Weird and Wonderful
Weird and Wonderful is a garden full of hidden surprises. Vaulted Pyrenees Slate slabs adorn garden beds hiding unusual and rare plants. Visitors can discover plants that they will rarely see cultivated. The plants are selected based on weird and wonderful traits such as large flowers and fruit, unusual adaptation, strange foliage, unusual form. The stand-out Queensland Bottle Trees (Bracychiton rupestris) set the precedence for a garden like no other.
- Australian plants are diverse, unique, and many are found nowhere else in the world.
- The adaptation that many plants have developed to survive on this dry, isolated continent are extraordinary.
- There are many rare and threatened or endangered species on display throughout this garden.
Key Plants
Queensland Bottle Tree
Brachychiton rupestris
Read More
Weeping Mallee
Eucalyptus sepulcralis
Read More
Tangled Grevillea
Grevillea flexuosa
Read More
Dragon Heath
Richea dracophylla
Read More
Leafless Rock Wattle
Acacia aphylla
Read More
Rock Orchid
Dendrobium speciosum
Read More
Queensland Bottle Tree
<em>Brachychiton rupestris</em>
This succulent-like tree can grow 2m wide by 20m tall. It is semi deciduous and drought hardy. Aboriginals utilise its roots, bark and seeds.
Notes from the Curator
Bronwyn Swartz
Weird and Wonderful is as much about unusual and distinctive garden design as it is about unusual plants. Designed with the intention to create micro-habitats in which to showcase a wide range of our unique flora, distinctive plants are handpicked from every state to be displayed in the one garden. The unusual characteristics, forms, and fascinating adaptations of our flora on display include succulents, large fruits, unusual form and large flowers. The topography and rocks of this garden allow for delicate alpine species, drought-tolerant arid species, as well as rare plants from Queensland to be grown. Wetland species are included in the display, with two waterfalls adding to the immersive landscape experience.