Big Trees, Begonias, Wombats, and The Baron’s Legacy.

A directional sign at wombat hill botanic gardens

A lesser-known masterpiece sits high on the hill overlooking picturesque Daylesford. A short day trip from Melbourne, Daylesford is home to Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens and the work of German-born, Baron Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller who was the Government Botanist in the 1860s. He established the 10.4-hectare garden at Wombat Hill. I guess he was experimenting after establishing the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens and responding to the call that all towns should have botanical gardens as the colony grew and the population started to move from the cities to the country. If only there was such a commitment to tree planting these days.

To create the garden at Wombat Hill, the native species were removed, pathways formed, and trees from Europe were introduced to the area, changing the landscape forever.

The rich volcanic soil was an ideal playground for tree planting and experimenting back then, when the Baron was introducing plant species from Europe to Australia.

https://www.lostmagazine.com.au/content/australians-baron-of-botany

Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens Image: Courtesy Discover Daylesford

The gardens today are a vibrant and thriving legacy…how does that old Greek proverb go…“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” Well nowhere is this more evident than witnessing the work of the baron some 165 years down the track. The tree collection is outstanding.

There is a stunning nursery that offers healthy rare and unusual plants for sale. The money raised from the sale of these plants that are nurtured and sold by volunteers assists in funding the running of the gardens.

The cute nursery where the volunteers nurture plants for sale
Continue reading “Big Trees, Begonias, Wombats, and The Baron’s Legacy.”

Basking in a Golden Glow

What happens to the display gardens of Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show long after the show is over?

Landscape Designer, Stuart Johnson and  Horticulturalist Wes Fleming and their team won Gold and Best in Show in 2013 at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Chelsea Flower Show.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-21/australian-wins-top-prize-at-chelsea-flower-show/4704720

What happened next is the most exciting part of the story.

Fast forward ten years and last week, I visited the stunning garden that Phillip Johnson designed and has now recreated, but 20 times bigger than the Chelsea display garden in the stunning hills outside of Melbourne known as the Dandenong Ranges on Wurundjeri Country in the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens. 

Continue reading “Basking in a Golden Glow”
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