Friends group working hard

THE unsung heroes of the Bendigo Botanic Gardens have been working tirelessly to help maintain the beautiful space in White Hills.

Working out of the Samuel Gadd Centre, the Friends weed, propagate plants, and have started holding guided tours through the gardens.

Volunteer Lindy Sloan said the group is excited to have launched a new online space.

“We’re very pleased with our brand-new website,” she said. “We hope it’ll be an informative way of promoting the work of the Friends and also the garden, which is why we’re there.”

Since the end of last year, the Friends have been selling plants at the Samuel Gadd Centre nursery, with all money raised going directly back to the botanic gardens.

“Sales are going really well, people love to come. They’re pretty much bargain prices and you’ll get a range of plants that are typically plants you may see in the gardens themselves,” Ms Sloan said.

The group sell a range of natives, exotics, succulents and indoor plants that are propagated from the Garden for the Future, as well as excess stock from the Conservatory in Rosalind Park.

Ms Sloan said autumn is a beautiful time of year to visit the botanic gardens.

“The canna lilies are perhaps getting close to the end of their display but they’re still looking good, they’re right out in the heritage gardens,” she said.

“It changes all the time, especially at the Garden for the Future, you’ll see some plants like salvias that are looking lovely because they’re more autumn flowering plants.

“As we go further into autumn, we’ll get the deciduous specimens that are starting to colour up the foliage and looking good.”

To check out the work being done, or to join the group, head to friendsbgobg.org.au.