Adelaide Botanic Garden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a 125 acre area of land in the north-east corner of the Adelaide Park Lands, encompassing a fenced garden, open parkland and the Adelaide Zoo.
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[edit] Botanic Gardens
First set aside in Colonel William Light's city plan for Adelaide in 1838, it wasn't until 1854, after a public appeal to Governor Sir Henry Young that gardens were established at the current location.
First opened in 1857, the gardens are influenced by the Royal Gardens at Kew, England and Versailles, France and receive 1.3 million visitors per annum.
One of the garden's nineteenth-century directors was the botanist Dr Richard Schomburgk, brother to the German naturalist Robert Schomburgk. He was a major advocate for the establishment of forest reserves in the increasingly denuded South Australian countryside.[1]
Amongst other scientific and educational displays of native and international horticulture, the gardens hold one of the world's only propagated Wollemi Pine trees.
[edit] Palm House
Imported in 1875 from Bremen, Germany, opened in 1877 and restored in 1995, the palm house is a Victorian glasshouse located to the west of the main lake. It currently holds a collection of Malagasy arid flora.
[edit] Rose Garden
Begun in 1996, the Adelaide Rose Garden is a trial garden where roses are tested for their suitability for Australian climates. It has been built on part of the old State Transport Authority Hackney Depot. Roses are planted in groups such as, Noisette Roses, Bourbon Roses, Tea Roses, RAmblers, and Perpetual Roses. While in Adelaide in 2004, Sir Cliff Richard planted a rose named ‘Sir Cliff Richard’ in the Rose Garden surrounded by a small group of fans and rose enthusiasts. Sales of the rose support the Bone Growth Foundation.
[edit] Bicentennial Conservatory
Built in 1987, to celebrate the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Bicentennial Conservatory is 100 m long and almost 30 m high making it the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere. The conservatory houses at risk or endangered tropical rainforest plants from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and south Pacific Islands. The conservatory is sometimes affectionately called "The Pasty" by locals, because of its resemblance to a massive semicircular stuffed pastry.
[edit] Notes
- ^ D.W. Meinig, On the Margins of the Good Earth, Rigby, 1962, 72
