On Wednesday the 9 December 2009 a distinctive mature Queensland Bottle Tree arrived at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, on the back of a semi-trailer from Kialla, near Shepparton. The Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris – Sterculiaceae) will eventually be planted in the Weird and Wonderful Garden in the second and final stage of the Australian Garden.
The tree is so large that it had to be pruned so that it could be transported on a semi-trailer to Cranbourne. Special permits were obtained from VicRoads in order to transport it on a designated route. “The arrival of this incredible tree marks a real landmark in the development of the final stage of the Australian Garden,” said RBG Cranbourne Director, Chris Russell. “Its distinctive shape is so Australian and it will be a real feature of the Weird and Wonderful Garden.”
Stage Two of the Australian Garden opens in late 2011 and until then the Bottle Tree will be potted into a large custom built container. The tree will be held in a protected site near its final planting location and it will be secured with guy ropes to prevent it blowing over. A special drip irrigation system will be installed to water the plant while the garden is being built.
Noel and Pam Minifie of Kialla donated the tree to the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Cranbourne. The 30 year old Bottle Tree had been growing slowly and steadily next to their house, until the tree started to develop its characteristic swollen trunk and grew too close to the Minifie’s house. They decided that either their front verandah or their beloved Bottle Tree would have to go.
Noel Minifie met RBG Cranbourne’s Curator of Horticulture, Warren Worboys, and offered the tree to the RBG. After inspecting the tree and determining that it was suitable RBG staff began planning how to transport it. “We’re delighted that our Bottle Tree has found a new home at the Australian Garden. We can’t wait to see how it will look when the Weird and Wonderful Garden is finished” Noel Minifie said.
The Queensland Bottle Tree is a native of the dryer inland regions of southern Queensland. It can grow 10 to 20 metres tall with a spread of five to 15 metres. The tree will grow in a range of soils and has attractive small yellow flowers. The real feature of this species is their massive swollen trunks which evoke their “bottle tree” common name.
The Weird and Wonderful Garden in the Australian Garden will feature an eclectic mix of unusual and interesting native plants from across Australia. This tree will be the feature plant of this precinct and represents the remarkable diversity and uniqueness of the Australian flora. The final stage of the Australian Garden is under construction and will open in late 2011. The first nine hectares of the Australian Garden is open every day except Christmas Day, check www.rbg.vic.gov.au/australian_garden for more details.
As we head towards the end of the year the Australian Garden will be celebrating a ‘Bush Christmas’ using a potted Water Gum, Tristaniopsis laurina, as our Christmas Tree. Anyone visiting the Australian Garden is invited to stop at the Gallery and make two Christmas decorations with beautiful Australian seedpods, one for our tree and one for you to take home. If you are looking for Christmas gifts there are lots of lovely botanically inspired products to choose from.
Did you know?
There are a number of different Australian native plants that have the word ‘Christmas’ in their common name. It seems that each area of Australia has its own favourite Christmas Tree depending on what traditionally flowers in their area in December. For a comprehensive list see Australian Christmas Plants.
Growing Tips:
Water Gums grow to around 15 to 20 metres in height. It has deep green, lance-shaped leavesand bright yellow flowers in the summer. It likes spots in the garden with damp soil and part-shade to full-sun.The really lovely thing about this plant is how smothered it is in yellow flowers when in full bloom.
One of the paper daises - Xerochrysum bracteatum 'Dargan Hill Monarch'
This spectacular Paper or Everlasting Daisy – Xerochrysum bracteatum ‘Dargan Hill Monarch’ is on the march – blooming all the way along the North Line in the Red Sand Garden. One of this spring seasons most sensational sights at the Australian Garden.
Did you know?
The name Xerochrysum comes from the Greek xeros meaning ‘dry’ and chrysos meaning ‘golden’. Bracteatum is from the Latin bracteatus, meaning ‘bearing bracts’.
A ‘bract’, which looks like a flower petal, is actually a modified leaf. The flower is actually a cluster of small flowers at the centre of the bracts – take a closer look.
Xerochrysum bracteatum was previously known as Bracteantha bracteata and before that as Helichrysum bracteatum. Botanists rename plants as their understanding of how plants are related to each other grows and changes through research.
Australia has hundreds of different species of ‘paper’ or ‘everlasting’ daisies. These daisies are in the family Asteraceae. The Asteraceae family has over 20,000 species worldwide.
The original wild form of Xerochrysum bracteatum grows wild in every State of Australia.
Hot spots:
Growing along the North Line in the Red Sand Garden. Best spots to photograph this display are from the concourse in front of the Visitor Centre and from the Visitor Centre Observation Deck.
Growing tips:
These plants grow in full sun, in light well-drained soil.
Propagation from directly sown seeds.
This daisy also looks spectacular growing in pots.
A great butterfly attracting plants for your home garden.
Use tips:
A great plant for dried flower arrangements the flowers of this daisy will hold their yellow colour if cut and hung upside down in an airy, dry spot, out of direct sunlight.
References
For more information on plant names see:
Plant Names – A guide to botanical nomenclature. Roger Spencer, Rob Cross and Peter Lumley, CSIRO Publishing, 2007.
Our wonderful Wattles are waking up and beginning to bloom in the Australian Garden and surrounding bushland. Lots of different species, forms and shapes to see.
Did you know:
The Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, is Australia’s national floral emblem.
Acacias are believed to have evolved on the ancient continent of Gondwana some 45 million years ago. This great southern continent was made up of Australia, Antarctica, Aftica, America, India and New Zealand. Acacias still grow in all these countries apart from the Antarctic and New Zealand.
It is estimated that there are between 1200- 1350 species of Acacia world- wide.
The Acacia is Australia’s largest genus of flowering plants with over 954 species.
Acacias are legumes with roots accommodating bacteria that have the ability to fix nitrogen, which adds nutrients to the soil.
Wattle seeds are high in protein and some species have traditionally been used as food by Indigenous people. Wattle seeds are now grown for the bushfoods industry.
Hot spots:
Best places to see Wattles in the Australian Garden are:
The Box Garden in the Eucalypt Walk
Check out the Leafless Rock Wattle, Acacia aphylla in the Diversity Garden. It’s strange and beautifully-sculptural form is currently in flower – look for the delicate pale yellow spherical balls hidden deep in the spines.
Growing tips:
There is a wattle for every part of the garden. They vary in height, width, habit, growth form, growth speed, longevity, attractiveness and foliage colour. Small compact wattles are ideal accompaniments to any garden and provide winter colour, habitat for native fauna and provide a range of foliage types to add interest to any landscape or to act as the feature plant of the garden. Species selection is important when choosing which wattle to plant and where to plant it.
Vodcast from Volunteer Master Garden – Margaret Clark
Would you like to know more?
Join the Wonderful wattles tour
On: Wattle Day 1 September 2009
1.30 – 2.30pm
Come and celebrate Wattle Day at the RBG Cranbourne!
Join a member of the horticultural team on a stroll through the Australian Garden. Explore the range of wattles that can be used for home gardens and the stories of wattles in Australian culture.
Then head to the newly renovated Boonerwurrung Café and enjoy an afternoon tea of wattle seed cheesecake and billy tea.
$18 adult
$15.30 child/concession
Bookings required.
Tel: (03) 5990 2245
Let us know what’s happening in your garden?
We are always delighted to recieve comments from our Blog Readers. If you would like to ask a question or let us know what wattles are in bloom in your area then please use the ‘comment’ function below.
The Visitor Centre extension will open in spring 2009
The Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is still growing, with exciting new projects on the horizon including the extended Visitor Centre, second stage of the Australian Garden and newly-opened Woodland Picnic Area.
We appreciate your understanding and patience during these works and recognise that this may from time to time have an impact on visitor enjoyment of the Gardens. However, we are confident that visitors will still be inspired by this amazing Garden.
The Australian Garden is set to expand with the completion of Stage 2 scheduled for mid-2011. Features will include The Ian Potter Lakeside Precinct, Weird and Wonderful Garden, River Walk and much more.
The Visitor Centre
Work to expand the current Visitor Centre is already underway. The extended Visitor Centre will be open to visitors from spring 2009 and will include an auditorium for talks, workshops and displays, a private function room and an extended café.
The Gardens Shop
At The Gardens Shop it will be business as usual. Browse through an exciting range of Australian Garden inspired products.
The Woodland Picnic Area
The Woodland Picnic Area is now open in the RBG Cranbourne bushland, providing a great play space for children, shelter, seats and free BBQ’s.
Sturt’s Desert Pea – Swainsona formosa is now in bloom along the first half of the North-line in the Red Sand Garden.
A flush of colour cascading across our arid centre, the sight of these wildflowers springing to life after rain is one of the natural wonders of Australia.
March is a wonderful time to experience a little of that desert delight at the Australian Garden.
Did you know?
Specimens of Sturt’s Desert Pea were first collected by William Dampier on 1 September 1699.
The Common Name of Sturt’s Desert Pea honors the explorer Captain Charles Sturt who collected specimens near to Coopers Creek in 1845.
Sturt’s Desert Pea is the floral emblem of South Australia.
Hot spots: Sturt’s Desert Pea is best viewed from the Concourse outside the Visitor Centre overlooking the Red Sand Garden. For a closer look see pots of Sturt’s Desert Pea in the Home Garden.
Growing tips: The plants in the Australian Garden have been grown from seed (both seeds and grafted plants are readily available).
If growing plants in Melbourne:
Sturt’s Desert Pea is a short lived perennial, it is however, often grown as an annual in domestic gardens. You can collect seedpods at the end of the season for re-sowing in late-spring in the next year.
If growing from a grafted plant (Desert Peas are grafted onto a more robust New Zealand Pea), this allows for a longer lived plant and the opportunity to grow one of the many different rare colour selections - Pink with dark pink boss (in the common form the boss is black against red), red with red boss and white with white boss.
Seeds grow well in peat pots. When they are starting to grow vigorously transfer them to a self-watering pot. These plants do well in self-watering pots as: it helps keep water off their leaves which minimises fungal attacks to which they are prone and allows you to move them around the garden or undercover if it’s going to rain.
Sturt’s Desert Pea likes good quality, moist, freely-draining potting mix if in a container. If growing in the garden freely draining soil with some moisture is there preference. They like a spot in full sun.
Plants flower and grow vigorously in warm summers.
Sturt’s Desert Pea is usually prostrate in growth habit rambling along the ground.
The native hibiscus, Alyogyne huegelii ‘West Coast Gem’ is in full bloom this February.
The purple – blue flowers of this gorgeous native hibiscus bear a striking resemblance to swirling satin skirts. The flowers are a fabulous contrast to the red sand garden and are very photogenic dancing gently in the breeze. It is well worth considering where they might fit into your garden at home.
Growing Tips: This native hibiscus is a very hardy plant suitable for most soils and grows well in a sunny position. Once this plant is established in your garden it has low water requirements. From late spring to the end of summer the species is covered in flowers some 7 cm across.
One of the most wonderful things about the Australian Garden at the moment are the spectacular Anigozanthos or Kangaroo paws in flower around the garden.
Kangaroo paws are an iconic Australian native plant with distinctive flowers and a diversity of colours, from hot reds through to cool yellow-greens.Hotspots for Kangaroo paws in the Australian Garden are the margins of the Red Sand Garden and the Future Garden – be sure to bring in your camera, they are simply stunning.
Growing Tips:Kangaroo paws are amongst the most rewarding Australian natives to plant in home gardens as they are easy to grow with stunning results. Kangaroo paws grow from an underground rhizome and produce long strappy leaves and beautiful flowers on long stems during spring and summer. There are many new varieties of Kangaroo paws with a wide range of colours to choose from.
To get the best out of Kangaroo Paws in your garden, grow them in a position that offers full sun and well-drained soil. Kangaroo paws are drought tolerant but do require slightly more water while flowering and when they are establishing growth in their first summer.
Pruning Kangaroo paws back to ground level once they have finished flowering is important to keep them healthy.
