In the past couple of years, I have been transforming my own garden with clumping bamboo. When my Mt Cootha Botanical Garden map signalled they had a bamboo collection I was eager to see. I had no idea that so many bamboos existed from so many different countries. Some were fine and bent when tall, others grew canes thicker than my thighs.
One which fascinated was Weavers Bamboo.
There were the bamboos used for construction purposes. One year when I was in Hong Kong, despite remembering seeing movies with all manner of engineering projects being built using bamboo cane for scaffolding, I was surprised to see a high rise apartment block totally enclosed by bamboo scaffolds. As a support structure, bamboo can be as strong as steel.
Furniture bamboo
The large diameter canes of dozens of varieties in this bamboo forest were attractive to vandals. Younger kids, on the other hand liked novelty.
After the riches of the Kitchen Garden I followed part of the Gardens Explorer Trail at Mt Cootha Botanical Garden.
This path took me past trees, some of which were magnificently huge, from different parts of Africa. I was attracted to three different types of the Bombacaceae family of plants in particular – the tree trunks and, in some varieties the branches as well, are studded with ferocious points which I imagine makes climbing by any critter or a human unpleasant at the least and downright body shredding at the worst. Who says plants aren’t smart!
On two occasions, including once on this African ‘safari’, I suddenly noticed the reasonably well camouflaged lizards/water dragons. Out sunning their cold bodies. Watching me watching them.
I continued on paths through plants from America, passing the edge of a large Bunya Forest, and upwards until I reached the Botanical Gardens Lookout.
The shelter was a welcome relief from a piercing sun. The shelter, with picnic tables for groups to sit and enjoy the view, was edged by bougainvillea displaying a medley of colours. Brisbane’s city centre could be seen in the distance through the trees.
The variety of vegetation at the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens is enormous. That combined with speciality areas such as a Japanese garden, a Bonsai house, a Hide ’n’ seek children’s trail, restaurant, art gallery, library, lakes and ponds and more make this a very attractive destination. Instead of leaving the car in the car park, some chose to drive some of the roads. Thankfully few chose that option. To my mind, seeing on foot is the preferable experience.
I approached the Kitchen Garden beside an orchard; the trees of which were separated by lawn. A mound of mulch surrounded each and exotic flowers decorated the edges.
The practice of including exotic florals, some of which were edible, continued through this garden adding vibrancy adjacent to the worlds of green coloured foliage.
This was an educational garden in the sense of current thinking about gardening. The garden plots were not those of a monoculture rather most included two or more types of plants, sometimes these were ‘companion’ plants and sometimes not. This diversity offers tried and true protection against pests and maintains a ground cover that resists weed growth. Two types of worm farms were on show.
A beehive for the native stingless Australian bee (Tetragonula carbonaria) sat happily amidst the vegetables and flowers.
The large compost bins were layered inside on top with cardboard.
Two different bamboo structure styles were in evidence.
Different mulches were used in different places. Gardens were trellised, in pots on the ground, in hanging pots, in raised corrugated iron beds, in ground beds- some were walled and some open to the footpath or lawn edge. In other words, if a person was about to start gardening they could use this Kitchen Garden as a reference for the options they had. An excellent educational tool.
But what about the plants. I loved seeing tomatoes which cannot grow in the open in Tasmania at this time of the year.
I realise that all Botanical Gardens face the problem of native animals coming for a feed and Mt Cootha’s was no different.
I did like a temporary solution in relation to young plants; the upturned pot trays under which curcurbits were germinating.
The kumara/ sweet potato arms were tangling into a healthy mass. I must try again to grow this wonderful vegetable.
Right now I am visiting Brisbane, the capital of Australia’s state, Queensland. Today I caught the 471 bus from opposite Central Station in central Brisbane, travelled through hilly suburbs twisting around impossible corners and felt the bus shudder as it strained up steep inclines at angles that threatened to topple. I marvelled at wonderful old Queenslander style houses and, once high enough, looked back to the glass walls of high rises of the city glinting in the sun. If you follow in my footsteps don’t worry whether you will know when you have arrived: the bus actually drives through the large carpark destination at the extensive Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens so everything is very clear.
Initially created in the 1970s the second stage of these large Botanical Gardens started in 1995 – a massive area with Australian plants surrounding a lake. The scale and location of the whole broad complex is spectacular.
Entrance signs and a few others help to orient your walks but signage is minimal and there are many pathways so I found keeping track of where I was required massive concentration. When I arrived, the entrance guide staff encouraged me and other visitors to photograph the layout design and refer to it on our phones – as a ‘green’ option to cut down on waste. Unfortunately when I blew up the size of the image on my phone and even wearing my reading glasses, I couldn’t read the small print and therefore understand the symbols. When I returned to the entrance and vented my frustration, I was directed to a pamphlet. Being able to refer to the paper map over time was very helpful.
During more than two hours I wandered around a small portion of the entire Gardens. Hundreds if not thousands of others were also visiting but swallowed up along pathways through different forests or plant landscapes. A place of discovery for kids and adults alike where I never competed for physical or visual space with others.
My interest in food motivated me to head to the Kitchen Garden first. Of course I compared the approach to that of my own garden and also to the Food Garden in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens – read my blog post tomorrow. I wandered beside the African Region Plants and then through the American Region Plants. Up a road I reached the Botanical Gardens Lookout (read my blog post in two days’ time) which was edged with dozens of varieties of flowering bougainvillea – and I was surprised to find under the airy cover of the lookout, three people playing a board game. Recently, elsewhere, I came across three women playing backgammon on a picnic table next to the beach. This seems to be a Queensland practice and one I applaud – how to take advantage of persistently good weather.
Finally I walked through an extensive bamboo grove. Blog post 4, in three days’ time, will show you more. After my recent weeks in concreted cities, immersing myself in the fresh oxygen being outgassed by the plants at these Botanical Gardens was a salve to my soul as well as a boon to my lungs. Read more about this wonderful place and see a selection of photographs in tomorrow’s blog post.
Mainland 'discoveries' 