Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden

After the kiln, we drove over to the botanic gardens via the Puffing Billy Railway Station at Gembrook but unfortunately, it wasn’t running that day.

The rain had mostly stopped but it was still grey and overcast. We have walked around many botanic gardens, I enjoy some while others leave me uninspired. This was one of the better ones. It was free to enter, it’s spring season here, so there were huge swathes of colour. OK, we’d missed the avenue of daffodils and cherry blossom, but the azaleas and rhododendrons were out and looked beautiful. Add some honeysuckle and a few magnolia and I was starting to be impressed. There was also the Chelsea Garden which is based on a design for the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show. This new garden was only opened in June 2023 and is twenty times larger than the Chelsea garden. For the 2013 show, the garden included the "Waratah sculpture that had been created specifically to deliver its premier view in accordance with the Queen's eye height of 5'3'' (160cm)." From that height, all of the pieces of metal are seen edge-on so as to maximise visibility through the structure. The garden aims to showcase native and endangered plants, sustainable design, water-wise features and the clever use of recycled materials. The huge stones are beautiful.Read more