Exotic vs Locals from FlowerGirls on Vimeo.
The Royal Garden was commissioned by Queen Amalia in1838 and completed by 1840. It was designed by the German agronomist Friedrich Schmidt who imported over 500 species of plants and a variety of animals including peacocks, ducks, and turtles. Unfortunately for many of the plants, the dry Mediterranean climate proved too harsh and they did not survive.
In the 1920s the park was opened to the public and renamed "National Garden". In honour of Amalia of Greece, the entrance was moved to the 12 palms she planted and the street in front was renamed Queen Amalia Avenue. Since then the National Garden, is open to the public from sunrise to sunset. This video consist of a small interview with an employee of the National Garden. We questioned him about the diferent species that were imported (plants and animals) trying to investigate in which ways they influenced the local environment.
