CJB - The Alpine Garden

Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève

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The Garden Collections

The Alpine Garden
The Animal Park
The Arboretum
The Garden of the Herbaria
The Garden of smell and touch
The Greenhouses
The Historic Rose Garden
The Path of Evolution
The Perennial Collection
The Ruderal Zone
The Ethnobotanical Gardens
The Seasonal Flower Beds
The Shrub Collection in Pots

The Rockery contains a collection of perennial Alpine plants.

This Alpine Garden covers a surface of about one hectare. It has 110 rock formations, most of which contain plants grouped on a geographical basis. Some others are based on various different themes, such as the "Swiss protected plants" or “Collections of different genera”.

In total, more than 3500 labelled plants are located in the Alpine Garden, representing more than 2800 different species. Only ten or so of these are cultivars (principally the dwarf conifers) whereas all of the others are natural species, such that are found in the wild. The large majority of these plants were obtained through seed exchanges with other Botanical Gardens from around the World.

The species in our Rockery are presented based on two criteria:

- A collection of plants from around the world that live in a climate similar to ours, with a priority for plants from the Alpine Arc and Switzerland. The flora of Corsica is also represented as our Garden has historical links to the study and protection of the flora of this Mediterranean island.
- The ex situ culturing of rare and protected plants from Switzerland and sometimes elsewhere, notably from Corsica. The Swiss protected plant cultures in the Rockery number about 520 species. About 280 species are present in the section "Protected Plants of Switzerland" while the other 240 species are cultured in the other rock formations in the Alpine Garden. A certain number of species are multiplied with the view of eventually re-introducing them back to their natural habitats. This type of activity is conducted as a collaboration between the Department of Conservation and the relevant cantonal and national organisations.