Realization of a garden was first attempted in 1847 with a purchase of land on the city outskirts, but the revolutions of 1848 rapidly led to its dispersion. In 1858 today's garden was established by Francis Roccaforte Tornabene, with first plantings in 1862 of specimens obtained from other botanical gardens in Sweden, France, Naples, and Palermo. It was enlarged in 1865 with a new area dedicated to cultivation of indigenous Sicilian species, and in the early 1900s further enhanced by creation of the Giardino Botanico Nuova Gussonea on Mount Etna for cultivation of native mountain plants. The main garden was damaged during World War II, and its great Tepidario greenhouse demolished in 1958, but in subsequent years it has been renewed.