Not just an animal park
In addition to the animals, the world of plants and trees has always been central to ARTIS. Since its foundation in 1838, flowerbeds and trees and shrubs have been planted continuously.
The park is therefore full of special flowers, shrubs and trees. Some trees have even been in the park for decades and are even older than ARTIS itself, such as the oldest tree in Amsterdam, the Heijmans oak.
This was planted in the late 18th century. Unique is the Wollemia pine, which was only discovered in 1994 in Australia's Wollemi National Park. There are less than a hundred specimens of this tree in the wild and because the tree is so rare, it can only be cultivated under license. An offspring of this can be seen in ARTIS.
You can also spot the tallest coastal giant sequoia, the tallest tree species in the world. The trunk of this tree always grows straight up, even to heights of up to 115 metres.'Another special tree is the 'Anne Frank tree'. A seedling of the white horse chestnut that Anne Frank saw from the attic window of the Secret Annex. When it turned out that this tree was sick, several seedlings were grown. ARTIS also received a copy.
Various gardens
In recent years, ARTIS has paid a lot of attention to the green heritage and park nature of the garden. In addition to the trees, there are separate gardens, including the Dutch Garden, the Japanese Paradise Garden, the edible gardens and the Stek, a study room for houseplants. Together with the animals, the plants, flowers and trees tell many stories about nature.