Geelong Botanic Gardens

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Fernery at the Geelong Botanic Gardens, (1892-1902).

The Geelong Botanic Gardens is a Botanical garden in the city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are located within Eastern Park on the eastern outskirts of the central business district. The gardens were established in 1851 and is the fourth oldest botanic gardens in Australia.^[1]

1 History
2 Today
3 External links
4 References

[edit] History

The Botanic Gardens was first set aside as a public space in 1850, taking up the whole of today's Eastern Gardens area . The Botanic Gardens were later isolated to a fenced off area in the centre of the park.

By the late 1800s facilities included a large wooden fernery, three miles (4.8km) of carriage drives, an aviary, monkey house, and a fish hatchery.

The first curator of the gardens was Daniel Bunce who was appointed in 1857. In 1859 a conservatory and greenhouse was erected in the gardens. John Raddenberry who took over the curatorships of the gardens in 1872 after the death of Bunce the same year.

A fernery was opened in October 1885. It was 120 feet (37 metres) long, 60 feet (18.5 metres) wide and was located on what is now the George M. Hitchcock fountain. The fernery was extended in 1886 with an octagon 60 feet (18.5 metres) high, with a pond located underneath. A third section was added in 1887 taking the total length to 300 feet (92 metres). By 1920 the ferns were becoming overgrown, and the fernery was demolished some time after World War II due to the wooden structure falling into disrepair.

[edit] Today

Bottle tree entrance

The Gardens has recently been renovated in 2002, with a new arid climate and local Australian native sections opened. It features a dramatic entrance with Queensland Bottle Trees (Brachychiton rupestris), combining architectural plants with modern garden design sculptures.

The Gardens are actively involved in various conservation projects and experiments, and own many species of plants that are no longer known to exist. The reason many of these are extinct is that they do no produce seeds, therefore after these species die out in the gardens, they will be completely extinct.