Moon Author's Review
Hope Botanical Gardens (just below University of Technology on western side of Hope Rd., 6 a.m.–6:30 p.m. daily, free admission, parking US$1.50) was founded in 1873 and is owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. The park is managed by an NGO, Nature Preservation Foundation. It's a great place to hang out in the shade of a bombacacea tree or picnic on the grass. A diverse collecton of flowering and non-flowering exotic and endemic plants isn't as well labeled as it could be.
Named for Major Richard Hope who once owned the estate on which the gardens were later planted, the gardens span 21 acres on the Liguanea Plain. The gardens were officially renamed the Royal Botanical Garden on the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
Hoped served as a research station for several important crops, including sugarcane, banana, yam, sweet potato, coffee and pineapple.
Also located at the property are the Hope Zoo and a restaurant, The Tea Room.
