Wednesday 24 February 2016

GEELONG BOTANIC GARDENS

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. They were established in 1851 and are the fourth oldest botanic garden in Australia.

The gardens were first set aside as a public space in 1850, taking up the whole of today's Eastern Park. 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 (4.8 km) 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 were erected in the gardens. John Raddenberry took over the curatorship of the gardens in 1872 after the death of Bunce the same year. 

A fernery was opened in October 1885. It was 37 metres long, 18.5 metres wide and was located where the George M. Hitchcock Fountain now stands. The fernery was extended in 1886 by an octagon 18.5 metres high, with a pond located underneath. A third section was added in 1887, taking the total length to 92 metres. By 1920 the ferns were becoming overgrown, and the fernery was demolished some time after World War II because the wooden structure was falling into disrepair.

The gardens were renovated in 2002, with a new section for arid-climate and local native plants opened. It features a dramatic entrance with Queensland Bottle Trees (Brachychiton rupestris), combining architectural plants with modern garden sculptures.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.











10 comments:

  1. i love those kind of gardens, always a joy to walk through ... nice choice for g

    Have a nice ABC-day / - week
    ♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)

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  2. I enjoyed the cyber tour of this garden. Here we are expecting snow. So it was a relief to see all the colors. Reminds me that Spring is just around the corner.
    JM, Illinois-U.S.A.

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  3. Great picture and lots of greens.

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  4. The white cactus flower is so beautiful!

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  5. Looks like a delightful place to visit!

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  6. I worked in Geelong for a while and knew the conservatory, the greenhouse and the fernery. Now you are discovering the modern garden sculptures which I have never seen before.

    Those bollards are very Geelongish. 103 bollards, carved in reclaimed timber pier pylons, were placed in 48 different sites along the city's shore line. Each of the 48 groups of bollards is distinctive, all of them caricatures of famous local people or famous local professions.

    Thanks for the link
    Hels
    http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/can-ex-industrial-city-of-geelong-have.html

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  7. Neat series of photos. What kind of tree is that in the second shot? I don't believe we have anything like that here... at least not anywhere I've been.
    Thanks for joining the party at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/02/every-10-minutes-someone-in-us-dies-of.html

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  8. I never been had a chance to visit Geelong while I was in Melbourne, thanks for sharing this.

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  9. I am ashamed to say, that I didn't know that these gardens existed. What a fascinating, beautifully desined place to wander. And love the sculptures.

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  10. important to set aside greenery for public appreciation

    ROG, ABCW

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