Spotlight on useful plants during winter break
Garden Curator Per Erixon shows us round the greenhouse, where preparations are in progress for the winter break activity on useful plants. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
Where does food actually come from? Behind every fruit and raw ingredient there is a plant, a climate and human labour. Come into the warm and discover the plants that give us food and other useful things. In the Tropical Greenhouse, children and adults can follow the process of food taking shape and learn about the knowledge and care required to grow what we eat. Here you will encounter everything from the well-known banana to the less noticed strawberry guava.
Plants have always been a prerequisite for human life. They give us food, materials, medicines and oxygen, yet despite this the link between the plant and the product is often invisible in everyday life. Presenting useful plants in a greenhouse environment gives visibility to the role and origin of these plants.
“Someone must have grown it. Food doesn’t end up at your local ICA or Coop supermarket by itself,” says Per Erixon, who is a garden curator at the Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala.
From plant to plate
In the greenhouse, a selection of useful tropical plants is being presented, including avocado, papaya, pineapple, strawberry guava, lemon and the cocoa tree, plants that illustrate how everyday foods have their origins in completely different climates and environments.
“‘Useful plants’ is a collective term for plants that we human beings have some direct use for. Food is often what primarily comes to mind, but it can also be fibres, dyes or even medicines.”
Strawberry guava, originating from eastern Brazil and north-east Uruguay. The fruit is an example of a less well-known useful plant. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
In this connection, the focus is on food plants and their journey from plant to plate. These are plants that many will recognise from the supermarket but have rarely seen growing in their natural state. By letting visitors encounter the plants as living organisms rather than processed products, Erixon hopes to awaken curiosity and understanding about cultivation, nature and sustainability.
“I always want people to become more interested and inspired by plants and to understand that plants and nature are necessary for everything to work.”
A pineapple plant in a pot, an example of how useful plants can be grown even in relatively small spaces. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
The activity designed for the winter break is an environment of discovery where visitors can roam freely without staff. There are signs with information about the plant you are looking at and special props for younger visitors in the form of fruit placed by the plants, to clarify the link between the plant and the fruit it produces.
Fatemeh Khudadadi
Exhibition on useful tropical plants
During winter break, 14–22 February 2026, the Tropical Greenhouse at the Botanical Garden is open for an exhibition of discovery on useful tropical plants. Visitors of all ages can move about the greenhouse freely and learn more about the plants.