Maranoa Botanic Gardens | |
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![]() Stenocarpus sinuatus planted in 1924 | |
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Location | Balwyn, Victoria |
Coordinates | 37°48′38″S145°5′25″E / 37.81056°S 145.09028°E |
Area | 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) |
Created | 1901 [1] |
Operated by | City of Boroondara |
Vegetation | Featuring Australian native plants |
Connecting transport | ![]() |
Website | Official website |
The Maranoa Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in Balwyn, Melbourne. It is significant as being one of the first and only botanical gardens in the world dedicated solely to Australian native plants. [2] [3]
Maranoa Gardens began in the early 1890s, when Mr John Middleton Watson purchased 1.4 hectares in Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, for a private garden. He planted many Australian and New Zealand native trees and shrubs and the area was maintained purely as a garden. He named the gardens Maranoa after a river in Queensland, from native words meaning flowing, alive or running. [4]
As a member of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, he was keenly interested in native and indigenous flora. At the time, native Australian flora was not widely used in gardening; introduced English and other exotic species were used instead. [2]
The former City of Camberwell (since merged into the City of Boroondara) acquired the area in 1922 and continued the planting, gradually removing all non-native plants. [1]
In September 1926, Maranoa Gardens were formally opened to the public and Frederick Chapman was appointed Chairman of the Gardens' Consulting Committee. Mr Chapman's keen interest in the Gardens as honorary curator and that of many others helped to establish Maranoa Gardens as one of the largest displays of Australian plants in Victoria. [3] [5]
Contributors to the Gardens' development were Ivo Hammet (a pioneer of Australian native plant growing), Mr Arthur Swaby (a teacher and botanist, who was a founding member of the Society for Growing Australian Plants), Charles French (an associate of the great botanist, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller) and Earnest Lord. The longest serving head gardener at Maranoa, Mr R Bury (1937–1968), preserved and promoted the Gardens' plants. [3]
In 1962, the original Gardens were doubled in size by expanding east into Beckett Park, with the construction of the rockery as the major thrust of this expansion. [6] The variegated Lophostemon was planted near the Beckett Park gates.
Development has been ongoing, including the temperate woodland/heathland in 1986. During 1987, the rockery area was expanded and replanted, the theme of this area being more specific to plants considered more difficult to grow in Melbourne's climate.
Maranoa Gardens is one of the few public gardens in Victoria dedicated to Australian plants, and it is considered by many botanists to be one of the best. [3] [2] The central arboretum and lawn under trees area date from a time just after Mr Watson transferred ownership to Camberwell Council. Some of the older plants include an Angophora costata Smooth-barked Apple, planted in 1923 and a Stenocarpus sinuatus Queensland Firewheel Tree, planted in 1924.
Other areas of the gardens have been developed to simulate particular plant communities. In the dry sclerophyll forest on the northern side are shrubs and smaller plants that grow well in dry, shady conditions. On the eastern side is a temperate woodland and heathland developed in 1986. The drainage in this area has been improved and low-growing plants such as Dampiera spp. and prostrate wattles, Acacia spp. are featured.
The light grey stony loam over compact mottled clay is poor and the topsoil sets hard when dry while it is soft when wet - and is thus suited to native plants.
A rockery developed in 1962 was rebuilt in 1987–1988 and displays plants that are normally very difficult to grow in Melbourne. Improvement of the drainage and mulching with crushed quartz has provided the conditions suitable for many species from Western Australia to thrive. [7]
With some 5000 plants, most of which are named, Maranoa Gardens has been recognised through registration with the National Trust as an important part of Australian gardening history. [8]
After being known as 'Maranoa Gardens' since its establishment, the word 'Botanic' was added to its name in June 2020 by Boroondara City Council. [9]
Epacris impressa, also known as common heath, is a species of plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to south-eastern Australia. French botanist Jacques Labillardière collected the species in 1793 and described it in 1805. Four forms have been identified, but no subspecies are recognised. Growing in heathland, shrubland or open forest, it is generally a small shrub around 0.5 to 1 m tall, with small stiff leaves. The red, pink or white tube-like flowers appear from late autumn to early spring. Honeyeater birds, particularly the eastern spinebill, feed upon the nectar of the flowers. It regenerates after bushfire by seed or by resprouting.
The City of Boroondara is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.
Camberwell is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Camberwell recorded a population of 21,965 at the 2021 census.
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Banksia serrata, commonly known as the saw banksia, the old man banksia, the saw-tooth banksia or the red honeysuckle and as wiriyagan by the Cadigal people, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus Banksia, in the family Proteaceae. Native to the east coast of Australia, it is found from Queensland to Victoria with outlying populations on Tasmania and Flinders Island. Commonly growing as a gnarled tree up to 16 m (50 ft) in height, it can be much smaller in more exposed areas. This Banksia species has wrinkled grey bark, shiny dark green serrated leaves and large yellow or greyish-yellow flower spikes appearing over summer. The flower spikes, or inflorescences, turn grey as they age and pollinated flowers develop into large, grey, woody seed pods called follicles.
Banksia ericifolia, the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range. Well known for its orange or red autumn inflorescences, which contrast with its green fine-leaved heath-like foliage, it is a medium to large shrub that can reach 6 m (20 ft) high and wide, though is usually half that size. In exposed heathlands and coastal areas, it is more often 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft).
Robert Beckett was an English-born Australian politician.
Banksia marginata, commonly known as the silver banksia, is a species of tree or woody shrub in the family Proteaceae found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to north of Armidale, New South Wales, and across Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait. It grows in various habitats, including Eucalyptus forest, scrub, heathland and moorland. Banksia marginata varies widely in habit, ranging from a 20-centimetre (7.9 in) shrub to a 12-metre (40 ft) tree. The narrow leaves are linear and the yellow inflorescences occur from late summer to early winter. These flower spikes fade to brown and then grey and develop woody follicles bearing the winged seeds. Originally described by Antonio José Cavanilles in 1800, further collections of B. marginata were designated as several separate species by Robert Brown in 1810. However, all were reclassified as a single species by George Bentham in 1870. No distinct subspecies have been recognised by Banksia expert Alex George, who nonetheless concedes that further work is needed.
Banksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is native to New South Wales, Australia, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolated population further south around Eden. There are two recognised subspecies, the nominate of which is a spreading shrub to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in height, and subsp. astrolux is a taller shrub to 5 m (16 ft) high found only in Nattai National Park.
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