Zagreb’s Botanical Garden is the crown of the so-called Green Horseshoe, the U-shaped system of seven elegant parks and squares built in the late 19^th century. The two lines meet in the Botanical Garden, founded in 1889, now a protected park architecture monument. It is designed in the English landscape park style, with elements like fish ponds and little bridges, artificial hills, even manmade caves. The Glasshouse and the Exhibition Pavilion are examples of historicist architecture, and the whole garden evokes a feeling of nostalgia for an era long gone. The arboretum stretches over three hectares, and this rather limited space is the home to more than 200 different genera containing 700 taxa of trees and shrubs, some of them very rare and exotic. Only a few steps away from the bustling city and the tram traffic, visitors can find peace and quiet in a beautiful and almost unreal oasis full of plants from all over the world. The richness of colours and smells when the garden is in full bloom soothes all senses. Since the Botanical Garden is closed for visits in winter, for the people of Zagreb its opening symbolises spring and the arrival of warm, greener days.