The Palmhouse
Centennial celebrations
In 2012 the Palmhouse in the Hortus celebrates its 100th anniversary. An impressive milestone. Therefor we wil celebrate this centennial with several events durig 2012. Please check our program for more information.
History
Professor Hugo de Vries planned to leave for New York in 1912. In order to keep him in Amsterdam, the city council granted some of de Vries' wishes: a new greenhouse in the Hortus. Today, the Hortus still houses its palms and exceptional cycad collection in this national monument.
This tall building with its brick paving breathes a Victorian atmosphere. In the winter, the palmhouse is filled with palms, cycads and conservatory plants grown in beautiful wooden containers. In the summer, most conservatory plants are taken outside and placed on the terrace or in the garden.
Back to garden map
Some of the plants never leave the Palmhouse. The cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum burmannii) and the hemiepiphytic Philodendron bipinnatifidum, for example, were planted by Hugo de Vries in beds in the greenhouse after the building was completed in 1912. You will also find the largest and oldest cycads of the Hortus in the Palmhouse. One exceptional specimen is the 300-year-old Eastern Cape giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii).