The Adelaide Botanic Gardens are three separate projects: the historic botanic garden in the city centre, Mount Lofty Botanic Garden and Wittunga Botanic Garden.
The main Botanic Garden (approx. 34 hectares) was founded in 1857. Here you can see plants from all over the world, as well as some trees planted in the century before last! The garden has created and maintains a very favourable subtropical climate for plants (average temperature +28 degrees Celsius). And the abundance of sunny days allows plants from the most different regions of the Earth to get along: those that like moisture, and those that settle in the mountains, steppes and even in the desert. By the way, you can see a whole grove of Russian birch trees in the garden.
The first glass greenhouse was built in the Botanical Garden specifically for the cultivation of the unique Victorian lily in 1868. The process of its flowering even made the front pages of the local newspapers!
The second large greenhouse, the House of Palms, was built in 1877.The greenhouse is notable not only for its extensive collection of Madagascan savannah plants, but also for its Victorian-style architecture.
In 1996, the Botanic Gardens opened the National Rose Test Garden, Australia's first garden to test roses for suitability for the Australian climate. The roses here, by the way, are amazing - noisette roses, bourbon roses, tea roses, rose hips and more.
In addition, in the Botanical Garden you can visit the Mediterranean garden of aquatic plants, admire blooming lotuses and learn about the history of plant growing in the local museum. Or simply sit on the lawn under a tree and relax, forgetting that you are in the centre of a bustling city. More than 1.5 million people visit the Adelaide Botanic Gardens each year. Admission is free.
The second botanical garden is located half an hour's drive from the centre of Adelaide on the eastern slope of Mount Lofty. The park first welcomed its first visitors in 1977, when 80 hectares were available to explore temperate plants. Today the garden is divided into seven valleys, in each of which certain groups of plants are grown. And these are representatives of almost all climatic zones of the world - magnolias, rhododendrons, camellias, roses, peonies, Australian ferns, exotic deciduous and coniferous trees. The highlight of the garden is the stunning view of the Adelaide Valley from 180 metres above sea level.
Finally, Wittunga's third botanical garden, opened to the public in 1975, features a collection of plants from Australia and South Africa. The South African specimens were collected in the Cape Province of South Africa, which has a very similar climate to Australia. The Australian plant collection is from the Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the territories of Western Australia.
