Gardens from Eden

🌿🌴 Adelaide Botanic Garden, a world of botanical wonders! 🌺🌵

Who knew you could travel from a tropical rainforest to the deserts of Madagascar without leaving Adelaide? 🌏✨

Established in 1857, the magnificent Adelaide Botanic Garden is a 50-hectare green oasis in the heart of South Australia’s capital, bursting with botanical treasures, fascinating history and spectacular architecture!

🌴 Wander beneath towering 160-year-old Moreton Bay figs (Ficus macrophylla), explore the lush Bicentennial Conservatory filled with tropical palms and rainforest plants, and discover beautiful tree ferns, staghorns and Begonias in the historic Simpson Shadehouse.

🌵 The Cactus and Succulent Garden showcases extraordinary drought-tolerant plants, while the stunning Victorian Palm House, dating from 1877, protects rare Madagascan species.

🌹 From colourful rose gardens and fragrant wisteria arbours to bonsai artistry, tranquil water features and the spectacular Amazon Waterlily Pavilion, there’s inspiration around every corner!

🏛️ Don’t miss the fascinating Museum of Economic Botany, opened in 1881, revealing how plants have shaped our everyday lives.

💚 A wonderful combination of horticulture, history, conservation and garden design.

📍 Adelaide Botanic Garden, South Australia 🇦🇺

🌿 Which would you explore first, the tropical rainforest, historic glasshouses or succulent gardens? Tell me below! 👇

📸 Save this for your next Adelaide adventure and share it with a fellow garden lover!

🌸 Secret Orchid Country… somewhere near Munglinup! 👀🌿

There are some Western Australian wildflower locations that are simply too special to put on a map, and this hidden patch of bushland near Munglinup on Western Australia’s south coast is one of them.

Every spring, during WA wildflower season, what at first looks like ordinary bush becomes an extraordinary botanical treasure hunt. Slow down, look carefully and suddenly the native orchids of Western Australia start appearing. 🔍🌸

We discovered brilliant Purple Enamel Orchids, golden Cowslip Orchids splashed with reddish markings, elegant Spider Orchids, quirky Donkey Orchids and beautiful Sun Orchids, along with tiny terrestrial orchids so well camouflaged that you can walk straight past them.

And it’s not just the orchids putting on a show. Brilliant scarlet Lechenaultia stands out against the surrounding vegetation, while vivid blue squills, delicate sundews and other spring wildflowers add splashes of colour throughout the bush. ❤️💙🌿

Finding them is half the fun. One minute you see nothing; the next, your eyes adjust and there are orchids seemingly everywhere. 💜💛❤️

For anyone interested in Australian native plants, botany, horticulture, orchid photography or wildflower photography, spring on Western Australia’s south coast is something very special.

It’s also a reminder to explore carefully, and stay on existing tracks where possible, tread lightly, never pick wildflowers and leave every orchid exactly where you found it.**

📍 Somewhere near Munglinup, Western Australia, and that’s as precise as I’m getting! 😉🤫

👉 Which would you rather discover, an Enamel, Spider or Sun Orchid?

💾 Save this for your next Western Australian wildflower adventure
🌿 Share it with an orchid or native plant lover
➕ Follow Colin Barlow | Landscape Designer for more gardens, plants, wildflowers and botanical adventures from Western Australia and around the world.