Brisbane is the Capital city of Queensland and one of the most populous cities of Australia. The city has many landmarks worth visiting. The City Botanic Gardens which was formerly known as the Brisbane Botanic Gardens is one such landmark. Brisbane Botanic Gardens is located on Gardens Point in the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) and is a prominent place to visit in Australia tour package. The Botanic Garden is bound by the Brisbane River, Queensland University of Technology’s Garden point campus, Alice Street, George Street and the Parliament House. There are multiple entry points to the Botanical Gardens; there is easy access to the Gardens from Alice Street, The Gardens Point, Eagle St Wharves and the Goodwill Bridge. One of the striking features of the Botanical Gardens is that the pathways are lit up at night. The Brisbane Botanical Gardens are open 24 hours.
The City Botanical Gardens of Brisbane is the most significant cultural landscape in Queensland. It has had a successive horticultural history since the nineteenth century; and there has never been a change in use or considerable loss of land area ever since its inception. The City Botanical Garden remains the premier public park and recreational facility for Brisbane a role that it has performed for a very long time. The Garden has on display many unusual and uncommon botanical species. The Garden features a precious collection of Palms, figs, bamboo and cycads
City Botanic garden and its history Brisbane
In 1828, a New South Wales Botanist named Charles Fraser had selected the site of the present Day City Botanical Gardens as a public Garden. The Garden was originally planted by convicts in 1825 to supply the prison colony with food, but three years later was declared a public garden. A portion of the land was set aside and declared to be a Botanic Reserve in 1855. The famous Walter Hill was the curator of the Botanic Reserve between 1855 and 1881. Walter Hill was experienced in the art of acclimatising plants and was responsible for planting some of the older trees in the gardens; some of which were the first of their species to be planted in Australia. After assessing the commercial value of the plants, Walter Hill introduced Hill introduced several species of plants and trees to the Gardens, such as pawpaw, mango, ginger, tamarind, mahogany, Poinciana, tobacco, sugar, grape vines, jacaranda trees, wheat, tea, coffee and some tropical fruits, some spices and some textile plants.
A significant historical fact about the city Botanical Gardens Brisbane that it was home to Harriet, a tortoise collected by Charles Darwin during his visit to Galapagos Islands in 1835. Harriet was donated to the Gardens in 1860 where it lived for close to a century.
Features of the City Botanical Gardens Brisbane
The Gardens host an outdoor entertainment venue called Riverstage. The venue occupies a 2 hectare site within the City Botanic Gardens. Riverstage has a capacity of close to 10000. For refreshments, tourists may visit the City Gardens Cafe which is basically the residence of J F Bailey, a former curator of the Gardens between 1905 and 1917. The Gardens also have a Cycle Hire Station at Albert Street Entrance. The Botanical Gardens are also famous for the Walter Hill fountain which was designed by Charles Tiffin.
Because of its close proximity to the river, the City Botanical Gardens Brisbane have been flooded nine times between 1870 and 2011. Because a number of plant species were washed away, the Brisbane City Council established a new Botanical Garden at Mount Coot-tha. Even so, the original City Botanical Gardens Brisbane is one of the most visited and cherished landmarks of the city of Brisbane.