![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
Oct. 10th, 2014 07:02 pmI'm playing catch-up here. I've been SO BUSY, and finally I have a bit of time to update on things.
So, on the 17th Sept, the Carer's Support Group had their monthly morning coffee meeting at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, which are lovely, and I haven't visited since I was 20-ish. It's changed a LOT. We had a tour of the First Creek Wetlands, which are pretty awesome, and then through the forest of native trees and into the Mediterranean Garden, then we got coffee. I did, of course, nip into the Diggers shop, because these days I'm incapable of passing a garden shop and not going into it. And yes, I did buy a few things, because reasons.
The Wetlands have been developed to help the community learn about wetlands, how they work and why they are important, especially in an urban environment. The garden shows visitors new plants and function of plants and form an important part of the water security plan for the Adelaide Botanic Garden. In five to eight years, the First Creek Wetland is expected to be able to recover up to 100ML of water a year from the aquifer, enough to irrigate the entire Adelaide Botanic Garden.
An amount of stormwater will be diverted from First Creek as it enters the garden, treated through the wetland, and then stored in and subsequently recovered from an underlying aquifer. The collection holds over 60,000 plants, many of which are Australian natives. Some are rare and endangered plants from South Australia which have been grown from seeds collected by our South Australian Seed Conservation Centre. Pathways and viewing platforms surround and go through the wetland and educational signs and other materials explain the wetland and aquifer system and the importance of wetlands.
The SA Water Mediterranean Garden showcases plants from the five Mediterranean climates around the world:
* South-western Australia
* South Africa
* Central Chile
* California
* The Mediterranean Basin.
The plants that live in these places are well adapted for Mediterranean climates just like southern South Australia where it's seasonally dry with frequent fire. Many of them have features that enable them to conserve water during dry times and take advantage of the rain when it does fall. There are three major elements to the garden--a water rill, interpretive spine and geographical drifts--that together tell the stories of Mediterranean plants.
And now, of course, photos! Click to see full size. :D
1. The Diggers shop. 2. Close up of one of the flowering plants in the Mediterranean garden. 3. Beautiful pavilion in the Mediterranean garden. 4. The Bottle Tree. Stores water in its trunk. Put your ear against ir and tap it. You'll hear the water inside. Not to be confused with the boab tree. 5. Magical path. Part of the walk through the forest of natives. 6. Close up of the trunk of a paper bark tree. Part of the forest of natives. It feels quite squishy! 7. One of the last vestiges of the old insane asylum--the morgue. Now a potting shed. 8. First Creek Wetlands. 9. The old tram barns. Now home to rare books and the Millennium seed bank. 10. The Goodman Building.
So, on the 17th Sept, the Carer's Support Group had their monthly morning coffee meeting at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, which are lovely, and I haven't visited since I was 20-ish. It's changed a LOT. We had a tour of the First Creek Wetlands, which are pretty awesome, and then through the forest of native trees and into the Mediterranean Garden, then we got coffee. I did, of course, nip into the Diggers shop, because these days I'm incapable of passing a garden shop and not going into it. And yes, I did buy a few things, because reasons.
The Wetlands have been developed to help the community learn about wetlands, how they work and why they are important, especially in an urban environment. The garden shows visitors new plants and function of plants and form an important part of the water security plan for the Adelaide Botanic Garden. In five to eight years, the First Creek Wetland is expected to be able to recover up to 100ML of water a year from the aquifer, enough to irrigate the entire Adelaide Botanic Garden.
An amount of stormwater will be diverted from First Creek as it enters the garden, treated through the wetland, and then stored in and subsequently recovered from an underlying aquifer. The collection holds over 60,000 plants, many of which are Australian natives. Some are rare and endangered plants from South Australia which have been grown from seeds collected by our South Australian Seed Conservation Centre. Pathways and viewing platforms surround and go through the wetland and educational signs and other materials explain the wetland and aquifer system and the importance of wetlands.
The SA Water Mediterranean Garden showcases plants from the five Mediterranean climates around the world:
* South-western Australia
* South Africa
* Central Chile
* California
* The Mediterranean Basin.
The plants that live in these places are well adapted for Mediterranean climates just like southern South Australia where it's seasonally dry with frequent fire. Many of them have features that enable them to conserve water during dry times and take advantage of the rain when it does fall. There are three major elements to the garden--a water rill, interpretive spine and geographical drifts--that together tell the stories of Mediterranean plants.
And now, of course, photos! Click to see full size. :D
1. The Diggers shop. 2. Close up of one of the flowering plants in the Mediterranean garden. 3. Beautiful pavilion in the Mediterranean garden. 4. The Bottle Tree. Stores water in its trunk. Put your ear against ir and tap it. You'll hear the water inside. Not to be confused with the boab tree. 5. Magical path. Part of the walk through the forest of natives. 6. Close up of the trunk of a paper bark tree. Part of the forest of natives. It feels quite squishy! 7. One of the last vestiges of the old insane asylum--the morgue. Now a potting shed. 8. First Creek Wetlands. 9. The old tram barns. Now home to rare books and the Millennium seed bank. 10. The Goodman Building.
