I havent been there but it doesnt sound like somewhere Id want to visit! :) they must all have their own charter about what they grow. the Perth botanic gardens only grow wa natives so for someone who likes their roses or camellias it might not be the ultimate day out but I think its great they went that way because its one of the few places you can go like that. they put a lot of effort into the place though and they keep everything in tip top condition.every spring they have a wildflower festival with mass plantings of the wa native annuals and they sell thousands of plants so they do a good job of promoting the local plants. I guess theyve chosen to do one thing and do it really well.

Is the melbourne botanic garden the one where they did a dryland garden a couple of years ago? I remember seeing something like that on tv? Ive seen pete on the tv in the tasmanian one and yeah it looks magic.

An enormous amount of voluntary labour goes into keeping the bot gardens running, both in planting and maintaining beds and in raising funds via the "Friends of the Gardens" plant stalls which are held monthly.
Individual plant clubs such as the Victorian Iris Society have for years voluntarily maintained garden beds, and, as always, the work has fallen to the few willing people prepared to put in hours of their time, generally on days when it would be opportune to be spending time in their own gardens. Parking in melbourne is not easy to find and travelling time is also an issue, as many volunteers live some distance away.
To compound this problem - vandalism is becoming an increasing problem. This perhaps accounts for the straggliness of the camellia garden.
A good example is the child who was running through the iris bed one day, destroying things in his wake. A gardens tour guide asked him to get off the bed, and was abused by the mother with "Don't you tell my child 'NO'"
This is not an isolated incident, it seems to be the standard attitude of many young mothers. Unfortunately these children who think they can do whatever they want, eventually meet other, bigger children who think the same.
Lack of respect or care for the beautiful things around us will eventually lead to them being locked away or done away with completely.
I would love to see Pete's garden in Tas. I am sure it receives a lot of care and respect as it is so widely shown on TV.
There Dead Easy - was that the sort of discussion you were looking for?
Cheers, Jan

Well, Deadeasy, I moved to Melbourne for 10 years before retreating back to my nest high in the hills here...

I would spend 2 or 3 days consecutively in the Melb. Bot. Gardens and still not see it all.
Have a good friend who's a curator in the Sydney RBG and he was sent to Melb by his bosses to "see what a REAL Bot. Garden looks like", and he agreed that it whipped Sinney hands down.

I've visited the Hobart Gardens a couple of times and while it has a few very interesting areas, best I could rate it would be "nice". I don't consider an ABC sponsored vegie patch as an integral part of a Botanical garden, nor a camellia garden (good grief, head for the tropics if you want to see camellias!)

Please, go back to the Melb. gardens, pack a picnic, grab a guidebook and be prepared to spend at least a day there...

Regards,
Shax

I ahve never heard of the WA one but immediately it interests me, being native plants it is most likely stuff I have never seen before and therefore a draw card.

Yes we have a native botanical garden but that is actually one Suburb over from me in Cranbourne which is about a 45 minute drive from the cbd, I haven't been there yet but do plan to pop in one day soon. Natives to me just make sense, something that is more likely to flourish with little help is more likely to survive in my garden due to my waxing and waning health.

Thanks Jan that is exactly the discussion I was looking for, you obviously have some links with the botanical gardens yourself and I just wondered how the two gardens could be so different. I also wonder about funding from the governments and councils and so on as when I went to petes garden it was packed with workers, therefore you feel he may have the local governments around his finger.

Also on top of that they had an horticultural school (couldn't think of a better plave to learn personally:) ) within the grounds, and the information building was showing all the Peter cundall segments of ga from the years gone by which incidentally was heaven.

Jan, I wonder if the little darling in the iris bed was the same one who was racing back and forth tearing leaves off the trees in the Japanese Garden at the Hobart Botanic Gardens. Don't you just love those parents who don't do any parenting when it's really needed but suddenly appear out of nowhere to abuse staff or other visitors when those people feel compelled to put an end to the shenanigans. So we limited ourselves to the occasional disapproving glare. A little later I was told off for jumping the queue at the ladies toilets. Honest mistake. I didn't know there was only one cubicle. I don't remember a lock on the outer door which is usually the case with a single cubicle facility, and considering it was in a rather nice-looking new (since our last trip) visitors centre with a cafe, I wouldn't have expected a single cubicle ladies. Lovely gardens but not the relaxing visit I had hoped for on the last day of our holiday. Didn't enjoy being on the Tahune Air Walk with a school group either. We were taking a photo from the cantilevered section when they came bouncing along and we had quite a lengthy wait until they finished bouncing. The teachers were some distance behind and obviously enjoying their own holiday and not the least bit interested in supervising these teenagers. And don't let me get started on the parents who think throwing pebbles at ducks in ponds is a healthy outdoor activity for their children. Shame that places which can be so soothing for the soul can be spoilt by kids who have never been taught to respect, sorry, this is turning into a rant.

Dead easy, the Canberra Botanic Gardens are native.

I am familiar with Kings Park in Perth, The Melbourne Botanical Gardens as well as the Sydney Botanical Gardens. In fact I am a member of the 'Friends of the Botanic Gardens" in Sydney.

I have visited the Melbourne B.G. many times over the years and never tire of them. However the long drought over the past five years or more has had a big impact on the plant material there. I personally feel it is a miracle how they have managed to keep so many stressed specimens alive.

I believe they are concentrating on keeping the more delicate/endangered plants alive. Camelias, being hardy will most likely be down on the list as they can survive dry conditions reasonably well and can recover easily.
Remember Botanic Gardens do not escape watering restrictions.

By the way I love Kings Park in Perth and recommend it to all gardeners.

Dead Easy,
Kings Park is much the same as Cranbourne or at least what what Cranbourne will be after the overhaul is completed. Honestly, I haven't been to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens in about 10 years. It was in quite good condition back then, however, I wouldn't doubt Robert's point about water stress is a very valid one. I tend to go to Sydney Botanical Gardens whenever I'm up that way and have noticed a gradual decline over the years. I've only been to Hobart Botanical Gardens once (about 5 years ago). It was very nice, not jawdroppingly spectacular but well worth visiting and at least comparable to the Melbourne. I suspect Tasmania's cooler temperatures and more regular rainfall has lessened the blow of the drought. Personally, my favourite is the National Rhododendron Gardens in Olinda. I was there a couple of years ago and it was still in good condition (again lower temps and more rain). You've got to like Rhody's though, otherwise it's probably hell on earth :-).