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The Caucasus are famous for their botanical resource and many flowers and trees found in gardens across the world originated from our landscape. Georgia has between 4000 and 4500 species of vascular plant. Of these an estimated 15% are endemic to the Caucasus with about 300 species endemic to Georgia alone. One such is the dwarf Caucasian rhododendron with its beautiful white and yellow flowers only found high in the mountains. Another is the superb Iris Iberica that gives a white and violet flower every spring.
There is, unbelievably, 5,000 types of mushroom, 2,000 types of seaweed, nearly 600 types of moss, and 73 varieties of fern. Eastern and western Georgia are very different, the east being wet and quite warm and the west being dryer and a little cooler. In the wetlands you can find wingnut and alder trees and in slightly drier regions their can be found chestnut, willow, oak and hornbeam in quantity and in the far west is found wormwood, pistachio, maple and of course pomegranate.
Many flowers in Georgia were here from before the last ice and are found nowhere else, though evidence shows they were once common through all of Europe. In the spring and throughout the summer Georgia is a wonderland of pedals and no garden or meadow here is without them.
There are a number of excellent Gardens to visit in Georgia:
Tbilisi's Botanical Gardens
Batumi's Botanical Gardens
Tusheti National Park
Upper Svaneti
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