Also known as the Orange Free State National Botanical Garden, this Garden is situated on the outskirts of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State and is within a 160 kilometres of both Kimberley and Maseru (capital of Lesotho). The Garden experiences a continental climate owing to its location on the Highveld, at an altitude of 1 400 metres, and its distance from the sea (420 kilometres). Temperatures range from below freezing point in winter to well over 38o C in summer.For six to seven months of the year the Garden receives no rain and the summer rainfall ranges between 200 and 1 200 mm.

These conditions largely determine the vegetation type found in the Garden, hardy plants suited to southern Africa’s central plateau.

The Bloemfontein City Council bought the farm, Winters Valley, in 1965 and transferred it to the control of the trustees of the National Botanical Gardens of South Africa. The Free State Botanical Garden was officially opened to the public in February 1969. Until fairly recently, the Garden occupied only 45 hectares of land, but a gift of land by the State and the SA Nature Foundation helped to boost the Garden’s potential. The Garden was declared a National Monument in 1982. The Garden spans a beautiful valley, characterized by dolerite koppies (rocky hills) and watercourses which flow sporadically. The natural vegetation of the area is tall grassland and woodland, dominated by wild olive and karee trees. Home to about 400 species of plants, originating mainly in the Free State, Northern Cape and Lesotho, the Garden includes a wide collection of decorative and hardy trees indigenous to this particular region, 50 of which have been recorded as growing naturally in the Garden.