Darwin Botanic Gardens

I went for a walk around the Darwin Botanic Gardens a couple of days ago, or should I say dripped my way around the gardens. They aren't what I'd expect of gardens, being used to NZ Botanic Gardens, full of flowering shrubs, beds of annuals and gardens from different countries.

The Darwin Botanic Gardens are, obviously, tropical and also plants that grow in the dry, so very different to any others I've seen.  I took lots and lots of photos, but will share just a few, since everyone isn't as plant mad as I am. I was really interested to read the aboriginal uses for many of the shrubs and trees.

 There were flowering plants, gingers of all shapes and sizes, bougainvillea and others I am not familiar with, such as this one to the right. There was also a white one - it isn't a bougainvillea as it doesn't have thorns or the right leaf.


There were gardens of cycads. I did not know there were so many different varieties of them, big and small.

And then there are the Baobab's - I love them. Their shape and uses. In Africa, there is a Baobab that is so big, it houses a jail cell!

I saw a Desert Rose for the first time. This one is reputed to be the largest and oldest in the Northern Territory. 

I walked up to a little waterfall, through the "rainforest" walk. It was a pleasant stroll and so very nice to have some shade. Running water is always very peaceful. 

Then there was a tree with very large spines on it. I can't remember what it was, but you certainly wouldn't want to brush up against it, or lean on it. 

I found the "cannonball tree" quite intriguing. The flower is lovely, so dainty and pretty, yet the fruit that forms from this flower is like a cannonball and apparently the pulp inside the fruit stinks like vomit! Thankfully none had split open for me to smell. 

 All around Darwin are fig trees that spread wide and put down aerial roots, that then grow down into the ground. These roots not only support the weight of the spreading tree, but supply nutrients and water to it. I can imagine children playing among the aerial roots, but then again, with spiders and snakes- maybe not.  This one is part of the top car-park at the gardens.

Frangipani flowers smell so nice and look so delicate. Some of the streets are lined with large white flowering ones, which look so fresh and clean. I found this solitary flower on the path and could still smell its strong but delicate scent. 

Apart from the heat and the gardens map that wasn't really that accurate, I enjoyed my two hour sojourn at the gardens and would happily go back and spend more time in areas I missed or didn't spend much time in.  

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