Opening of the exhibition at the Slovenian Museum of Natural History in Ljubljana
JULIANA: AN ENCHANTING NATURAL CLASSROOM
An exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the Juliana Alpine Botanical Garden in Trenta
and
RELEASE OF A SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMP MARKING 100 YEARS OF THE JULIANA ALPINE BOTANICAL GARDEN
Friday, 24 April 2026, at 11:00, Slovenian Museum of Natural History, entrance at Muzejska 1
The Juliana Alpine Botanical Garden will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026! In 1926, mountaineer, botanist, and timber merchant Albert Bois de Chesne (1871–1953) established an alpine botanical garden in Trenta. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated Slovenian naturalists, it has been preserved for future generations and has been operating as part of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History since 1962. Here you can see a living collection of plants characteristic of Slovenia, especially its alpine and karst flora.
Read interesting facts about Juliana’s history at the exhibition, see its famous plants, and experience it with all your senses! In addition to plants and their stories, you can also learn about animals and natural processes in the garden – it is a real classroom in nature.
The exhibition features a section of a garden with preserved plants, and the display panels present the following information:
- The First Alpine Botanical Gardens
- Albert Bois de Chesne – Creator of the Story of Juliana
- The Oldest Alpine Botanical Garden in Slovenia Under the Care of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History
- Hands That Create the Garden – Gardeners in Juliana
- A Mixture of Alpine and Karst Plants
- Medicine or Poison from Plants?
- Touch Me If You Dare!
- Juliana’s Colour Palette
- Masters of Pollinator Deception
- Endemic Plants in Juliana
- Protected Plants in the Garden
- Animals in the Garden
- Listen to Juliana’s Soundtrack
The exhibition features a virtual walk of the garden throughout the different seasons, as well as clips from the film Juliana – A Botanical Gem in the Heart of the Julian Alps. For children, there are stamps featuring plant motifs from Juliana and worksheets with activities.
The exhibition will open on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. in the Slovenian Museum of Natural History, where the 100th-anniversary program will also be presented. In addition, the museum will issue an anniversary postage stamp with a maximum card and a postmark. The philatelic set will be available for purchase at the ticket office of the National Museum of Slovenia.
Contact: Špela Pungaršek, spungarsek@pms-lj.si or 040 784 497
Front page of the first visitors book from year 1930