Edinburgh Palm Houses reopen after five-year restoration

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh reopened its Palm Houses to visitors on October 2, 2026, following a five-year restoration that replaced 5,750 panes of glass, restored or updated 600 square metres of ironwork and repaired 500 square metres of sandstone. The glasshouses will again house a collection of nearly 600 tender plants, including rare and endangered species. The work addressed deterioration in the historic buildings’ glass, ironwork and stone. The Garden said the restored structures include the world’s tallest traditional stone-built Palm House. A new visitor experience will share stories about the plants through multimedia and multisensory digital tours. The reopening was marked by the planting of Valdivia gayana, an endangered plant native to Chile, by Gillian Martin, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs, alongside Garden Regius Keeper Professor Julia Knights. The Garden says fewer than five natural populations of the species are thought to remain in the wild, and that its specimens are believed to be the only ones in cultivation.