important in our living collection and many of them are extinct in the wild," she said.
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