The Palm House at Belfast Botanic Gardens

Charles Lanyon designed this Palm House for Belfast's Botanic Gardens, and the Dublin ironmaster Richard Turner built its two curving wings in 1839 and 1840, years before his work at Kew. The tall central dome came later, in the early 1850s. The photo catches the classic summer view across the bedding to the dome and one of the long wings. It is free to enter and a short walk from Queen's University, so it makes an easy hour among palms and flowering plants under cast and wrought iron.