Open Gardens, and Science

Firstly the launch of the 2009-2010 Australia's Open Garden Scheme at 'Yarrawa', in Burrawang, about an hour and a half south of Sydney. Dr Holly Kerr Forsyth spoke eruditely about the history of gardening, the beauty of Bruce Rosenberg's Yarrawa (a garden that features in Kerr Forsyth's most recent publication, Gardens of Eden: Among the World's Most Beautiful Gardens) and, simply, the 'need for gardeners to garden'.

The event was hosted, as always, and wonderfully, by the erasible Andrew Buchanan. The garden of Yarrawa was very pretty and beautifully designed. My pictures below show just some of the many helibores - after four days of trimming to remove dead leaves apparently - and the patch of restored Yarrawa Brush at the entrance to the property. The garden is only 15 years old. It began as a bare paddock with a few (magnificent and large) Brown Barrels (Eucalyptus fastigata).

For information on the Open Garden Scheme, and a copy of the 2009-2010 Guide click here. For a few pictures of Yarrawa, see here...

From Burrawang, to Woccanmagully (or Wogganmagule). Here, in what is also called the Royal Botanic Gardens, in Sydney, our science was 'open' for the day. Talks, tours, games, displays and Rotary BBQ'd sausages, as well as scientists at work - sorting seeds, examining plants under the microscope, preparing herbarium specimens and illustrating.

Here are a few pictures of the day... You can see Steve Paul and Kathy Pfleger (Community Greening), Lesley Elkan (Illustrating), Amelia Martyn (seed sorting) and Karen Wilson (looking at a spring wattle under the microscope).