Duthie park, situated in Aberdeen, Scotland, by the banks of the River Dee, comprises 44 acres of land gifted to the council in 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Duthie of Ruthrieston, in memory of her uncle and of her brother. She purchased the land for £30, 000 from the estate of Arthurseat. [1] The park is noted for the spectacular David Welch winter gardens with tropical and arid houses which contain the second largest collections of bromeliads and of giant cacti respectively in Great Britain[2] (beaten only by the Eden Project in Cornwall, England). Originally opened in 1899, the greenhouses had to be demolished and rebuilt after suffering storm damage in 1969. Today they are a tranquil place surrounded by such plants as tree ferns, Spanish moss, anthuria, and banana trees. Within the gardens are railings salvaged from the south side of the major bridge in the middle of the city's Union Street. These feature unusual metal cats, derived from the city coat of arms, and were saved when the side of the bridge was developed for retail units in the mid-20th century. Outside the winter garden is the Japanese garden, opened in 1987 to commemorate the dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
