A little gem in Adelaide's northeast corner.
Murdoch Grove
Recently I was speaking to an overseas visitor who said they were going to explore the botanic gardens the following morning. They had a late flight out of Adelaide and so thought spending an hour or so exploring the gardens would be a pleasant way to end their stay. I realised that, as often is the case, a visitor to your town or city often appreciates the sites you take for granted. I had a day off from work and decided to spend some time rediscovering the gardens.
The Adelaide Botanic Garden that can be found in the city's northeastern corner was established in 1854 and was officially opened in 1857. The city garden has two main ornate entrances, the gates at North Terrace. For anyone walking into the gardens from the city centre, that's the entrance most people are familiar with.
North Terrace Gates, from inside the gardens.
The other main entrance is at the opposite end of the gardens, I had driven to the gardens so used that entrance, there's parking nearby.
The Friends' Entrance on Plane Tree Drive.
It's called 'The Friends' Entrance' as an association called 'The Friends of the Botanic Gardens' raised money for these gate. The Friends association still exists now and they offer free guided tours of the garden. The cottage next to the gates is now 'home' to the Friends and centre for Friends' activities. It's called the 'North Lodge' and was built in 1866 as the head gardener's cottage.
Entering the gardens from the Friends' Gate you walk through a grove of trees, this avenue of trees is called 'Murdoch Grove'. It's named for the Murdoch family, Rupert Murdoch started his media empire in Adelaide with the afternoon paper 'The News'. His company is still named after this paper as 'News Corp' and they sponsor this grove. (Helpful sign!)
The wisteria arbor, not quite in full bloom.
Purple and white wisteria as seen from the Mediterranean Garden
The Mediterranean Garden
This garden replaced a more formal European garden and it now highlights plants that thrive in a mediterranean climate similar to what can be found in Adelaide.
There are quite a few different types of birds that can be found, quite happily ignoring the visitors in the gardens.
A rosella
A sulphur crested cockatoo
An Ibis (? not totally sure, my bird recognition skills aren't that great!)
The gardens also have a number of buildings and structures.
This very 1980s structure is one that is seen almost immediately when entering the gardens from North Terrace. It's only when you look closely at the ground in the centre that you get an explanation behind this structure.
It's an Elvis Presley Memorial, placed there by the 'Sounds of Elvis Society' I'm surprised that they received permission to place this memorial in the Botanic Gardens.
The Amazon Waterlily Pavilion, this new pavilion was built to replace an older one that housed the waterlily. However the original pond still houses them.
The Museum of Economic Botany
This building was opened in 1881 and was the last colonial museum of this type built. It was extensively restored 10 years ago and to enter it now is an interesting step back in time. (There is also a more contemporary exhibition space inside it) I like the old heritage feel of the interior, worth visiting even if you don't have a huge interest in botany.
The lovely Victorian interior of the Museum.
The National Rose Trial Garden with the Bicentennial Conservatory
New varieties of roses are trialled for two seasons in this garden to see which roses not yet for sale in Australia, are best suited for the Australian climate.
Inside the conservatory
The Bicentennial Conservatory was built in celebration of the bicentennial of the arrival of Europeans to Australia. The conservatory was opened in 1989 (the bicentennial was in 1988!) and initially it was a tropical conservatory and it was heated, there was also a fee to enter. As a cost cutting measure in 2012, it was decided to no longer heat the conservatory and the entrance fee was abolished. Still an interesting experience to walk through, just not hot and humid! It's the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere.
I particularly like this glass sculpture of a wave.
Even though I have wandered around the gardens many times before, I'm still discovering bits I hadn't seen before such as this Indian style rotunda tucked away at the back of the gardens.
There's a lot more to the Adelaide Botanic Garden, with different themed gardens that on this visit I hadn't seen. A major centrepiece of the garden is the heritage Palm House glasshouse that was having restoration work done to it so it was closed to the public. There are cafes and an upmarket restaurant in the gardens if you're after some lunch. Strolling around the gardens and then having some lunch is a very civilised way of spending a morning!
Recently I was speaking to an overseas visitor who said they were going to explore the botanic gardens the following morning. They had a late flight out of Adelaide and so thought spending an hour or so exploring the gardens would be a pleasant way to end their stay. I realised that, as often is the case, a visitor to your town or city often appreciates the sites you take for granted. I had a day off from work and decided to spend some time rediscovering the gardens.
The Adelaide Botanic Garden that can be found in the city's northeastern corner was established in 1854 and was officially opened in 1857. The city garden has two main ornate entrances, the gates at North Terrace. For anyone walking into the gardens from the city centre, that's the entrance most people are familiar with.
The other main entrance is at the opposite end of the gardens, I had driven to the gardens so used that entrance, there's parking nearby.
It's called 'The Friends' Entrance' as an association called 'The Friends of the Botanic Gardens' raised money for these gate. The Friends association still exists now and they offer free guided tours of the garden. The cottage next to the gates is now 'home' to the Friends and centre for Friends' activities. It's called the 'North Lodge' and was built in 1866 as the head gardener's cottage.
Entering the gardens from the Friends' Gate you walk through a grove of trees, this avenue of trees is called 'Murdoch Grove'. It's named for the Murdoch family, Rupert Murdoch started his media empire in Adelaide with the afternoon paper 'The News'. His company is still named after this paper as 'News Corp' and they sponsor this grove. (Helpful sign!)
This garden replaced a more formal European garden and it now highlights plants that thrive in a mediterranean climate similar to what can be found in Adelaide.
There are quite a few different types of birds that can be found, quite happily ignoring the visitors in the gardens.
The gardens also have a number of buildings and structures.
This very 1980s structure is one that is seen almost immediately when entering the gardens from North Terrace. It's only when you look closely at the ground in the centre that you get an explanation behind this structure.
It's an Elvis Presley Memorial, placed there by the 'Sounds of Elvis Society' I'm surprised that they received permission to place this memorial in the Botanic Gardens.
The Amazon Waterlily Pavilion, this new pavilion was built to replace an older one that housed the waterlily. However the original pond still houses them.
This building was opened in 1881 and was the last colonial museum of this type built. It was extensively restored 10 years ago and to enter it now is an interesting step back in time. (There is also a more contemporary exhibition space inside it) I like the old heritage feel of the interior, worth visiting even if you don't have a huge interest in botany.
New varieties of roses are trialled for two seasons in this garden to see which roses not yet for sale in Australia, are best suited for the Australian climate.
The Bicentennial Conservatory was built in celebration of the bicentennial of the arrival of Europeans to Australia. The conservatory was opened in 1989 (the bicentennial was in 1988!) and initially it was a tropical conservatory and it was heated, there was also a fee to enter. As a cost cutting measure in 2012, it was decided to no longer heat the conservatory and the entrance fee was abolished. Still an interesting experience to walk through, just not hot and humid! It's the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere.
Even though I have wandered around the gardens many times before, I'm still discovering bits I hadn't seen before such as this Indian style rotunda tucked away at the back of the gardens.
There's a lot more to the Adelaide Botanic Garden, with different themed gardens that on this visit I hadn't seen. A major centrepiece of the garden is the heritage Palm House glasshouse that was having restoration work done to it so it was closed to the public. There are cafes and an upmarket restaurant in the gardens if you're after some lunch. Strolling around the gardens and then having some lunch is a very civilised way of spending a morning!
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