Adelaide Botanic Garden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Adelaide Botanic Garden |
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The garden's 1877 tropical palm house
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| Type | Botanical |
| Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Area | 51-hectare (130-acre) |
The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a large public garden covering 51-hectare (130-acre) (about 126 acres). It is located in the north-east part of Adelaide city centre, within the Adelaide Park Lands. The garden includes a fenced area on North Terrace and the open Botanic Park next to the Adelaide Zoo. Work on the garden started in 1855, and it officially opened to the public on 4 October 1857.
The Adelaide Botanic Garden is part of a bigger group called the Botanic Gardens of South Australia. This group also includes the State Herbarium of South Australia, Wittunga Botanic Garden, and Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. A special board, which is a state government group, manages all of these gardens.
Contents
How the Garden Began
Early Ideas for a Botanic Garden
From the very start, when Colonel William Light first planned the city of Adelaide, he wanted it to have a "botanical garden." He chose a small island in the River Torrens for this purpose. However, this first attempt failed because the area flooded too often.
Another attempt was made on the northern bank of the Torrens, near where the Adelaide Zoo is today. In 1839, an experienced gardener named John Bailey tried to set up a garden there, but no money was provided to support it.
Push for a Public Garden
Groups like the South Australian Agricultural and Horticultural Society kept asking for a public garden. People knew that such gardens could bring economic and scientific benefits, as seen in other parts of the British Empire. In 1854, the current site was suggested to the government. George William Francis, who had been asking the Governor to create a garden since 1849, was appointed as the garden's superintendent in 1855.
Establishing the Garden
In January 1855, the government finally approved the current site. This land was important to the Kaurna people, who considered it sacred as the red kangaroo dreaming place. At that time, it was being used for police horses. Francis was in charge of setting up the garden's boundaries, fixing the flooding issues, and making the entrance on North Terrace look good.
Francis and his family moved into the superintendent's cottage in 1856. The Adelaide Botanic Garden officially opened to the public on 4 October 1857. In 1860, the Botanic Garden Act was passed. This law created the Board of Governors, and Francis became the Director. The garden area at that time included the current Botanic Garden, Botanic Park, and the Adelaide Zoo.
Early Features and Directors
A pagoda (a type of tower) was built in 1863. In 1864, Francis set up Adelaide's first herbarium (a collection of dried plants) and a botanical library. This building looked like a rustic temple, similar to the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew Gardens in England. Francis often gave lectures there.
A type of Australian shrub, Hakea francisiana, which can grow up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall, is named after him.
After Francis retired in 1865, Moritz Richard Schomburgk became the Director. He strongly supported creating forest reserves to protect South Australia's natural areas. Later directors, like M. W. Holtze and John Frederick Bailey, also helped make the gardens beautiful and popular.
Historic Buildings and Displays
The Palm House
The Palm House, also known as the Tropical House, is a beautiful Victorian-era glasshouse. It is located west of the main lake. This glasshouse was designed in Germany and brought to Adelaide in 1875. It opened in 1877 and has been restored several times. It is the second-oldest glasshouse in Australia. It is also the only known glasshouse from that period made in Germany that still exists in the world.
Originally, it held tropical plants. But because of rust problems, since the 1990s, it has housed a collection of dry plants from Madagascar.
Santos Museum of Economic Botany
The Museum of Economic Botany focuses on plants that are "useful" to people. Moritz Richard Schomburgk started it in 1879. This museum is special because it is thought to be the last colonial museum built for its original purpose in the world. It is built in the Greek Revival style and opened in May 1881.
The museum and its inside displays were carefully restored in 2008–09. Much of the original collection from 1881 is back on display. This includes amazing replicas of fruits and fungi made from papier mache and stucco. The museum also has displays of Aboriginal artefacts, which were not part of the original museum.
This museum is famous for how well it has been kept. The building, its decorations, display cases, collections, and even many of the old labels from 1865 are still there.
Goodman Building and State Herbarium
The main offices for the Botanic Garden are in the historic Goodman Building. This building was built in 1909 and was originally the headquarters for the city's tram system. It is named after W. G. T. Goodman, who was its chief engineer. The old tram barn next to it has been turned into the State Herbarium of South Australia, which is a large collection of preserved plants for scientific study.
Old Morgue Building
An old morgue building, built in 1882, still stands in the garden. It was originally for the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum, which was a hospital for people with mental health issues. The asylum closed in 1873, and its land was given to the Botanic Garden. The old morgue building, now called "Mortuary" on a nearby sign, has been used as a toolshed. Recently, it was used for an art installation by Yhonnie Scarce called In the Dead House during the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art.
Garden Displays
The gardens show many different types of plants, both native and from other countries. One special display is an early Wollemi Pine tree. This tree was only discovered in 1994, making it a very rare plant.
Bicentennial Conservatory
The Bicentennial Conservatory was built in 1987 and opened in 1989 to celebrate Australia's 200th birthday. It was designed by architect Guy Maron and has won awards for its design. It is 100 metres (328 ft) long, 47 metres (154 ft) wide, and 27 metres (89 ft) high. This makes it the largest single-span conservatory in the southern hemisphere.
The conservatory used to house rare and endangered tropical rainforest plants from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the south Pacific Islands. In 2012, it was decided to remove the tropical plants because of high power costs. The entry fee was also removed, and the building is no longer heated.
Rose Garden
The National Rose Trial Garden started in 1996. It is the first garden in Australia where new roses are tested to see how well they grow in Australian climates. This garden is a partnership between the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, the National Rose Trial Society of Australia, and the rose industry.
Roses are planted in different groups, like noisette roses, bourbon roses, and tea roses. They are tested over two growing seasons, and all plants are cared for in the same way. A group of 10 experienced rose experts judges them and gives points. The best-performing roses receive an award.
In 2004, singer Sir Cliff Richard visited Adelaide and planted a rose named 'Sir Cliff Richard' in the Rose Garden. Sales of this rose help support the Bone Growth Foundation.
First Creek Wetlands
To reduce how much drinking water the garden uses from the River Murray, a new wetlands system was built south of the Bicentennial Conservatory. This system collects stormwater from First Creek. The wetlands help store water underground, which can then be used to water the entire Botanic Garden. This project started in 2011 and opened in November 2013.
One important goal of the wetlands is to teach people about how important wetlands are. It also shows visitors many Australian native plants they might not have seen before. The 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) area has about 20,000 plants. It also has a path with signs explaining things, garden beds with water plants, and three large ponds with reeds that support many different native animals.
How the Garden is Managed
The Botanic Gardens of South Australia, which includes the Adelaide, Wittunga, and Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, as well as the State Herbarium, are managed by the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium. This is a state government group that follows the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium Act 1978.
The gardens get money from the Government of South Australia. They also get extra money from sponsors and donations from the community through the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Foundation. This money helps with scientific research, education, buying and caring for plants, and making sure the gardens have enough money for the future.
Sponsorships
As of 2019, the garden received support from "program partners" like Santos (an oil and gas company) and Electranet (an electricity network company). They also had other "supporting partners."
Research and Publications
The State Herbarium of South Australia publishes a scientific journal called Swainsona. This journal is available for free online and includes research papers about plants, especially those from Australia and nearby regions. Before 2017, it was called Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
New Changes
Some older buildings in the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site have been taken down. This means that parts of the garden sometimes need to be closed off for safety reasons during these changes.
See Also
In Spanish: Jardín botánico de Adelaida para niños
- Botanic Park, Adelaide
- List of Adelaide parks and gardens
Images for kids
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Crepe myrtle trees by a pond in the gardens.
