Andromeda Botanic Gardens is an organic

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

and a historic cultural attraction in the village of

Bathsheba Bathsheba (; , ) was an Kings of Israel and Judah, Israelite queen consort. According to the Hebrew Bible, she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, with whom she had all of her five children. Her status as the mother of Solomon ...

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. It is an authentic garden created by multiple award-winning horticulturalist Iris Bannochie, a female, Barbadian, self-taught scientist. It is unique, having been created from the 1950s as both a private botanical garden and a pleasure garden by an individual. Named from the

Greek mythological Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient ...

figure of Andromeda it started as a private plant collection around Ms Bannochie's home, who was also the leading expert on

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

on the island. Ms Bannochie wrote various academic papers from topics including the lifecycle of the whistling frog, and the vitamin C content of the Barbadian cherry. She was a mentor to many and considered the queen of Barbadian horticulture. At one point, she was responsible for introducing over 90% of the ornamental plants found in Barbados. Iris Bannochie created the garden from 1954 on land owned by her family since 1740. During the 1950s Barbados was a plantation economy with no history of garden creation. Iris Bannochie travelled the world and collected plants for Andromeda. She showed plants from Andromeda both independently and with the Barbados Horticultural Society many times at the

RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show,Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural So ...

in London, winning numerous medals. In 1982, Ms Bannochie's display was titled Andromeda Gardens at the Show and her exhibition of palms was the largest selection of that plant family ever seen at the Chelsea Flower Show. She was also the recipient of the RHS Veitch Medal and a fellow of the Linnean Society. In 1990, the garden had 40,000 visitors. Andromeda Botanic Gardens is a Partner Garden of the UK Royal Horticultural Society, the only garden with such a status in the West Indies. In October 2019, the garden received the Botanical Treasure Award from the Biological Education and Research Programme, in recognition of it biological diversity. It has appeared on UK television and was the subject of the first online lecture in September 2020, facilitated by Kew Mutual Improvement Society at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Andromeda Botanic Gardens was first open to the public during a fund raising event hosted by the Barbados Horticultural Society in the 1970s. Andromeda has remained open to the public by paid admission since then (admission is free for residents of Barbados). Andromeda has over five hundred different species of plants adapted to a range of tropical environments. In 2018, the Palm Garden contained over 50 different species of palm and there were approximately 100 different tree species. Over 90 plant families are represented at Andromeda Botanic Gardens, making this garden one of the most plant diverse gardens in the tropical world. Andromeda Botanic Gardens is owned by the

Barbados National Trust The 'Barbados National Trust'', founded in 1960, is an organisation which works to preserve and protect the natural and artistic heritage of Barbados and to increase public awareness of the country's historic and architectural treasures. These in ...

, having been bequeathed to the Trust when Ms. Bannochie died in 1988. It is currently leased to Passiflora Ltd. The company is responsible for the garden's management and development and is a registered training provider and assessment centre, offering a range of horticultural courses. Interns, particularly from France, spend two months working alongside the gardening team. The new Ethnobotanical Garden is the centrepiece of Andromeda's mandate to conserve local flora. Created in June 2022 on 2 acres of land at Andromeda, it was funded by Sandals Foundation. The new garden is a community space and a celebration of local plants; how people in Barbados use plants (contemporary and historical) and local wildlife. The Ethnobotanical Project is run in co-ordination with Dr Sonia Peter's Biocultural Education Research Programme, which has responsibility for research activities at Andromeda Botanic Gardens. At the centre of the upper garden is a native

banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

. When Queen Ingrid of Denmark visited the garden in 1971, she was served refreshments in a recently built

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

overlooking the sea. There is a classroom,

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

and gift shop, showcasing local art and crafts. There is more to Andromeda Botanic Gardens than just being a botanic garden. From 1954 to 1985/87 Dr. Bayley's workshop at Andromeda was used by the US Navy as the location of a secret cold-war Soviet submarine tracking station that used leading edge SOSUS technology. In 1954 the U.S. Government installed research equipment worth US$500,000 (1950s prices). Andromeda was the perfect setting for this covert operation. It was in the right location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, within easy reach of the Atlantic shelf. Andromeda was also off-the beaten-track. There was a credible cover story. And, Dr. Bayley was a friend of the US and could be trusted. It was an open secret with the fishermen of Bathsheba and Tent Bay who helped land the SOSUS cable that Soviet submarines were being tracked from Dr. Bayley’s workshop at Andromeda.

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* Parks in Barbados Botanical gardens in Barbados Gardens in Barbados Saint Joseph, Barbados {{Barbados-geo-stub

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