Arrival of Spring sees Botanic gardens ready for visitors

Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands have announced that with the arrival of Spring, Sydney’s three botanic gardens are starting to bloom from the Harbour to western Sydney, and beyond to the Blue Mountains, showcasing some of the most spectacular spring garden displays.

Botanic gardens are renowned for their unique and diverse collections of native and exotic plants from all over the world. Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands’s three botanic gardens: the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah; and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan combined proudly house a collection of 16,231 types of living plants, over 100 million seeds in their Seed Vault (including 61% of NSW’s listed flora) and over 1.4 million pressed botanic specimens.

A new home for the National Herbarium of NSW is currently being built at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.

The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
NSW’s major tourist attraction boasts some of the best spring displays in Sydney. The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney features living collections from almost every continent in the world across its 30 hectares.

Spring bedding though is at its best throughout September with the Garden’s famous Spring Walk in bloom. This display has been a calendar highlight in the Garden for 163 years when Charles Moore planted an Azalea Garden along the south side of the Macquarie Wall in 1856. This year’s display features Buttercups, China Pinks, Snap dragons and Pansies. Other flowering delights include the South African Rothmania globosa, Wisteria, Orchids and Clivias.

In October, the Tabernaemontana pandacaqui, better known as the Windmill or Banana Bush, Bletia and Dendrobium orchid species, and the Herb Garden are flourishing. This is also the time of year when Sydney starts to turn purple with Jacarandas. The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney has 20 trees including a rare white one located on Lawn 34.

By November, the Trial Garden, Palace Rose Garden, Begonias and First Farm will be the best displays to see across the Garden. All of these plants are easily accessible and can be located directly on your smartphone or tablet when visiting the Garden using free Wifi and Garden Explorer.

Australia Botanic Garden Mount Annan
The Garden’s most noted spring display is the Western Australian Paper Daisy display which runs throughout September to the end of October and is one of the most visited and photographed flower displays in Sydney. This year's display features over a million flowers that will create a lush carpet of pink, yellow and white!

The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is also known for its vast Wattle display throughout September of over 260 species. Other areas of the Garden to explore include the Banksia Garden for Grevilleas and Hakeas and the Connections Garden. In late spring, the bright red flowers of the Queensland Tree Waratah (Alloxylon flammeum) also features.

For those who are more interested in soft and delicate flowers the Flannel Flower (Actinotus spp.) is a very touchable plant with soft velvety flowers. Other showy spring plants include Feather Flowers (Verticordia spp.), Everlasting Daisies and Yellow Buttons (Chrysocephalum apiculatum), Rice Flower (Ozothamnus diosmifolius), Qualup Bell (Pimelea physodes), Bulbine Lily (Bulbine bulbosa) and Blue Leschenaultia (Lechenaultia biloba).

The Garden also features 20 km of walking tracks, lakes, themed gardens, picnic areas and a Stonehenge-type sundial and outdoor sculptures.

Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah
The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah is Australia’s highest botanic garden with over 5,200 species of diverse and beautiful cool climate plants.

Originally a cut flower farm, this Garden is renowned for its bulb displays. The annual Daffodil display (24th August – 1st September) features over 50,000 bulbs this year making it the largest display ever created at the Garden.

The Wild about Waratahs Festival is also another flowering festival not to miss with entries from the Australian waratah growers competition on display from around the country at the Garden. This year’s festival has a packed program of tours, workshops, an ikebana exhibition and food stalls. Throughout September the Garden’s Rhododendrons, Pieris, Cherries and Wisteria cultivars are in bloom.

The striking Blue Puya (Puya alpestris ssp. zoellneri) from the mountains of Chile, South America produce spectacular jade blue flowers on spikes up to 3metres tall. These can be seen in the lower Rock Garden and are covered in various birds and bees who feed on the sweet nectar. You can see them in bloom from October to December along with over 200 different Dahlia and Peony cultivars in the Formal Garden and Peony Bed.