In the small greenhouse of the Summer Garden, citrus trees are being prepared for flowering; boxwoods and some laurels are also overwintering there.

The main flowering of citrus fruits takes place in March-April, but is hidden from the eyes of visitors behind the fogged windows of the greenhouse, because this is where the trees wait out the cold from October to May.

The average and most comfortable temperature for citrus fruits in winter is about 12 degrees Celsius. With the onset of spring, employees will gradually begin to move the trees from the greenhouse to the open air.

Citrus fruits were brought to the Summer Garden from Italy, and rare orange trees were brought from Het Loo, the summer palace of the Dutch royal family in Apeldoorn. They are the descendants of those orange trees that Peter I first saw when visiting his cousin’s palace.