Lust walking in the footsteps of Queen Paola

The red carpet is not rolled out. Nevertheless, visitors in the north of the Belgian capital Brussels can literally feel royal for a few weeks a year. Between April 18 and May 11, 2025, when the imposing royal greenhouses in the Laeken castle park are made accessible to the public. In the rest of the year, a visit to the « glass city », as the architectural masterpiece with the great flora inside is lovingly called, is only reserved for the Belgian royal family.

« The queen never pours the plants, » Gärtner Romain reveals with reserved courtesy and jumps back and forth a little nervously. Probably the center of the middle in the distinctive green work clothes is not sure whether he committed something like treason to Queen Paola with this confession. Finally, the gardener is in the service of her majesty with his 15 colleagues. No, he doesn’t want to tell more about the first Lady Belgium, adds Romain slightly. And besides, he couldn’t really say whether the royal family had the proverbial green thumb or would even speak to the flowers.

But also regardless of whether the top representatives of the small kingdom themselves lend a hand in the gardens themselves, an almost incredible variety of plants thrives under the mighty coupling of the glass palaces. According to the sober figure, more than 60,000 plants can be found in the 14,000 square meters of royal greenhouses. Galleries combine the pavilions such as the covered paths of a shopping center. Due to the 170,000 slices, daylight penetrates and exudes a cozy warmth with the first flashing of the sun.

The fragile construction, which King Leopold II had built between 1874 and 1894 according to plans of his court chitus alphonse Balat, was held together by cast iron and steel. Many of the green steel carriers kept in green have set patina over the decades, others are closely wrapped in plants and leaves. Some windows earn the title of matt slice.

« Around 200 windows are cleaned here every day, » Romain gives an insight into the elaborate and expensive entertainment work. « And the glazier never becomes unemployed, » Romain points out with a smile on the fact that several hundred slices break during a year. He himself spends a significant part of his working time with an extremely lively job. Because the sea of ​​plants must be supplied with up to 50,000 liters of water every day with the help of hoses. The two geranium galleries form special eye-catchers.

The geraniums sprout on both sides of the long hoses with their pink, red and white petals on both sides of the long hoses, while hanging from the ceiling fuchsia. Only the buzzing of the bees and the chirping of the birds, to which access is denied by the glass panes, are missing here.

The underground gallery has a completely different character. The walls are covered with an unusual green carpet, which on closer inspection as Ficus Pumilia, as creeping fig trees. The gait system is loosened up by a palm, an azalene and a daffodil house. In between there are always special features such as a cinnamon tree or Filipino medinilla with lush pink flowers.

Meanwhile, the citrus trees in the orangery, some of which are more than 200 years old, exude an aromatic freshness. Rhododendrons from the Himalaja, Zimmerlinden, oleander and stone -old laurel trees also grow here. In the square Congo greenhouse and the winter garden, proud palm trees stretch between tree ferns and banana trees, as if they wanted to tentatively knock on the slices with their leaves. At the foot of the palm trees, beds made of primroses, ash flowers and trumpet petitions spread out, here and there also ground cover, slippers or gloxins, while orchids catch the eye in the rock walls.

The high humidity gives the winter garden, which wears a crown visible at a height of almost 42 meters in the diameter of almost 42 meters in diameter, a slightly moderate smell. Which certainly has nothing to do with the fact that King Leopold II in 1909 blessed the time here between all the plants and flowers, which he had put together with a lot of love and expertise. Even if Romain almost theatrically notes with his exuberant gardener heart to be in love with the royal gardens. A feeling that he should share with the up to 120,000 visitors a year. Because the royal gardens turn out to be a small botanical world tour under a glass roof that becomes an experience for all the senses. Tickets have to be reserved online in advance.