Poltava has two green spaces people find by searching “botanical garden”: the small Pedagogical University garden, whose glasshouse holds palms, citrus and coffee, and the huge city arboretum of over 120 hectares with a cascade of ponds and viewpoints. Here is how they differ, what blooms there, how to visit, what a glasshouse tour costs and where to take the best photos.
More on this topic: Hryshko Botanical Garden, Dnipro Botanical Garden, when peonies bloom, a romantic picnic.
The Korolenko Pedagogical University Botanical Garden covers about 6 hectares in central Poltava. The site goes back to 1848, when it was the Bishop’s Garden. After 1917 the land was nationalised; in the 1930s natural sciences students laid out research plots, and later an agro-biological station worked here. It became a protected monument in 1964, a botanical garden in 1989, and has been open to visitors since 1991.
Organised groups can buy plant cuttings and flowers. Other gardens in Ukraine are covered in botanical gardens of Ukraine.
The city park “Dendropark” was started in spring 1962 on the initiative of dendrologist Yanina Yatsenko — about 3,000 residents planted trees on the first day. The site was once the Vidradne estate of surgeon Mykola Sklifosovskyi’s wife, and the area recalls the 1709 Battle of Poltava. The park officially opened in 1987; today it covers 124.5 hectares and is a landscape-art monument of national importance — Poltava’s only landscape park.
The park office (city culture department) works on weekdays; news and events are posted on the park’s Facebook page.
The Korolenko Pedagogical University Botanical Garden — 16 Kirkhova St (formerly Fedora Morhuna); enter through the Pedagogical University courtyard — there are almost no signs.
The arboretum is an open city park with free entry; the main entrance is on Yakivchanska St. Route to “Dendropark, Poltava” in a navigation app.
The botanical garden is closed at weekends, so then stick to the arboretum or arrange a garden tour in advance.
Poltava media most often mention:
The main tip: visit the botanical garden on a weekday morning and save the arboretum for the weekend.
Shots worth taking in the garden and arboretum:
Roses, seasonal peonies or a boxed arrangement: flower delivery across Poltava makes a date in the arboretum unforgettable.
See roses and flowers in a box.
Yes: the Korolenko Pedagogical University garden with a glasshouse, and the large city arboretum.
Yes; it is an open city park with free entry.
On weekday daytimes, with weekend tours by arrangement; check before visiting.
At 16 Kirkhova St (formerly Fedora Morhuna), entered through the Pedagogical University courtyard. The arboretum is a separate city park with its main entrance on Yakivchanska St.
The main entrance is on Yakivchanska St; bus 33 (Rozsoshentsi–Dendropark–Yakivtsi) is one option. Check current routes in a transit app.
The grounds are free; a glasshouse tour is 40 UAH per person (2024 data).
Over 600 tropical and subtropical species: palms up to 10 m, cacti, citrus, coffee, lianas and a 40-year-old century plant that flowers only once.
Organised groups are offered cuttings and flowers — ask about the range when booking a tour.
Spring: magnolias and the rock garden in April; lilacs, peonies and the arboretum’s Blooming Meadow in May. The glasshouse is interesting in summer, and the arboretum turns gold in September–October.
Not for walk-ins — weekdays 8:00–15:00 only. Weekend tours or photo shoots can be arranged in advance; the arboretum is open daily.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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