This year-round art garden, tourist destination and event venue began in 1955 as the botanical garden of the university and has stood on its current site since 1985. The university stopped running it in 2012, and light artist Kari Kola and partners bought it in 2018; it is run privately without public funding. Indoors are tropical and desert greenhouses open all year, and the outdoor garden changes with the seasons. A tropical butterfly garden runs from May into autumn, and butterfly numbers vary with season and weather.
The café serves hot drinks and home-baked pastries, open daily from 9, and visitors can take food into the gardens. Spaces can be rented for company events, parties and customer events, and events such as the Visual Festival are held here. Annual passes (Botaniakortti) and company cards are sold. The website has a virtual tour, and the seating, car park, entrance and toilet are wheelchair accessible.
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