Geelong Botanical Gardens is located in the East Park at the eastern end of the city's central business district. The garden was established in 1851 and is thus the fourth Australia's oldest botanical garden.
In 1850, the area of the present botanic garden was set aside as a place of public recreation, occupying almost the entire area of the present Eastern Park. Later, however, the garden itself was later fenced off by a fence from the grounds of the Park.
By the end of the 19th century, the botanical garden already housed a huge fern greenhouse, a 4.8 kilometre carriage road, an aviary for birds, a room for monkeys and a fish hatchery. In 1859 a winter garden and a greenhouse were built here. In 1885, a fern greenhouse was opened: it was 37 meters long, 18.5 meters wide and was located in the place where the George Hitchcock fountain stands today. A year later, a pond was added to the greenhouse, and a year later a third section - the total length of the greenhouse was 92 meters. But by 1920, the ferns had overgrown, and after the World War II the orangery was demolished as the wooden structure as the wooden structure began to deteriorate.
In 2002, the botanical garden underwent a major transformation, with the opening of the galleries for arid climate plants and Australian plants. At the entrance Australian baobabs were planted and the garden was decorated with sculptures. The plant collections were placed in different themed areas. For example, in the "Edible Garden" you can see plants that provide us with food. The pelargonium collection includes several types of these amazingly beautiful flowers. One of the most popular galleries in the garden is the rose collection, planted in 1995. The pride of the garden is the trees planted back in the mid-19th century - such as the Chilean wine raffia.
Today, Geelong Botanic Garden is listed as a Victorian heritage site.
