The history of cultivating citrus plants and other Mediterranean and exotic species in containers at Schönbrunn can be traced back to at least the early 18th century. In the beginning, Dowager Empress Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who was granted Schönbrunn as her dower residence and lived there from 1711 to 1722, established a collection of over 300 plants, likely brought from southern Italy. This collection was maintained during Emperor Charles VI's reign (1711-1740), Maria Theresa's father, and ultimately formed the foundation of today's collection.

By the mid-1750s, citrus trees and Mediterranean ornamental and crop plants were overwintered in the Great Orangery, which Empress Maria Theresa (*1740-1780) had constructed by 1756. During her reign, the collection reached its most magnificent and expansive state. The plants were placed in the Orangery Garden and around the park throughout the summer.

Currently, during the winter, the Orangery mainly houses various Eugenia species, along with bay trees, pomegranates, and citrus trees - some of Europe's oldest and most significant cultivated plants - as well as larger hemp and date palm specimens and the descendants of Empress Maria Theresa's myrtle. As in the 18th century, from mid-May to the end of September, the plants were placed in the Orangery Garden and at various locations throughout Schönbrunn Park.

The present display in the Orangery Garden consists of three plant groups. These include a selection of primarily evergreen and flowering plants from Mediterranean regions, such as myrtles, olive trees, and date palms, alongside succulent plants, primarily from South and Central America and Southeast Asia, and a variety of heritage fruit trees in wooden containers.