The Tropical Ravine

The construction of the Tropical Ravine house was undertaken by the then curator of the gardens Charles McKimm and completed in 1889. It is the only one of its size in Europe. Divided into a temperate and a stove section, the interior is designed as a sunken ravine with a railed balcony extended around the perimeter from which the visitor can view the plant collection.

Here lush plants and trees compete for light and moisture in a veritable jungle. The ferns and mosses reside down below while the stronger bigger plants, including banana trees, reach the roof. The Dombeya is the real show stopper in this jungle with it's heavenly caramel scent. It responds well to pruning (every two years) and flowers annually around February, forming a cluster of over a hundred individual blooms. The artist, Diana Oxlade, recreated the Dombeya as well as many other beautiful plants in the celebratory 'Florilegium of Belfast Botanic Gardens', published specially for the millennium.

The importance of the Ravine House is exemplified by the statement from Burnbridge of Trinity College Botanic Garden, who noted that it was one of the finest and best arranged fern houses in Europe.

BUT the roof of the Tropical ravine is now urgently in need of replacement. The structure is now too fragile to allow access for cleaning or replacement of broken glass except by specialist teams. A complete new roof, at a cost estimated at £1.75M, is now the highest priority for the 'Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens' group. The work must be done in summer because of the frost-tender plants inside. You can help by sponsoring one or more panes of glass. It is hoped that major and corporate sponsors will have their names etched on some of the new glass panes. A book will also record sponsors' names. Sponsorship forms and more information will be available here soon.

See the scale of the problem

There are a number of articles about the Tropical Ravine- try these links:

Belfast City Council Community and Recreation (Parks and Cemeteries) Sub-Committee Report on Botanic Gardens Tropical Ravine Roof (November 2005)

BBC report