Australian National Botanic Gardens

The national Botanic Gardens in Canberra are dedicated to our amazingly diverse native plants. Iconic, towering gum trees with their beautiful barks. A rainforest gully all shady, cool and green. Clusters of spiky shrubs where little birds play hide and seek among the leaves and sip nectar from the blossoms. Drifts of wildflowers that burst into colour and look so spectacular  against a deep blue sky ...

A very pretty Pimelea.

The ancient & fascinating Wollemi Pine.

The beautiful  bark of just one Eucalypt species.

 A Thorny Devil sculpture for a hot, dry desert garden.

The golden 'candles' of a Banksia.

The papery flowers of an everlasting daisy.

Trickling water near the rainforest gully.

Two little Eastern Yellow Robins!

An Eastern Spinebill too!

Clumps that form giant 'grassy-heads'.

(I'm sure there are faces hiding under all that hair!)

We wandered the paths of these gorgeous gardens for just a couple of hours but I could've spent all day meeting more and more of our beautiful native plants. So much variety and texture and colour. I will be keeping an eye out for a few that I can plant here at our place.

Meg

Today's Bouquet

A bouquet of flowers "gathered" during happy wanderings through our city's beautiful Botanic Gardens... 

Tiny clusters of sweet flowers.

A salvia bud begins to open.

 A single little native violet.

So beautiful blue irises.

Waxy white blossoms.

Daisy-like petals & Autumn's blue sky.

... I took my time and made sure I "smelt the roses", though I forgot to photograph them!

Meg

Beautiful Botanic Gardens

Last time we explored our city's Botanic Gardens, at Mt. Coot-tha in Brisbane, it was Summer time. Our visit this time, during our recent school holiday break, was an Autumnal one. On our wanderings around these sprawling gardens, that encompass a water-lilied lake, Japanese garden, tropical dome, rainforest and more, we found a Chocolate Tree (that I wrote about in my last post) and many other amazing plants, animals, sculptures and spaces. These were some of my favourites:

An unfurling magnolia bloom.

A soft, delicate pink & open bloom.

 The beautiful roof of the tropical dome reflected in its pond.

Lush planting in the tropical dome.

A towering cactus in the arid garden.

Vibrant red flowers reflect the heat.

 Carefully shaped azalea shrubs in the peaceful Japanese garden.

A tranquil trickle into a Japanese water bowl.

 A panda sculpture in the bamboo grove.

A mother ... and her cub!

A pretty, deep pink salvia.

A sweep of deep purple salvias.

Tiny native bees at the "door" of their hive.

 A honey bee & native bees working on a sunflower.

A mass of lily pads floating upon the lake.

 A sleepy turtle sunbakes on a warm rock.

And ... a gorgeous camellia flower.

I can lose myself for many hours in these gardens. Wandering from plant to plant, picnicking under a tree, breathing in deeply the scent of flowers and herbs, listening to the trickle of water or the call of ducks. They are a peaceful, green haven and a soothing contrast to the constant bustle that is our city. 

Meg

The Source of Chocolate

From the Amazonian rainforest comes the tree that gives us the raw ingredient from which we make chocolate, one of the world's most beloved foods. Its scientific name (Theobroma cocao) is loosely translated, from its Greek roots, as "food of the gods" (Theos meaning God & Bromas meaning food). Chocolate lovers the world over would surely agree it's an aptly named tree!

 Ripe yellow pods on a Chocolate Tree.

(Theobroma cocao)

On a recent trip to my city's Botanic Gardens, we found a Chocolate Tree growing in the warm and humid environment of the Garden's tropical dome. Inside the ripe, yellow pods, are the seeds (beans) which, once processed, will yield the nibs from which cocoa liquor  is made. This liquor (which contains cocoa mass and cocoa butter) is the basis for making the chocolate so many of us love.

The tree's sign in the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, Brisbane.

The commercial production of cocao beans is very labour intensive. Growing and caring for the trees, harvesting and the early stages of processing the pods and beans, is done by hand. For example, the ripe pods are picked and opened by hand, the beans inside are scooped out by hand & dried beans are sorted by hand. Much of the world's cocoa beans are produced on small family farms in West Africa, where the farmers live well below the global poverty line of less than $1.90 per day. To me, that's a sobering "cut-off point"  given that a single chocolate bar can cost more than that here in Australia.

Recently, I have started learning about Permaculture & have been considering simple, practical ways/actions in which to integrate its three ethics of Earth Care, People Care & Fair Shares at our place. Choosing fair trade chocolate would make sense because it encourages the ethical growing and processing of cocoa beans and the provision of a living wage to farmers, farm workers and their families.  

Delicious dark chocolate ... the end product we buy.

Considering the source/production/impacts of the foods we buy, such as the chocolate that is made from the beans of these Chocolate Trees, can certainly raise some questions, issues and ethical dilemmas sometimes. 

Meg

A Garden within a Garden

Are you well rested after our stroll through the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens yesterday? Ready to cross the stepping stones with me? A small, serene garden beckons and it's my favourite place to sit, be still, listen, think and wish within the wider expanse of these much larger gardens. Come with me into the Japanese Garden...

Stepping stones over a little stream.

I do not know very much about this ancient style of garden design but I know how this garden makes me feel. Quiet. Calm. Contemplative. It's a feeling cultivated by the way that the plants, water, stones, bridges and buildings within this garden are so deliberately placed to achieve balance. At every turn, beautiful views await...

 Reflections on the water.

Looking through the trees.

 A carefully sculpted feature tree.

The vibrant blooms of the crepe myrtle.

Another vibrant bloom. Orange this time!

A trickling waterfall. 

A full stone water basin.

Can you hear the water basin filling with a trickle from the bamboo pipe? My boy, much younger than he is now, would float leaf boats and azalea petals in it. He'd choose a heavy stone to put in too, only to put it down again when my head signaled a "No" instead of a "Yes!" I'm sure he would've loved to drop one in (and I'm sure he did many a time when I wasn't watching!) just to hear the "plop" as it hit the surface.

My beautiful boy and I have spent many an hour here together. When he was so much smaller than he is now, we'd share a picnic lunch in the shade, after his mornings at a nearby kindy and before a long drive home. It's the perfect place to picnic; to watch what hovers above the lake, flits about in the trees or makes its presence boldly felt in the hope you'll drop a crumb or two (those cheeky lizards!).

My son spotted this lizard. Can you?

It's the perfect place to come to too if you want an experience of the harmony that a garden can bring. I'll leave you here for a while then, to soak up that peacefulness, shall I? 

Meg

p.s. Enjoy your weekend. We have a special boy's birthday to celebrate and a lawn to mow. It's great weather for grass here where I live!

Nature in the City: Botanic Gardens

When planning family outings, we seek out nature whenever we can. There's just something special about the sand and sea of a beach, the lush green of a forest, the cooler air of a mountain or the gurgling and gushing of a river that relaxes everyone and lifts one's spirits.

When we don't have time to venture far from home, to get our nature fix, we find ourselves exploring our lovely sub-tropical city. And so it was, on a warm Summer afternoon not long ago, we spent a few hours wandering about in the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens in Brisbane. 

Diverse, thriving plants surround you in these rambling gardens. We encountered a wonderful array of wildlife, at home among the foliage, and happy to be the focus of a curious boy's attention. Water features prominently too, from a lake blanketed in lilypads to the trickling waterfall and water basin in the Japanese Garden, its liquid presence always feels reflective and calming. 

While one could hurry to try to see everything, we prefer to amble, following the lead of our son as he traces the paths, familiar to him now (after years of visiting this green oasis) and which lead him to his favourite parts of the gardens. Of course, we will end our meandering stroll, as we always do, sitting in the fragrant herb garden, on a wooden bench made for three, eating ice-cream!

Shall we go for a walk together now then? 

Lush, thick plantings near the lake. 

The tall and beautiful trunks of bamboo.

Reaching up to a cloudy sky.

A beautiful, stone rose features in the rose garden.

Are your legs a little weary yet, after walking so far? Come on, there's still much more to see!

A real and fragrant bloom.

 An inquisitive duck impatient for the duck feeding to begin!

 A spiky water dragon (lizard) resting in the water at the edge of the lake. 

(I think he thought he was camouflaged!)

 The roof of the tropical dome, our son's favourite place in the whole garden.

Inside the dome, looking up!

Looking across the dome. 
People toss coins into the water here...perhaps they make wishes!

Tansy growing prolifically in the herb garden.

A rocky path beckons...

And, who could resist rock-hopping across these big stones? Tomorrow I'll lead you across and show you my favourite place in these gardens. It's serene and peaceful and waiting for us.

See you tomorrow.

Meg