The Botanic Garden

THE BOTANIC GARDEN A Newsletter for the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand www.bganz.org.au

Issue 34 – NOVEMBER 2012 ISSN 1446-2044

THE BOTANIC GARDEN ISS 34 – NOVEMBER 2012

Editorial Committee Mr Alan Matchett Team Leader/Curator, Dunedin, New Zealand, and BGANZ Vice-President (New Zealand) Mr Mark Fountain Deputy Director Collections and Research, Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens Mr Dale Arvidsson Curator, Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens and BGANZ Vice-President (Australia) Managing Editor: Eamonn Flanagan Graphic Designer: Siobhan Duffy Disclaimer: Please note the views expressed in articles are not necessarily the views of BGANZ Council.

We aim to encourage a broad range of articles.

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CONTENTS President’s View BGANZ Membership news

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Botanic in Brief

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Profile BGANZ

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Annette Zealley, Director, Geelong Botanic Gardens

Reports from BGANZ Professional and Regional Groups

Cover photo: Sap and Fly. Photo credit: Raoul Slater.

Report from BGCI

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Botanic Gardens Conservation International | Suzanne Sharrock, Director of Global Programmes BGCI Mapping volunteer focusing on gardens around the globe | David Crossman, BGCI U.S.

Report from Friends of Botanic Gardens

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Mangroves, myalls and more at Port Augusta | Murray Fletcher, Orange Botanic Gardens, New South Wales

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Human Brochure Innovation at ANBG | Sabrina Sonntag, Australian National Botanic Gardens Innovative Auckland | Micheline Newton, Auckland Botanic Gardens Gardens in Focus Photography Competition | Cheryl Hill, Gardens in Focus Taking Botanic Gardens beyond their gates, Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens | Ben Davidson, Marcus Ragus, Jane Grosvenor & Mark Fountain Focus on Facebook - Wellington Botanic Gardens | David Sole, Wellington Botanic Gardens Social Media: a preliminary evaluation of American Public Gardens | Aubree Davis, American Public Gardens Association USA Case Study: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum | Interview by Aubree Davis with Judy Hohmann, APGA

Reports from Botanic Gardens

The theme of the November 2012 issue of The Botanic Garden will be ‘Education Programs by Botanic Gardens’. The deadline for contributions will be 20 February 2013.

Please contact the Secretariat if you are intending to submit an article.

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Professional Development Working Group | Paul Scannell BRON (Bganz Records Officers Network) | Tom Myers BGANZ Queensland Regional Group BGANZ Victoria Regional Group – Name change to BGANZ South East

Social Media Feedback and comments on the newsletter and articles is welcomed. Please email to: secretariat@bganz.org.au

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Anne Duncan, BGANZ President

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Kings Park Festival | Marcelle Broderick Kings Park WA: Visitor Services and Survey Results | Marcelle Broderick Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne | Katie O’Brien Friends of the Lismore Botanic Gardens to supply the Australian National Botanic Gardens with north coast NSW endemic rainforest seed | Toby Golson Growing people - The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens | Marcus Ragus Sale Botanic Gardens | Katherine Marshall, Wellington Shire Council

Regional Gardens: News in brief

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Calendar of Events

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President’s View Anne Duncan, BGANZ President I have just returned from the opening of Stage 2 of the Australian Garden at Cranbourne.

What an undertaking – over 20 years in the making, and a credit to a very large number of hardworking people! It certainly serves as inspiration for what is possible and a gentle reminder that some visions take time to come to fruition. Quite the reverse of the modern media cycle!

I must confess to being a social media “luddite” – I “don’t do Facebook or Twitter”.

However I do recognise that it’s something that all organizations need to think about and “keep up” with – particularly gardens, as it has become a key part of communication with communities and audiences.

Reportedly it will solve all our problems, or will it?

This newsletter addresses the common challenge that we all face – what to do about social media. We are interested in it from a BGANZ perspective too – should we be on Facebook and Twitter, and do we have the resources to manage it effectively?

We thought it would be useful for everyone to share experience through the newsletter – to hear about what other people are doing and whether it helps. When it comes down to it, it’s just another tool, that can be appropriate and effective, but it is not necessarily a panacea for all ills. And building in monitoring and regular evaluation would seem to be as essential as it would be for any other communication or marketing tool.

BGANZ President Anne Duncan and Manager of Horticulture, Cranbourne John Arnott celebrate Stage 2 opening of Australian Garden at Cranbourne

In terms of progress with BGANZ, it has been a busy year with regional events in NZ, Victoria, Qld and NSW, and more to come over the next few months.

This newsletter addresses the common challenge that we all face – what to do about social media.

And some of our working groups have also been very hard at work – the professional development group have drafted an action plan to guide our path as we try to build a sustainable professional development program for members; and the Botanical Records Officer Network have been working on a survey, which will be circulating shortly, and which will provide BGANZ with a broad understanding of where people are at with managing collections and records.

It will be very useful to BGANZ Council to understand what we should be doing to encourage, support and assist members with their collections and record keeping challenges in terms of, databases, other resources, professional development etc. So I would encourage all of you to please reply to the survey!

A big thanks to all members for their continuing hard work and a reminder that feedback to Council is always welcome. If you have a passion about something and would like to participate in BGANZ working groups (or even set one up!), please talk to us!

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BGANZ Membership news

Botanic in Brief

Eamonn Flanagan, Executive Officer

Call for 2015 BGANZ Congress Host

Career Vacancies on BGANZ website

If you’re a Botanic Garden or Council would you like to host the 2015 BGANZ Congress? Please email expression of interest to secretariat@bganz.org.au

Please note BGANZ welcomes all vacancies and will place adverts on the BGANZ website and in our member email updates. All adverts will incur a $100 fee.

Are you ready? Fascination of Plants Day 2013 18th May http://www.plantday12.eu/

BGANZ Victoria to change it’s name?

BGANZ South East is theproposed new name for former BGANZ group, BGANZ Victoria. BGANZ South East would cover Victoria, Tasmania and South Adelaide. This will allow for greater support and networking opportunities for all three states. Any thoughts? Please contact BGANZ Victoria

Website development BGANZ is currently in the process of upgrading its website. The new website is expected to launch in late November.

All BGANZ Institutional Members will be located on the map on our new website front page. You can check if your membership is current here

BGANZ Updates If you’d like to receive all updates and the Botanic Garden directly, please ensure we have your correct email address.

Everybody is welcome to join this initiative which runs on the 18th of May 2013. Why not join the World and organise a fascinating activity related to plants attracting and interacting with the public. May 18th will be the very Fascination of Plants Day and most events will be organised for this day. In addition, where this is not suitable, events will be organised throughout the week of 13-19 May 2013.

Plant name change draws visitors to Cambridge University Gardens Readers of the News were asked to think of an easier name for emmenopterys henryi, a 30-year-old Chinese tree that has just bloomed unexpectedly. 12 year old Peter Phillips called the tree the Man Yang tree. Peter said: “Man Yang was the favourite Chinese plant collector of Augustine Henry, who was my great, great uncle.”

Over 75% of visitors who came from all over the UK asked to see the “tree in the news”.

Is there a face in your tree? Tim the Yowie man reports that at the Australian National Botanic Gardens there is a prominently positioned brittle gum (Eucalyptus mannifera) named after forest scientist, botanist and

landscape architect Lyndsay Pryor. Apparently the gnarly brittle gum is home to many faces. Click to see the face Facebook promotion leads to dollars for Texan Botanic Garden. Houston Dentists at Greenspoint Dental Donate to Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens The donation was made at the end of a Facebook promotion for the Houston dental clinic. The dentists agreed to donate a dollar for every new like the practice’s page received during the month of September.

Penang Botanic Garden (Waterfall Gardens) Major changes await the Malaysian Botanic Garden. A new plan is under consideration to make Penang Botanic Gardens a major diversity centre, focusing on scientific research and the conservation of plants. It is also proposed that the Gardens be expanded to 242 hectares which would make it the biggest of its kind in Malaysia.

Malaysian trail at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens to increase tourism in Malaysia?

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen yesterday launched the Malaysian Trail at the Glass House of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens where 10 glass panels are showcasing almost 600 species of plants from Malaysia.

Sundial Stolen from Wollongong Botanic Gardens.

Wollongong mayor Gordon Bradbery is appealing for the return of a custom-made sundial stolen in a nighttime raid from the city’s botanic gardens. The Friends of Wollongong Botanic Gardens commissioned the metal, three-legged sundial in 1988, donating it to the city as a bicentennial gift.

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Wollongong Botanic Gardens curator Paul Tracey appealed for anyone with information on the theft of the sundial to contact Wollongong police.

Capturing Flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art being held at the Ballarat Art Gallery until 2 December, http://www.balgal.com/ This exhibition, coupled with a visit to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, is definitely not to be missed.

BGANZ / BGCI Congress October 20 – 25 October 2013 Dunedin Botanic Garden New Zealand Celebrating Success – the influence and appeal of botanic gardens A collaborative Congress to bring together expertise and experience from botanic gardens and partner organisations from both the BGANZ and BGCI networks. This will be a unique experience for all when this alignment of our own 6th Biennial Congress and BGCI’s 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress takes place in Dunedin.

Watch out for the Congress announcements and website updates of information and details about the programming call for papers posters and symposia coming your way shortly.

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‘Long Views & Short Vistas’ Victoria’s Nineteenth-Century Public Botanic Gardens Gwen Pascoe’s ‘Long Views & Short Vistas’: Victoria’s Nineteenth-Century Public Botanic Gardens explores the story of botanic gardens established in Melbourne and other Victorian towns in the second half of the nineteenth century. Modelled closely on the English urban public parks and gardens, they often fitted oddly into the colonial regional setting. It was the dedication of men such as Mueller and Guilfoyle, directors of Melbourne Botanic Gardens, and many others in charge of the regional gardens that shaped them.

Each chapter explores different facets of the gardens’ history and looks at reasons behind their establishment, their intended purpose, their geographical suitability, maintenance efforts, finance and how, over time, the public’s and government’s changing attitudes towards the gardens and their uses transformed them.

Ultimately, it asks the question of whether these gardens were botanic or public in nature, as a multitude of attempted uses created conflicting ideas about the purpose of these gardens, often leaving them with an ambiguous identity.

‘Long Views & Short Vistas’ by Gwen Pascoe •

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978 1 921875 82 3

Published in assocation with the State Library of Victoria.

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Profile BGANZ Annette Zealley, Director, Geelong Botanic Gardens In each Botanic Garden we focus on a BGANZ Member through a series of Q and A’s. If you know someone we should profile please let us know. . In this edition Botanic Garden profiles Annette Zealley, Director, Geelong Botanic Gardens.

In high school I did work experience in the local nursery and was inspired by my boss that my love for plants could become a career. I went to Burnley and my career developed through in the wholesale nursery industry and in various roles at the Dandenong Ranges Gardens.

The opportunity to work at the Geelong Botanic Gardens came up and I was keen to work in a regional garden. Geelong has the best of both worlds with heritage and contemporary landscapes.

What do you enjoy about your role as Director?

Working with a team of people passionate about plants and being able to share such a special garden with the community.

I like the complexity of the role and the challenge of turning a long-term strategic plan into reality.

Annette Zealley at the recent BGANZ Victoria meeting at Williamstown

Annette how did you first get involved in plant life and botanic gardens?

My family background is agricultural so it’s in my blood. Farming and production horticulture for a livelihood extended to home gardens growing vegies and flowers. My interest in plants and ‘growing things’ was nurtured and indulged by family and friends from young age – I always went home from visits with new plants. I still associate plants with people who are special to me and I am encouraging one of my nieces who has inherited the gene for growing plants.

I am fortunate to have the stewardship of guiding the development of the garden and surrounding arboretum (Eastern Park) into the future. We planted 402 trees in the arboretum this year and seeing these grow away with the spring rains makes me happy to think they will be there in 100 years’ time.

What is the biggest challenge facing Botanic Gardens?

Adapting to a quickly changing world and having relevance to the community. The speed of climate change and our ability to rethink and act to conserve the worlds’ flora at a local level.

We have a role to develop and share our knowledge of how our gardens can adapt our plant collections for the longer term climate through BGANZ and more locally in our communities.

In a world which is heavily focused on electronic media we need to adapt to new methods which engage new audiences who will care for and protect our flora into the future. The virtual world

can generate a global community which can argue for the many roles of plants which include climate change, wellbeing, and environmental restoration.

We already have diagnosed ‘nature deficit disorder’ in children and we have a role in righting this terrible wrong by engaging all generations in the natural world.

Can you tell us about someone you admire in sector and why?

I went to the BGCI congress in Dublin in 2010 and Seamus O’Brien was our guide on the post congress tour. Seamus is restoring the Kilmacurragh Botanic Garden- originally an 18th century country estate with an interesting plant collection. It needed significant restoration and I saw parallels to some of the estate gardens in the Dandenong Ranges and some regional botanic gardens– gardens which are ghosts of their former glory.

Seamus vision and passion for plants from temperate climates led him to developing a plant collection through collecting trips overseas and he has written a book about the early plant hunter Augustine Henry. His vision and commitment to putting the botanic back into Kilmacurragh is inspirational.

Do you have a favourite plant or special area at Geelong Botanic Garden?

I have many favourite plants based on associations with other places. I like the cork oak as it reminds me of plantations I saw in Spain, the Bunyas in Eastern Park which remind me of the lone ones you see in Queensland, the massive peppercorn in the staff car park as our neighbours growing up had two on their nature strip. I have no special area; I just like to see how the garden changes as plants go through their seasons and become noticeable revealing new vistas.

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Reports from BGANZ Professional and Regional Groups Professional Development Working Group Paul Scannell The Professional Development Working Group met on Tuesday 28th August to develop an Action Plan for professional development that will “build capacity in botanic gardens staff to ensure that the stewardship of botanic gardens is secured for the future”.

The Action Plan words are still being finalised, however, it will be made available to members for comment in the near future.

It identified the need to formalise the working group membership, roles and responsibilities, and also be supported by a reference group of experts, so there will be opportunities for people who might like to become involved. It is envisaged that once the Action Plan is finalised expressions of interest will be sought from people who might like to contribute, to give everybody the opportunity to put their hand up.

The main actions included in the plan are to: • continue to deliver series of workshops which support specialised expertise (such as the invasive species, and collections management workshops which were delivered in NSW, VIC and Qld this year); support the development of leadership skills; • facilitate the development of further expert groups which share information, expertise and undertake joint projects (similar to BRON and BGEN options include ones focussed on horticulture, arboriculture and/or science); • and develop an education pathway for botanic gardens which provides for technical to tertiary education.

Many thanks to RBG Melbourne (particularly to Peter Symes) for hosting the meeting and all who came.

BRON (Bganz Records Officers Network) Tom Myers Work towards a records toolkit for regional botanic gardens is continuing. A survey is being prepared to establish interest in developing a database for regional gardens.

The BRON website is being considered for a possible move toward being hosted on the BGANZ website, rather than on Google as is at present.

This period has seen Sarah White leave the network for work in Adelaide. Sarah helped to establish the network, in particular the website and email group, which she set up and managed. Her work is greatly appreciated and will be missed.

BGANZ Queensland Regional Group BGANZQ Conference 51 delegates from around Australia met at the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens stunning new Arts and Ecology Centre from September 6-8.

Conference presentations included: • Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens - Harnessing the passion of our community • Green Art Strategy – opportunities to link with the wider community and then link our gardens to Council-wide outcomes – not competing with them.

• Guides Workshop – sharing ideas and common ground, encouraging and providing direction, supporting smaller gardens with training and ideas

Maroochy welcomes BGANZQ. Photo credit: John Sandham, Adelaide Botanic Gardens

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• Tree databases – an essential tool we all need to manage our assets

Helen Paulsen from Gladstone Regional Council, Tony Roberts from Cairns Botanic Gardens and Peter Nagel from Sunshine Coast Regional Council also have joined the executive to help broaden discussion and ideas.

• Collection records databases – at the heart of our gardens – survey forthcoming • Herbariums – processes and linking opportunities

The next BGANZQ conference has been booked to be held at the Cairns Botanic Gardens stunning new Visitors Centre – in 2014.

• Visual tree assessments – not every tree is a risk!

Maintaining habitats • Volunteer opportunities volunteer assistance

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wider

opportunities

for

• Plant Collections Toolkit workshop – vital to all our gardens for essential community and staff education.

• Smart Gardener – how, to whom and when can we deliver this program?

• Role of signage – freely sharing our experiences, Maroochy tabled their strategy • Biomimicry – opportunities to rethink our processes and our community linkages/importance • Richmond Birdwing Butterfly project – flagship projects can help focus public interest and gain great outcomes • Ecology of stingless bees – it’s not just our plants that are important • Fungi in the Ecosystem – understanding what’s happening below the surface and positive educational opportunities.

Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens Sustainable building.

Photo credit: John Sandham, Adelaide Botanic Gardens

• Cook & Banks 250th Anniversary in 2020 • BGANZQ & DEEDI, DPI&F relationships • Myrtle Rust: coordinated research opportunity through BG’s of Queensland to Biosecurity Qld

Membership increased Of special note is that Queensland membership of BGANZ has grown from 7 at the previous Gladstone conference to 19 at Maroochy. Congratulations to the staff and Friends of Maroochy Bushlands Botanic Gardens for hosting a successful conference.

The BGANZQ AGM covered the following topics: • BGANZQ Newsletter - Frequency & viability • BGANZQ Queensland Botanic Trail Brochure – update of progress • Promotion and Marketing • International Horticultural Congress 2014 – opportunities

Executive elections BGANZQ Chair – Kate Heffernan re-elected BGANZQ Secretary – Lawrie Smith re-elected BGANZQ BGANZ Council Representative – Dale Arvidsson re-elected

Networking at BGANZQ Conferencing.

Photo credit: John Sandham, Adelaide Botanic Gardens

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Report from BGCI BGANZ Victoria Regional Group – Name change to BGANZ South East Regional gardens are going from strength to strength! Victorian gardens are being celebrated with the opening of The Australian Garden, Cranbourne Stage 2 unveiled and a new master plan for the Colac Botanic Garden signed off.

The BGANZ VIC Plant Collections Toolkit workshop was run by a team of ‘southerners’ and Queenslanders, inspiring the development and review of collections plans. A collection plan is being developed for the emerging Australian Botanic Garden Shepparton which bodes well for its future. We are also wondering how other Victorian gardens are progressing with their plans and would love to hear from you.

Many Victorian botanic gardens are around 150 years old but these historic ages are gazumped by the age of some of the wonderful illustrations in the Capturing Flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art being held at the Ballarat Art Gallery until 2 December, http://www.balgal.com/. This exhibition, coupled with a visit to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, is definitely not to be missed.

We are beginning to plan our program for the next two years which we hope will encompass opportunities ‘interstate’ as we morph into BGANZ SE. We have recognised the proximity with our southern neighbours and are formally including gardens and arboreta from South Australia and Tasmania in the regional group.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Suzanne Sharrock, Director of Global Programmes BGCI

News from BGCI

Database developments

As we approach the end of 2012, BGCI continues to have a busy schedule of activities. As we hope you are all aware, we have recently been consulting botanic gardens on a number of issues.

BGCI recently launched the Garden Search ‘Advanced Search’ facility. This additional search functionality provides unique online access to data on more than 3,000 botanical institutions worldwide and demonstrates the collective conservation and research resources available within the global botanic garden community.

These include a survey on Access and Benefit Sharing, a final consultation on the updated International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation and the role of botanic gardens in promoting the International Decade on Biodiversity. If you are interested in any of these topics and have not participated in our surveys, please let us know (info@bgci.org).

The MSBP-BGCI Fieldwork Fund Call for applications 2012 The MSBP-BGCI Fieldwork Fund enables plant conservation organisations to undertake fieldwork to produce high quality conservation seed collections. The fieldwork, and the resulting collections, complements on-going plant conservation activities on the target species or habitats. Botanical institutions are invited to submit applications to the Fund by 30 November 2012. More details are available on the BGCI website (www.bgci.org)

As a result of this we are receiving an increasing number of requests for information from our databases. In order to ensure we can accurately represent and highlight the tremendous work being done by the global botanic garden community, it is important that our databases are kept up-to-date. We would be grateful if you could check your Garden Search record regularly and update as necessary. Please let us know if you need help with updating your record.

GSPC toolkit BGCI has recently launched the multi-lingual version of the toolkit for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). The toolkit (www.plant2020.net) is now available in all six United Nations languages. The toolkit provides access to a wide range of tools and resources to support plant conservation activities.

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Please do take a look and let us know what you think.

We are always looking for new and additional resources to add to the toolkit. If you have any suggestions, please let us know via the ‘feedback form’ on the website.

New publications In July BGCI published the latest issue of BGjournal.

This was focused on ‘Botanic Gardens and Wild Flora for Rural Livelihoods’ and built on a study carried out

by BGCI on this topic in 4 countries (Brazil, China, India and Mexico) earlier this year. A full report on the study can be downloaded from the BGCI website: http://www.bgci.org/ourwork/livelihoods/.

BGCI has also recently published a new brochure on the GSPC, providing the full text of the Strategy, as well as the technical rationales for the 16 targets. This is available in English, French and Spanish and copies will be distributed to all BGCI members later this year.

We are also planning to print the updated International Agenda and publish a new manual on tree restoration “Integrated conservation of tree species by botanic gardens: a reference manual” before the end of the year.

Education BGCI’s education team is helping to coordinate an EU-funded project called ‘INQUIRE’ which aims to reinvigorate inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in formal and informal education systems (specifically Learning Outside the Classroom sites) throughout Europe.

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Run by botanic gardens in 11 countries, INQUIRE teacher training courses are demonstrating how IBSE can inspire students in science and help address biodiversity and climate change. A multi-lingual website where you can find out more about the project is available here: http://www.inquirebotany.org.

Mapping volunteer focusing on gardens around the globe David Crossman, BGCI U.S.

The education team is also busy with last minute preparations for the upcoming 8th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens, which will be held in Mexico from 12-16 November.

We hope to see some of you there. You can find out more about the congress on the website: http://www.educationcongressmex.unam.mx/index. php/en/

Jobs/Opportunities/Events BGCI is happy to advertise your jobs, opportunities and upcoming events on our website. Please visit the ‘Join in’ section of our website to find out more.

Follow BGCI on Twitter You can now keep up-to-date with the latest news from BGCI by following us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bgci

BGANZ would like to thank BGCI US Mapping Volunteer David Crossman for his recent work which will feature in the new BGANZ website.

BGANZ would like to thank David for his work on mapping Gardens around the world.

David mapped all our Australian and New Zealand Gardens. This was very timely as we have been able to use David’s work immediately in our new Garden locator map which will be on our new website currently under preparation.

David Crossman is a BGCI U.S. mapping volunteer focusing on gardens around the globe Dave retired a couple of years ago from a career (cycling to work) where he wrote software of various kinds, in recent years oriented around information services on the Internet.

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Report from Friends of Botanic Gardens David has specifically compiled latitude and longitude data for over 1,000 gardens in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States (1/3 of the known gardens in the world).

A part of his job for which Dave had particular fondness was producing interactive maps and graphs, reflecting a life‑long love for the maps of many kinds that existed before the digital age (and now those that come to us on computers and mobile devices).

While a volunteer at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, and searching for botanical resources available on the web, he came across BGCI’s online maps of botanical gardens. Dave’s mapping, botanical interests, and experience working in the web space made it natural for him to guide the improvement of garden locations on BGCI’s maps.

A volunteer for the BGCI U.S. office since early 2011, Dave has focused his efforts on improving and expanding the geographic data recorded for gardens listed in BGCIÃ GardenSearch database (www.bgci.org/garden_search.php).

He has specifically compiled latitude and longitude data for over 1,000 gardens in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States (1/3 of the known gardens in the world). He has boosted the accuracy and breadth of BGCIÃ geographic data tremendously, and BGCI is extremely grateful for his commitment! Dave plans to continue his mapping efforts for additional countries in Europe and Asia in the near future.

Mangroves, myalls and more at Port Augusta Murray Fletcher, Orange Botanic Gardens, New South Wales The Australian Arid Lands Botanic Gardens in Port Augusta has been on my list of places to visit for a long time, so when the Association of Friends of Botanic Gardens Conference came to AALBG, I had to be there. Clearly I wasn’t the only one to feel the attraction of this venue because the organisers had to move the conference to the Port Augusta Golf Club because 145 delegates were too many for the function room at the gardens.

The conference, which was titled ‘Mangroves, Myalls and More’ was held over the weekend of 18 and 19 August and started with a welcome reception on Friday night at the Wadlata Outback Centre in town followed by a full day of speakers on Saturday.

The excellent speakers covered a range of topics relevant to arid zone Australia.

The keynote speaker, Prof. Chris Daniels of the University of South Australia, analysed the role of backyards in conserving biodiversity. We then broke for morning tea, our first experience of the excellent food provided by the Golf Club women.

Chris was followed by Jeff Reid who is coordinator of COOTS, the conservation group within the Australian Plants Society SA. Jeff spoke on the mangrove zone explaining the biology of the grey mangrove and reviewing the many other plants which share this intertidal zone.

Dr Carolyn Ireland introduced us to her favourite plant, the western Myall, Acacia papyrocarpa Benth., which is the emblem of AALBG. She detailed a number of recent research projects addressing the decline of the species in South Australia and how this is being addressed. Dr Peter Hayman is a principal scientist

in climate applications at the Waite Institute and gave a most entertaining presentation on Goyder’s Line.

George Goyder was Surveyor-General of South Australia in 1865 and drew a line on the map based on soil types, climate and vegetation data to delineate the upper limit of reliable rainfall for the grain belt in the state. Goyder was well ahead of his time in sound resource planning in drought prone climates and Peter detailed how his line is currently being re-assessed in light of predicted climate change.

After a delicious lunch Dr Nita Lester of Griffith University and Queensland Government Botanist spoke on the interdependencies of plants, birds and insects in the Brigalow belt of SE Queensland. Dr Dean Nicholle of the Currency Creek Arboretum described himself as a genuine gum nut.

His interesting presentation demonstrated his enthusiasm for eucalypts from the deserts of Australia.

He appears to have visited every remote part of the continent to source seed to bring some extraordinary species into cultivation.

His arboretum currently has 800 species growing. Prof. Don Bursill AM is South Australia’s chief scientist and gave us all a different and entertaining perspective on the Murray Darling Basin, particularly on the challenges facing South Australia.

Saturday night was a wonderful dinner at the Golf Club—the quandong crumble was a revelation—with fresh posies of Sturt’s Desert Pea decorating the tables and place mats made from Peter Hay’s photos of the AALBG, paid for by Pt Augusta Council.

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Social Media The after dinner speaker was Dr John Read who has published widely on the ecology of arid zone South Australia and his topic was ‘More than just pretty plants’. He gave a very sobering warning about the spread and dangers of buffel grass which is now appearing on the AALBG. Sunday started early with a bird walk at AALBG from 7 am followed by breakfast and guided walks around the gardens.

Despite the early start, 105 of the 145 delegates arrived at 7 am ready to go birding. The two speakers on Sunday were both passionate about their topics. Peter Langdon is the AALBG bird man and a noted bird artist. Having led the bird walk (along with some helpers).

Peter spoke on 25 years of birding in the AALBG. He was followed by Valmai Hankel PSM who is an Australian historian who worked at the State Library of South Australia for over 43 years. Her fascinating presentation looked at some 19th Century explorers of South Australia between 1839 and 1859, including John Ainsworth Horrocks who has the rare distinction of being the only person to have been shot by his own camel.

The Annual General Meeting was held after lunch and was followed by brief presentations from friends groups from Sale, Melton (creekers, lakers and gum nuts), Maroochydore and Geelong. It was announced that the next AFBG conference will be hosted by the Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens in 2014.

Although you probably think of the Gold Coast in terms of high rise development and schoolies week, inland from the developed zone there are some amazing natural areas on which the conference will focus. The friends group there has more than 400 members with 60–70 active volunteers so it should be another great meeting.

Human Brochure Innovation at ANBG Sabrina Sonntag,Web, Social Media and Interpretation, Australian National Botanic Gardens The Australian National Botanic Gardens joined the social media scene in early 2010, setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a Flickr site.

The Gardens had several reasons for deciding to commit resources to engaging in social media.

Initially we saw social media as a way to make the Gardens more accessible and relevant to a broader national and international audience and demographic. Social media is proving to be a way to grow the Gardens’ online presence not only to communicate our key messages, but also to facilitate dialogue about plants and botanic gardens in a global community.

Over time we hope to engage that community more deeply in long-term relationship and dialogue around the scientific, botanical and social aspects of the Gardens. While the web is an established tool for one-way sharing of information, social media allows the Gardens to establish a two-way conversation with virtual visitors, allowing visitors to also share their thoughts and provide feedback to the Gardens.

The Human Brochure campaign is bringing 500 social media savvy people from around Australia to experience the Gardens as part of a broader Canberra experience. We look forward to seeing the outcomes It is no surprise that our Facebook page attracts a wide range of virtual visitors, but we didn’t necessarily expect the current statistics. Thirty per cent of our followers live overseas; a third in interstate Australia and a third are locals from the Australian Capital Territory. Also, along with similar trends in general social media use, over half of our followers are in the 25 – 44 year age group.

One of the benefits of social media is the ability to monitor who is engaging with us, their interests and what they are saying to and about us on an immediate level. Our strategy for content development has been to post on a range of subjects including beautiful images of plants within the Gardens, horticulture in the Gardens, conservation, and recreation.

As we have been building our online community, some of our initial objectives are becoming a reality.

It is also not surprising that beautiful colourful photos are what virtual visitors are ‘liking’ and sharing most.

We have been the most consistently active with Facebook, with an automatic post to Twitter set up for all Facebook posts, supplemented by occasional extra Twitter posts and responses to Twitter followers.

We are still experimenting with what content works to encourage greater interaction with us and each other around our goals of valuing and conserving Australia’s natural and cultural heritage, and the conservation of Australian plants.

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Our social media plan identifies activities and events with relevant delivery timing, but much of our social activity has been opportunistic and ad hoc.

Part of our currently unwritten promotion strategy to build our community has been to leverage off the activities of others. We do this by regularly posting, liking and commenting on threads on related social media pages and accounts.

Motivated by our participation in a local tourism social media campaign, the Human Brochure, we are expanding our presence to include social media platforms Foursquare, Trip Advisor and Pinterest.

The Human Brochure campaign is bringing 500 social media savvy people from around Australia to experience the Gardens as part of a broader Canberra experience. We look forward to seeing the outcomes.

Last summer we ran a Facebook campaign encouraging visitors to our annual summer concert series to post a picture of their concert picnic spread onto Facebook for a chance to win a meal for two at the Gardens’ cafe. We had some great interaction, and boosted our fan base significantly during that time.

Our biggest challenge is making sure we set aside the time among competing priorities to keep a constant and current presence on each platform we engage with, and be actively responsive to comments and questions. We currently aim to have at least three posts a week on Facebook and are investigating a bigger campaign during the Canberra Centenary in 2013.

We are continuing to experiment with several platforms to see which gives us the best return on our efforts.

As our social media success and communities grow, social media is becoming a more important part of our overall communication strategy.

So if you aren’t there already, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, check in on Foursquare and join our conversation.

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Innovative Auckland Micheline Newton,Visitors Services Manager, Auckland Botanic Gardens Facebook and Twitter have introduced a new world of communication for the Auckland Botanic Gardens.

Presentations made at the BGANZ Congress in Albury initiated many a discussion around the value of digital technology and social media and whether there were better things to be doing. Prior to this many previously saw social media as a form of mindless entertainment and couldn’t see how it could add value to our business/service.

Since the Congress we have been exploring the use of digital technology and looking at other gardens and businesses using social media to convey their messages.

What is apparent is a human element has been introduced to all digital life.

As a venue that wishes to engage the Auckland community and beyond, social media provides us with a platform for conversation and information sharing. It not only offers an opportunity to raise the profile of the Gardens but allows us to talk with our visitors and gain insight to their needs and the things they care about.

There are many channels of social media, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, Linkedin, blogs, websites that allow comment and Wikis (e.g. Wikipedia) to name a few. So how did we start and what is our experience to date?

Through encouragement from regular users within Auckland City Council we started out using Twitter,

posting messages that were both promotional and informative about what we did at the Gardens.

Challenged by both the language and behaviour we soon realised it was a mechanism to broadcasting news while hoping the recipients would share it. The skill here is in communicating something meaningful in the confined space of 140 characters. With millions of active users there is the potential to hit on a story line that is taken up by the socially connected and initiating conversation about what matters to them.

Siobhan breakout text if required: We now realise the value of what we thought was an entertainment space and understand better how we can use it in a fun way to tell our stories and gain support and interest in what we do.

However, having only received retweets from our Council colleagues we lost momentum and in a forum requires ongoing conversation we are still to find how Twitter can really benefit us. In the meantime a new staff member with the energy necessary to maintain posts and monitor feeds is continuing our journey of discovery identifying types of messaging that gains followers or encourages useful discussion.

Our use of Facebook came about when it was brought to our attention that a dormant Facebook page with our name and some basic details had received 60,000 visitors over the 2011/12 summer period during the sculpture exhibition at the Gardens. We suddenly saw a

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medium that public were keen to follow us on so set up a business page.

Presently sites in Australia, New Zealand and USA have signed up and can be viewed on the mobile application.

In a world where time is precious we must ensure our messages are succinct and of value.

We discussed and agreed on some objectives we wanted to achieve; build the brand, highlight experiences visitors could enjoy at the Gardens (plants, education, recreation and conservation), connecting people and plants, best plants to grow in Auckland and environmental responsibility. A dedicated staff member develops the posts and is committed to delivering these daily or at least every other day. All posts generally include a picture accompanied by a key message.

We have only posted our location details and feature information but will be trialing the tour application. Other gardens such as Adelaide and Christchurch Botanic Gardens have already placed tours on the application and have been helpful in giving us their feedback on its use. The sharing of such experiences is invaluable.

Within the garden we see video technology enhancing the experience for those that wish to delve deeper. Growing smart phones and digital tablet use will increase our potential reach.

It also means we don’t have to provide a lot of equipment for visitors to hire and for staff to maintain. We also plan to provide access to the technology in the interactive space in our visitor centre. However this must compliment all other engagement activities in the garden.

To date Facebook has provided us with a much more positive experience than Twitter. It has enabled us to extend the relationship we have with our visitors and we see them as ambassadors who encourage others to visit the garden even if they can’t themselves.

Realising the value of what we thought was entertainment space we know understand how we can use it in a fun way to tell our stories and gain support and interest in what we do. Our gardening staff also understand its value assisting in providing us with story ideas from displaying beautiful and interesting plants to everyday gardening, education and conservation messages.

We also wish to use video and audio to tell our stories and use You Tube and QR code technology to deliver the communications via computer, smart phone and digital tablets such as Ipads. We have seen how other gardens or gardening sites are gaining followers. We believe that in the absence of good gardening TV programmes we can use video to give clear and concise visual messages of how to garden and interesting stories about our collections and plants.

Behavioural statistics tell us that people are searching for short clips that answer specific queries or provide stories that stimulate interest.

The increasing use of social media to connect people means we need to integrate it in our overall marketing and communication plans. Although a free medium there is a cost in resourcing which also needs to be factored into work planning and decision making on how we engage our visitors.

So far we have experimented with the use of social media and we are now at a point where we need to write some clear guidelines for use that are in line with our council policy and own garden objectives.

Recent advice has reaffirmed how asking questions, competitions and polls can stimulate further engagement. We see an opportunity to gain real time feedback from public and an understanding of what they want to know. It also allows us to share our passion. This summer we plan to trial some of these tactics and see what value they add to the experience.

Recently we have entered our Garden information on to the free myParx mobile application. A Parks Forum initiative with Two Bulls the application is a database of Parks and Gardens to visit.

Our social media journey is one of trial and error. We recognize the need to maintain brand integrity and align our messages to our overall objectives. Using the various communication tools extend the garden experience and promotes visitor interaction.

Our key Facebook editor has created a style guide in response to posts made that will support the brand and behavioural guidelines. Administration needs to be spread across a few staff to enable us to maintain the ability to post effective messages and a strategy put in place to achieve this.

Children enjoying the jungle area in the Potter Children’s Garden.

We hope to build our followers/supporters encouraging conversation and engagement with visitors and partners of

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influence. Now more confident we will promote our involvement in social media through visual identifiers on brochures, website and other collateral.

We welcome feedback and wisdom from any other gardens in BGANZ that are using social media and hope to hear further stories of how it is adding value to the garden experience.

If anyone wishes to speak to us please send an email to botanic.gardens@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or make the connection with us on Facebook!

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Gardens in Focus Photography Competition Cheryl Hill, Gardens in Focus Gardens in Focus (GIF), a photography competition, uses photographic images as a tool to promote the enjoyment of botanic gardens worldwide. The photography competition is open now, until 10 December 2012 for entries.

Photographers can share in $10,000 cash prizes, with the 1st Place winner also having their image displayed with the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year competition in the UK.

Conceived by the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney as a way of promoting the value of botanic gardens worldwide, GIF also supports the work of the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust in Sydney, and has rapidly developed a sound reputation for presenting quality botanic garden photography. After just three years, this Sydney-based competition has grown and is rapidly gaining a profile alongside a number of respected international photography competitions.

“As a volunteer organisation we needed to be innovative in developing methods of notifying people about the competition and attracting entries,” says GIF curator, Pam Milthorpe. “It’s important that we broadcast our message to interested people with minimal financial outlay, allowing more of our funds to be directed towards our goal.”

As at 30 September, a huge 81% of photographers who registered to enter the competition attribute their awareness of Gardens in Focus to social media or email. In addition, the second highest number of visitors to the GIF website can be traced from GIF’s Facebook presence

Threatened Native Species Garden, Auckland.

Sap and Fly 1st Place 2011. Photo credit: Raoul Slater

Gardens in Focus turned to social networking to connect with their growing community of garden photographers world-wide. “We’ve been part of the Facebook and Twitter communities for a just little over 12 months,” continues

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Pam. “It’s been a speedy, but satisfying ride. During this time, we have seen a rapid increase in the number of followers, to the extent that we can now credit our social network presence with generating the greatest proportion of our community awareness.”

The numbers clearly support this. Competition 3 opened for entries on 1 June 2012. As at 30 September, a huge 81% of photographers who registered to enter the competition attribute their awareness of Gardens in Focus to social media or email.

In addition, the second highest number of visitors to the GIF website can be traced from GIF’s Facebook presence. That’s an incredibly satisfying result in just 12 months!

Gardens in Focus connects with botanic gardens, both in Australia and New Zealand, and internationally. Distance is no barrier. With the support of the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, the GIF volunteer team is very aware of the challenges faced by botanic gardens worldwide in maintaining their special places.

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One very important aspect of GIF is the promotion of botanic gardens as valuable places not just for their beauty but for their important conservation, education and community programs.

By linking with botanic gardens on Facebook, GIF is able to share news of these gardens with their followers.

However, one of the greatest benefits of social media is that it has allowed GIF to establish a personal connection with botanic gardens and photographers all over the world. GIF IT Manager, Cheryl Hill agrees, “Social networking is designed to be interactive and we use this two-way communication to really connect with our followers.

We make it a priority to comment on posts by our friends, share their news and celebrate their successes; a sort of ‘word-ofmouth’ in the digital age. Our friends are encouraged to upload their own photos to our page. We provide a way for them to exhibit their work, as well as showcase a botanic garden in any country around the world.”

In addition to displaying beautiful botanic garden photographs, the Facebook page is used to offer valuable information and photography tips. “We post examples of the style of photographs the judges are looking for in the competition, and link to useful photography pages and websites,” Cheryl says. “We provide our community with links to tutorials and articles related to garden photography. Our page is very graphic, in line with our field, and we maintain interest by offering variety without diverging too far from our topic.”

Maple in Fall - 2nd 2011. Photo credit: Beth Buglione

Social media, particularly Facebook, has helped GIF dramatically increase its customer base and expand engagement within botanic garden and photographic communities. It has raised awareness of the competition beyond Australia’s shores and has become a vital component of the competition’s communication.

Miss Dragonfly – 3rd 2011. Photo credit: Tibor Suhajada

The Gardens in Focus photography competition is open now, until 10 December 2012 for entries. Entrants can share in $10,000 cash prizes, with the 1st Place winner also having their image displayed with the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year competition in the UK. Gardens in Focus website: http://gardensinfocus.com.au Gardens in Focus Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ gardensinfocus Gardens in Focus Twitter: http://twitter.com/GardensInFocus Gardens in Focus Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ gardensinfocus/

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Taking Botanic Gardens beyond their gates, Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens Ben Davidson, Marcus Ragus, Jane Grosvenor and Mark Fountain Social media allows Botanic Gardens to engage with the community on a level that builds and maintains long-term interaction and understanding even when our audience is not physically onsite. Used effectively this new medium provides an excellent opportunity for Gardens to influence perceptions of our special values well beyond the Garden gates.

Like any form of communication, this medium should be approached strategically. In planning a social media strategy the RTBG focused on consistent delivery and messages that reflect the values we want to communicate.

We considered what each social networking site offered and how this could be utilised effectively to achieve the goals of the RTBG. As a result of this the RTBG are currently using Facebook, Flickr, QR codes and Apps.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/ Royal-Tasmanian-Botanical-Gardens-RTBG/97475811108 We use Facebook to encourage community interaction based around the RTBG. This is more than a two-way interaction as users regularly communicate with each other on our site and not directly with the RTBG. Our Facebook site plays an important role as our social interface with more than 10,000 users visiting the site on a weekly basis.

From Flickr, Autumn. Photo credit: RTBG

The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG) utilises web based resources to allow us to communicate our work and our values beyond our physical boundaries and expand our connection to the Tasmanian and Global community.

Our Facebook site plays an important role as our social interface with more than 10,000 users visiting the site on a weekly basis.

This medium allows us to immediately communicate some of the vital projects carried out at the RTBG like the work of the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre, our conservation programs, community classes and cultural events as well as providing an opportunity to link to Flickr adding a further visual layer to our work.

We are able to engage with our existing community of regular visitors while also communicating with people who are not regular visitors. Interestingly 44% of our followers are from outside Greater Hobart, 24% are from outside Tasmania,

including 12.6% who follow the RTBG from outside Australia.

In the current financial environment, these are audiences we could simply not reach via traditional communication channels.

Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtbg/ Flickr is an image and Video hosting website and online community platform. Its popularity has been fuelled by its organisational tools, which allow photos to be tagged, searched and browsed.

The RTBG joined Flickr in June 2008 using it, initially, as a way to store and manage our growing digital image files. We soon realised that it had the potential to be much more. We decided to establish two sites. rtbgflickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/ rtbg/ a site where the images are uploaded and managed entirely

by RTBG staff and Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens http://www.flickr.com/groups/rtbg/ - a group site or pool administered by us, where members of the public can upload and share their images of the RTBG. rtbgflickr reflects the RTBG’s organisational ‘personality’ (or ‘brand’ if you like). We’ve loosely organised our images into Collections. The Collections broadly mirror our major areas of focus and include: • The Gardens, a collection of images about the Gardens, mostly about the Gardens living collections covering aspects such as seasonality, individual plants and special displays; • Conservation and Science, focussing on our work ‘behind the scenes’ and including sets of images on seed tests, field trips, research programs and data;

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• Events, images of events in the Gardens; • History and Heritage, contains sets of digitised archival images, some from the Gardens very earliest days, and • Other Gardens, images from visits to other gardens, an opportunity to connect with other Gardens and introduce them to our staff and visitors. rtbgflickr has grown, and has become much more than the image storage site we originally planned. Through our site we are now connected to the Web with our images being viewed at an ever increasing daily rate. There have been over 63,609 views since the site launched. We constantly share our images with our colleagues, scientists, our visitors and our community.

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The initial pilot walk set up in early October for the Spring Festival is a discovery hunt amongst the southern conifers and associated plants. QR tags provide visitors the opportunity to use web enabled phones or smart devices to discover more about the plants of the dinosaurs. Using a free QR reader app visitors scan the code and their device then converts the tag information into a preset action such as accessing a web page, video or audio file.

The files can be used in situ or saved and used later even after leaving the site, allowing visitors to take a little piece of the Gardens home with them.

The app, developed by 12-year-old techno whizz and Gardens enthusiast Sebastian O’Halloran, provides information about attractions, upcoming events and maps including disability access

From rtbgflickr, Theatre in the Gardens.

QR codes The RTBG is continuing its work with QR barcodes and creative interpretive projects. Plant Hunter, funded by the Inspiring Australia science grants, is a project currently using QR tagging to create interpretive trails at the Gardens.

The project has much more planned with an interactive website, discovery trails, live in the field discussions with ‘Plant Hunters’ and more; including many more permanent QR trails. In the meantime Plant Hunter progress can be followed on the Plant Hunter Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ planthuntertreasurehunter where you can even scan some of the codes that we used in trials!

The RTBG iPhone App. provides visitors to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens with an electronic guide to take them on a tour of the site’s highlights. The app, developed by 12-year-old techno whizz and Gardens enthusiast Sebastian O’Halloran, provides information about attractions, upcoming events and maps including disability access. It also links users to the latest images uploaded by visitors on the

Plant Hunter. Photo credit: RTBG

RTBG Flickr site and Facebook. The app. is available at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/royal-tasmanian-botanical/ id454676064?ls=1&mt=8 Scavbot http://scavbot.com/ is an App created by the young friends of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, ScavBot will take you on a quirky exploration of the nooks and crannies of the RTBG via a scavenger hunt. Scavbot is targeted towards the 18 to 25yo age bracket.

The RTBG has not become more special as a venue, nor have we suddenly started doing more research onsite or hosting more cultural events, what we have achieved through social media is a greater number of people with a greater level of understanding of what we are doing simply by providing new ways of interacting with our Garden.

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Focus on Facebook - Wellington Botanic Gardens David Sole, Manager,Wellington Botanic Gardens As we move from the snail like traditional models of communication to social media such as Facebook (though this has been around for so long now it could be regarded as traditional) it has started to influence our thinking about who we want to contact and where.

As part of Wellington City Council we were the first business unit to use Facebook as a means of communication. There are now multiple Facebook pages associated with Wellington City Council. The Botanic Gardens page is now held up as a model to other council users for both its content and for its management.

The page has served the gardens well in highlighting events, feature plants, seasonal changes and in a ‘what’s new capacity’.

Response has been varied and it has taken some time to build momentum. Written off at first by some of our marketing team as being ephemeral and limited in its penetration it has generated large numbers of likes when something of interest occurs especially spring flowering, bird images, and feature plants such as Amophophallus sp.

Visitor services officer Charmaine Scott notes that images tend to drive greater responses than words though we have yet to find if those responses actually become physical visits to the a gardens. However, any visit, whether actual or virtual, is a positive visit especially when many of the Facebook friends and likes are offshore.

Moderating has developed in a trail by fire process. It was unclear just how visitors to the page would respond and in what manner.

There are the compulsives who will not leave the page alone and have to comment on absolutely anything and everything – often at length – inappropriate comments or references and informal hijacking by businesses and private individuals with their own agendas.

Charmaine has been able to effectively control these usually by tactful responses or sometimes by removing the offending comments or material.

There is no doubt that even though it took a long time to start a Facebook page it has worked well for us. It has piqued our interest in further exploring the range of digital media especially since it was recently revealed that 2.4m New Zealanders have smart phones – that is nearly half of the population.

I suspect that figure is likely to be repeated among the 2.0m+ overseas tourists visiting the country. As for anything post year 2000 it’s always ‘now now now’ and regular so preferably daily monitoring an updating is necessary.

Regarded by many as a chore it should really be regarded as an opportunity to extend botanic gardens to a wider audience, and it seems, a very different audience, to our more traditional one.

Social Media: a preliminary evaluation of American Public Gardens Aubree Davis, new media and communications coordinator for the American Public Gardens Association.

Contact: adavis@publicgardens.org.

At the American Public Gardens Association, we want to help our members effectively use social media. There are a lot of materials on social media available on the web, via blogs, white papers, and reports, but there is limited information available on how public gardens are leveraging it.

With this in mind, we have begun a study to garner a better understanding of how gardens really are using social media. In the study, we asked our member gardens to answer some basic questions about their social media practices.

All the interviews will be posted to our website. We will be highlighting a new garden each week, starting from the month of October. Tips and tricks provided by gardens in the interview will be shared with our members through our social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter.

Although we are in the early stages of data collection and roll-out, we would like to share some preliminary qualitative findings, which have been arranged within the appropriate social media channels. We hope you will continue to learn more about our member gardens’ social media use as we do, by following APGA at www.facebook.com/publicgardens.

Channels of Social Media Used Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: “We use Facebook, which we carry over to Twitter, to reach prospective visitors and others interested in nature, plant, and outdoors. We want them to become aware of the Arboretum and what’s going on year-round. Also, we have used Flickr in

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the past as a way of urging visitors to post photos from their visit, brides to share wedding photos, etc.”

Social Media Engagement Missouri Botanic Garden: “We like to think of our social media presence as an extension of the Garden’s mission.

Whether posting photos of what’s happening around the Garden, sharing botanical research or new plant discovers, or answering questions about home gardening, our social media interaction allows us to help people learn about and enjoy the benefits of plant diversity and conservation in unique ways, and it helps us better get to know our visitors and what they’re interested in.

For example, the Garden is beautiful after a fresh snowfall, and Facebook allows us to share those rare moments with far more people. Twitter has been very helpful for communicating timely weather updates or schedule information to visitors who are on-site during our public events.”

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens: “Our fans are interested in the same issues we are; learning about the interdependence of plants and people; enriching our community; creating healthier and more enjoyable lives; finding balance and beauty while celebrating nature; and living sustainably and caring for the earth. People look to us as resource and any time we can offer valuable content relating to these important threads, it’s a win.

Sharing great content of like-minded organizations is a good example of this strategy. Gardeners are “sharing people” - they love to share plants, knowledge and information; the very nature of social media seems designed for the gardening world.

Social media has opened opportunities for us to share our botanical treasures with the world, regardless of location.

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Our mission is education, and our passion is bringing people and plants together to improve the community. On social media, it is the exact same thing, only it’s global.”

Social Media Strategies for Success The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens: “Pulling from visitor photos posted to Flickr, we do a daily “Photo of the Day” feature, which we post on Facebook and Twitter. When possible, we select seasonal/topical images and include some related information in the post. The Photos of the Day are regularly among our most popular posts. While some of the content and images we post relate to our art collections and library holdings, the botanical images seem to resonate especially strongly with visitors.”

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens: “For us, a ‘win’ in social media is reflected by a notable increase in interaction and in growth of our base. We track our number of Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, and opened Email Broadcasts weekly and have now identified our normal growth patterns for each of these channels, making us better equipped to detect spikes and connect those back to specific activities.”

Franklin Park Conservatory: “Wins are interactions. We want our followers to share/retweet/repin our posts. Seeing that a post has been shared over a dozen times means our message has reached exponentially more people and has the credibility of being recommended.”

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens: “The most important strategy for success in my opinion is to offer valuable and meaningful content to your fans. Lucky for us, people love looking at pictures of beautiful things! Our most frequently asked question is “What’s in bloom?” so the beauty and ever-changing nature of a botanical garden are a perfect fit with social media.”

USA Case Study: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Interview by Aubree Davis, APGA, with Judy Hohmann, Marketing and Communications Manager This interview first appeared at www.publicgardens.org Aubree Davis is currently highlighting Social Media practice in American Botanic Gardens. Be sure to follow all the articles.

APGA: How are you engaging your visitors via social media?

MLA: On our Facebook page, we have over 7,000 likes/ friends, which is up from 4,000 in the last year and up from 1,500 likes/friends in 2010. This past September, we started a promotional partnership with one of our media partners to post daily on Facebook with the purpose of creating an ongoing conversation/dialogue.

Together with them, we co-create an editorial calendar that supplements FB posts from our staff members.

We have two blogs that we offer through our website.

On our Nature Notes blog, we have 4 volunteer master naturalists that post weekly with photos based on walks or hikes at the Arboretum. They include observations of nature and wildlife, with seasonal commentary.

These great volunteers include a high school science teacher, author, children’s educator--and they’ve all been certified through the Master Naturalist curriculum offered by the University of Minnesota and Department

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of Natural Resources. On our Gardens of Eatin’ blog, we support our home demo gardens that feature 6-8 garden beds for salad gardens, small space gardens, vegetable and perennials that like each other, etc.

The garden signage corresponds with the blog descriptions, along with tips and garden design ideas from our landscape gardener in charge of that area.

As far as onsite engagement via social media, we use the back side of our sign near the entry to promote ‘Share Your Experience on Facebook’. We have also started using QR codes on our visitor map, exhibit brochure and on selected outdoor signage. It goes to the website home page and what’s happening web page but our overall site is not very mobile-friendly.

Lastly, we are currently making use of many online promotional vehicles to drive trial visits. We have used Groupon in two different instances; 405 subscribers for one weekend admission and a 2 for 1 Ladies Night Out. For Ladies Night Out, half of the paying subscribers did not show up on site.

We’ve recently tried Google Offers and received 300 of 2 for 1 admission. For fall 2012, we are overlapping with Crowd Cut, Steals and Deals (of the Star Tribune) and Living Social to boost admissions and trial visits.

APGA: In addition to the initiatives you mentioned above, can you tell us a bit more about the various channels of social media that you currently employ?

MLA: We use Facebook, which we carry over to Twitter, to reach prospective visitors and others interested in nature, plant, and outdoors. We want them to become aware of the Arboretum and what’s going on year-round.

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Also, we have used Flickr in the past as a way of urging visitors to post photos from their visit, brides to share wedding photos, etc. We have tested different online offers on FB such as 2 for 1 to Ladies Night Out, mentioned above, and have had some takers, although not a lot.

We use pay-per-click online advertising to help us reach wedding prospects, most of whom find us online. So far this year we have had over 150 weddings.

We have heard about Pinterest but haven’t had a chance to explore it further.

APGA: What are your strategies for success?

MLA: Right now, our strategies includes doing more investigation into advertising on FB and within popular search engines. We plan to do more video/take more footage to introduce exhibits and events we have at the Arboretum. We are planning to refresh the website homepage to be more interactive and directly ask for more content co-creation from outside sources. Hopefully, we will also be able to facilitate taking polls and offering visitors a chance to share their experiences.

APGA: What do you consider a ‘win’ in social media?

MLA: We feel successful in social media if we continue to see increased ‘likes’ each month, increased subscribers to our eNews, increased website visits, and increased usage of VIP passes to visit the Arboretum

APGA: Can you provide a specific example of a success you’ve had in social media?

MLA: In our media partnership for FB, we created a separate landing page with the question: how do you connect with nature?

Users must ‘like’ us before they can post and when they like us, they are also eligible to win 4 VIP passes to the Arboretum.

The results were 700 new likes in a month! In October, we will change our Facebook landing page and update our events calendar to hopefully continue this success.

APGA: What have you learned from something you tried in social media that didn’t work?

MLA: We changed our social media philosophy in 2010 to move away from ‘pushing messages’ of events weekly, to more personal and pictorial postings every day. Daily postings range from pictures of wild turkeys, scarecrows in the gardens exhibit, beautiful blooms, setting up for the Gala fundraiser, and finding a giant turtle in the shrubs.

Our initiative to use pay-per-click for wedding prospects has been hugely successful, especially since we moved from accepting applications over the telephone to an online form. Pay-per-click has been less successful for meetings and conferences but we are planning to test advertising on Linkedin and Facebook.

We have done advertising for business memberships on Linkedin and have received some helpful feedback from HR professionals but we have not had any pick-up on the promotion.

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Reports from Botanic Gardens Kings Park Festival Marcelle Broderick Most events are free and a full program is posted on the BGPA website – see http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/festival

and gardens rated as the second most enjoyable aspect of the Festival (31.5%).

To soak up the colours, sounds and scents of Kings Park this spring, visitors are encouraged to stroll through the displays of wildflowers in the Western Australian Botanic Garden and along the many bushland trails.

The Kings Park Festival is proudly presented by the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority and its partners: major festival partner Santos, community partners the Friends of Kings Park and Lotterywest and media partner The West Australian.

The 2011 Kings Park Festival celebrated Trees for Life in 2011, and highlighted the importance of trees in the Western Australian environment and acknowledged 2011 as the United Nations’ International Year of Forests.

September is the time to see Kings Park in full bloom for Wildflower September. An estimated half million people visit during this very busy month to celebrate Western Australia’s amazing wildflowers and see the mass displays.

The 2012 Kings Park Festival has a theme of Wildflowers in Focus and includes a photography competition and wildflower photography tips from a well known Western Australian photographer and travel editor of the State wide paper, Stephen Scourfield. Kings Park’s signature wildflower characters in specially designed costumes, “The Adorable Florables”, appear in each Kings Park Festival and perform dance, storytelling and theatre to showcase and interpret Western Australia’s magnificent flora and fauna.

The wildflowers are complemented by a full program with over 100 different events including wonderful live music, performances, and opportunities to learn about native plants and many fun and educational activities throughout the month.

Surveys undertaken during the Festival show 90% of visitors rated their overall Festival experience as very good with scores of 4 or more out of 5. The entertainment program was the most popular (36%) highlight of the Festival, with the wildflowers

Assistant Curator Sall Foss calls to wildflowers Kelly Meacock (Pink Everlasting) and Olivia Gialuisi (Silver Princess) through Kings Park in the lead-up to the Wildflower Festival.

Photo credit: D Blumer, BGPA

Wildflowers Kelly Meacock (Pink Everlasting) and Olivia Gialuisi (Silver Princess) in Kings Park in the lead-up to the Wildflower Festival.

Photo credit: D Blumer, BGPA

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Kings Park WA: Visitor Services and Survey Results Marcelle Broderick Kings Park and Botanic Garden welcomed 5.8 million visitors in 2011/12, remaining consistent over the past three years. The spring and summer months generally have higher visitation, coinciding with peak flowering times for the gardens, the Kings Park Festival, school holidays and the Summer Events season.

The range of visitor services offered in Kings Park and Botanic Garden is extensive and the standard of service high.

Almost 80 per cent of visitors surveyed cited a family outing as the primary motivation for their visit The Guides share information on a variety of native plants as well as their extensive knowledge of the park. The BGPA’s Park Management Officers play an essential role in all visitor liaisons, providing front-line customer service to visitors in relation to their bookings or other issues. The Park Management Officers maintain daily contact with the Kings Park Volunteer Guides through the Visitor Information Centre and have regular interactions with all lessees.

With very high annual visitation rates, there is continued pressure to maintain visitor facilities and amenities. During busy periods, parking is at a premium and BGPA staff continue to monitor parking and provide assistance as required. Additional ACROD parking bays and motorcycle/scooter bays have been installed. The BGPA is actively promoting public transport services, particularly during the very busy summer events season.

Kings Park 2012 Volunteers. Photo credit: D Newcombe, BGPA

The Visitor Information Centre in Kings Park and Botanic Garden, run by the Kings Park Volunteer Guides, is open daily and provides visitor information on things to see and do in the park. All the BGPA’s maps and brochures are available from the Centre and are also available on the BGPA’s comprehensive website.

Kings Park and Botanic Garden under formal agreements with the BGPA. These businesses provide both an important revenue stream for the BGPA’s ongoing operations and highly valued services to the meet the various visitor demands. Commercial operations providing events for visitors include Mellen Events (concerts), Shakespeare WA (theatre), Moonlight Cinema (outdoor films) and Prompt Corner (children’s theatre). The Perth City Sightseeing service provides a regular ticketed bus tour of Kings Park and Botanic Garden.

The Indigenous Heritage Tours and the Aboriginal Art Gallery continue to operate, providing visitors with an insight into Aboriginal culture and in the case of the Gallery, the opportunity to purchase Aboriginal artworks.

Cleaning schedules are regularly reviewed and tested for quality control to ensure that the facilities are appropriately maintained and where opportunities are available through capital works, new public toilet facilities have been installed and/or existing facilities renovated.

In addition to Kings Park’s own retail gallery, Aspects of Kings Park, there is a range of private commercial businesses operate in

City Views. Photo credit: D Newcombe, BGPA

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Ninety per cent of visitors to Kings Park surveyed were either satisfied (26%) or very satisfied (73%) with their visit Three cafes operate within Kings Park and Botanic Garden; Stickybeaks Café (in the Lotterywest Family Area off Kings Park Road); Zamia Café (in Synergy Parkland on May Drive) and; the Botanic Café (as part of the Fraser’s Restaurant complex on Fraser Avenue).

The Fraser’s operations also include Frasers Restaurant, Fraser’s Kiosk, Fraser’s Function Room and the new State Reception Centre Kings Park. The Royal Kings Park Tennis Club, incorporating the Next Generation Kings Park continued operations including provision of fitness and tennis facilities for members.

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King Park and Botanic Garden Visitor Survey: Visitor feedback plays an important role in general management and planning for Kings Park and Botanic Garden. Visitor surveys are conducted annually in both parks to assess visitor satisfaction with services, facilities and the overall visitor experience. Results of these surveys are also used to provide data for the BGPA’s Key Performance Indicators.

506 visitors were surveyed between March and May 2012 in a range of locations and days of the week. Ninety per cent of visitors to Kings Park surveyed were either satisfied (26%) or very satisfied (73%) with their visit.

The two highest rated elements about Kings Park and Botanic Garden were ‘a safe place to visit’ and ‘showcases a wide diversity of plants’. The services of ‘toilets’ and ‘food’ were both rated lower when compared to other characteristics and services of the Park, although even the ratings on these were not poor. Almost 80 per cent of visitors surveyed cited a family outing as the primary motivation for their visit. The second most common response (15%) was to bring a friend or relative.

Almost a third of respondents cited trees and gardens as the highlight of their visit, making it the most popular response.

Other common responses in terms of highlights were spending time with family and friends, the peaceful/relaxed atmosphere and the views. The average amount of time spent in Kings Park was over three hours.

Gardens in flower. Photo credit: M Collett, BGPA

Over two thirds of people (67.33%) surveyed did not give any specific examples of what they enjoyed least, and 10% reported parking to be the least enjoyable aspect of their visit. This feedback is very similar to the survey results of the past two years. Most people surveyed did not make any specific suggested

Wildflowers Kelly Meacock (Pink Everlasting) and Olivia Gialuisi (Silver Princess) in Kings Park in the lead-up to the Wildflower Festival.

Photo credit: D Blumer, BGPA

improvements. Those who did most commonly suggested more parking, better toilets and more picnic tables and barbeques.

The BGPA’s Communications Handling Procedures ensure complaints, compliments and comments/suggestions made by visitors and other stakeholders are considered in the monitoring, management and improvement of visitor services wherever possible.

All communications are responded to promptly and directly.

A total of 81 communications were recorded between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012, of this 81, there were 46 complaints, 11 compliments and 24 suggestions. With the number of visitors to Kings Park and Botanic Garden estimated at 5.8 million for the same period, the complaints received represents less than 0.002% of all visitors.

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Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne Katie O’Brien, Marketing Co-ordinator (PR) Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

At a glance Road to South Gippsland Highway & Stringybark Picnic Area

ly, on ies ss er ce liv o ac e D n

Kiosk

Elisabeth Murdoch Promenade

Promenade Plaza

Dro Ia p o kes n Po ff fo ide tte r Pre r cin ct

Ian Potter Lake The Ian Potter Lakeside Precinct

La

Lily Pad Bridge

Event access

Backyard Garden

Australian Garden

Lifestyle Garden Greening Cities Garden

Seaside Garden

Gondwana Garden

Arbour Garden Bridge

Melaleuca Spits

Arbour Garden

Casuarina Grove Rift Path

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Forest Garden

Forest Clearing

Woodlot

Gibson Hill

River Bend Cultivar Garden

Ponding Platform

Eucalypt

Rockpool Pavilion River Walk Waterhole Bridge

Arid Garden 6 Serpentine Path

Exit

Walk

Bloodwood Garden

r

Walking track to Woodland Picnic Area

As opposed to the 19th century ‘picturesque’ style of garden exemplified by the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, the Australian Garden features an innovative design that challenges traditional ideas of what constitutes a botanic garden. It is a showpiece garden that uses native flora in ways that excite and engage visitors.

This vision has been superbly realised by Taylor Cullity Lethlean – the multi-award-winning landscape architecture firm that, with renowned plant designer Paul Thompson, has artistically interpreted the essence of our continent’s characteristic features, from the Red Centre to the coastal fringes.

Featuring 170,000 plants representing over 850 plant varieties (including rare and ancient varieties), the Australian Garden presents Australia’s unique flora in spectacular landscapes that explore their influence on Indigenous and European cultures.

Weird and Wonderful Garden

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The completed 15-hectare Australian Garden features 170,000 Australian native plants from 850 plant varieties. By comparison, the 38-hectare Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne comprises approximately 50,000 plants.

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Since opening in 2006, the first stage of the Australian Garden has welcomed more than 420,000 visitors.

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In its first year (2006-07), 53,505 visitors experienced the Australian Garden. As word spread and the garden grew, so too did the visitor numbers. In 2011-12, a record 114,238 people visited the Australian Garden.

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The Australian Garden is open from 9am to 5pm every day of the year (except Christmas Day). A range of guided tours and education programs are available for visitors of all ages. Bookings via the Visitor Centre on +61 3 5990 2200.

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The Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne includes the Australian Garden, the Woodland Picnic Area, a Visitor Centre, Boon Wurrung Cafe, The Gardens Shop and visitor kiosk.

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Entry to the Australian Garden and bushland area is free of charge.

Awards The garden has already received 18 international, national and regional awards for landscape design, tourism and sustainability, including ‘Best new tourism development in Australia’ in the 2006 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

Toilets

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Drinking Water

The Australian Garden has received generous assistance from the Victorian Government, The Ian Potter Foundation, Colonial Foundation, and many philanthropic, individual and community supporters.

No public access

W S

What’s New •

An additional six hectares of landscaped garden sees the entire Australian Garden almost double in size, bringing the total size of the Garden to an impressive 15 hectares.

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A total of 11 new precincts including a purpose-built community space for events such as festivals, outdoor cinema and markets; additional Display Gardens; and sections devoted to some of the most iconic and unusual forms of Australian flora.

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New facilities such as a visitor kiosk at the northern end of the Garden, boardwalks and viewing platforms on Howson and Gibson Hills, and an amphitheatre for education programs and performances.

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New visitor programs including ‘Plants at my place’ and ‘Flora Australis’ tours.

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View the Australian Garden from the comfort of the custom-built Garden Explorer people mover.

Future Garden (stage 1)

As well as being a magnificent horticultural display, the Australian Garden educates visitors about the environment and its management and demonstrates sustainable practices for home gardeners.

Cafe

No swimming

50 metres

Australian Garden

Located in the heart of the 363 hectare Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and surrounded by remnant bushland, the impressive 15 hectare Australian Garden is the result of an ambitious dream that started in the 1950s to create a large-scale botanic garden that reflects the essence of Australia.

The Gardens Shop

Parking

Walking track to Trig Point Lookout and bushland

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Facilities & Amenities Baby change

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Disabled drop off, deliveries only, no access

After 20 years of planning, construction and planting, the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne will celebrate the completion of the vibrant Australian Garden with a two-day celebration on 20 and 21 October 2012.

Information

Disabled drop off point

Coach entry

The completed Australian Garden is 15 hectares in size and is surrounded by the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, a 363 hectare site containing some of the highest quality remnant bushland in the Melbourne region.

Plants of the Australian Garden

Garden Explorer

VISITOR CENTRE

7 COACH PARK

Exit

Future Garden

Diversity Garden

Ephemeral Lake Sculpture

Ironbark Garden

Entry Shelter

Car park entry

Home Garden

Water Saving Garden

Completing the vision

A central theme of the Australian Garden is the story of water and its passage through the Australian landscape. Figuratively, the design of the Australian Garden follows the journey of water from the dry inland deserts to the densely populated coast. The Australian Garden takes us on a journey via a Rockpool Waterway, a River Bend landscape flowing to a coastal precinct. Interspersed are display gardens where visitors can discover how to creatively and sustainably use Australian plants in their own home gardens.

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Be d

Entry to Australian Garden

Research Garden

Amphitheatre

Kids’ Backyard

ve Ri

DEPOT (No public access)

Dry

Box Garden

CAR PARK

Red Sand Garden (No public access)

y Waterwa ol ture Rockpo ll Sculp ment Wa Escarp

Stringybark Garden

Peppermint Garden

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Design

Howson Hill

Steps Desert Discovery Camp

Scribbly Path

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Lookout Weird & Wonderful Garden

Exit

The Australian Garden is located in the heart of the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, a 45-minute drive from Melbourne’s CBD.

Lifestyle Garden

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How to Garden

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Arrows point uphill

Future Garden (stage 1)

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Friends of the Lismore Botanic Gardens to supply the Australian National Botanic Gardens with north coast NSW endemic rainforest seed Toby Golson, Senior Horticulturalist Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT. Email: toby.golson@environment.gov.au An agreement was recently reached for the Friends of the LRBG to provide seed of endemic NSW north coast rainforest species to the ANBG.

the number of their ex-situ holdings. Recently LRBG has also been an active participant in the NSW Seedbank Rainforest Seed Conservation Program.

The basis for the agreement is that only seed collected in excess of LRBG’s requirements is transferred, primarily for the purpose of spreading the risk of conserving these species by expanding

It is hoped that this will be a long term and low resource input partnership that will bring lasting benefits to both botanic gardens and the rainforest flora of NSW.

Eupomatia bennettii Small Bolwarra

Archidendron muellerianum Veiny Lace Flower Seed pod

Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens entrance

Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens (LRBG) is currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their first plantings and now grows around 450 species found within the surrounding 200 km.

The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) in Canberra maintains a scientific collection of native plants from all parts of Australia displayed for the enjoyment and education of visitors and used for research into plant classification and biology as well as for conservation purposes.

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Growing people - The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Jane Grosvenor, Educational Consultant, Grosvenor Consultants Marcus Ragus, Manager of Learning and Community Engagement,The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Along with the core business of growing plants, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG) has a long-standing interest in growing people through education programs and community involvement in the Gardens. The last couple of years have seen this take a huge step forward with the introduction of nationally recognised certificate training and other initiatives that have flowed from this.

In 2010 the RTBG’s Education team, under the leadership of Marcus Ragus, formed a partnership with local Registered Training Organisation, GlobalNet Academy. Horticulture courses have been successfully delivered from Certificates 1 through to 3, including specialist programs and there is an intention for Diploma level courses to follow.

The RTBG also benefits in having full control of their staff training; in times past the practical component of training was offered on-site but the theory and its content was covered off-site.

Program outcomes have been well beyond partner expectations.

The program is a first for an Australian Botanical Gardens, with both the theoretical and practical components being offered at the Gardens and practical work fully integrated in to the Gardens’ operations. The emphasis is on high quality horticultural training. Over fifty students have successfully

completed a certificate course since the program’s inception with over sixty more involved in courses for the rest of 2012 and into 2013 including twenty four in a fifteen-month part time certificate II. Initial participants were mature aged students aged from 20 upwards and have included: horticulturalists upgrading qualifications; professionals interested in career change; unemployed individuals hoping to improve skill sets; recent migrants for whom a Certificate I course also offered opportunities to improve their English, cultivate friendships and develop social networks while learning new skills; and, others simply interested in growing their own gardening skills.

The RTBG also benefits in having full control of their staff training; in times past the practical component of training was offered on-site but the theory and its content was covered off site.

Program outcomes have been well beyond partner expectations. The courses have been fully subscribed with high completion rates.

Students have been enthusiastic and energetic, contributing to developments within the Gardens made possible by the extra people-power and participating in projects at a level far greater than that required for course-work. RTBG staff members have also noted how working with the students has improved job satisfaction, grown their own skills and provided personal growth and increased self-esteem.

The program has had other unplanned benefits opening doors to other opportunities to expand the educational activities offered by the RTBG. A decision to apply for National Broadband Network pilot program funding, offered by the Federal Government through the Flexible Learning Advisory Group, allowed the RTBG and GlobalNet to work with Independent Schools Tasmania to explore online delivery of certificate training in horticulture.

The project linked two schools in Tasmania’s northwest, one in the south, and the RTBG, using high speed broadband and iPad technology to share synchronous and asynchronous delivery.

The pilot was a standout success and the basis of a national advertising campaign; a new partnership has just been successful in accessing further funding to develop the pilot into full delivery and assessment.

While formal training is vital to developing the skills base of Australia’s workforce, creating initial interest in a skills area is also critical. At the RTBG’s Spring Festival a new initiative will be launched that seeks to engage Australians with the world of plants, particularly young Australians and their families; Plant Hunter is funded under the Inspiring Australia Science program of the Federal Government.

Using both online and real world experience Plant Hunter offers a variety of opportunities. Participants register online and learn the basics of plant collection and identification including the safety and ethics involved.

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While online they can explore the virtual Gardens. At the RTBG they can follow interactive Plant Hunter trails utilizing QR codes and smart phone technology to extend the experience beyond the Gardens. RTBG professional Plant Hunters can be followed live as they go about their work, especially when hunting plant material in the wilds of Tasmania.

Sale Botanic Gardens

Participants will be encouraged to start hunting for plants out-and-about supported by the professional staff at the Gardens who will help with online identification.

Sale Botanic Gardens now boasts a new plant collection in the newly planted rare or threatened species beds.

The opportunities to learn continue; the Tasmanian Community Food Gardens Coalition, of which the RTBG is a founding member, has support from the Tasmanian Community Fund to develop a model Community Food Garden at the RTBG. Part of this initiative will support the education of community groups in the production and preparation of fresh, healthy food. Working with Feeding the Future, a local food security Guild of which the RTBG is also a member, some of the food produced will find its way to Tasmanian families in need.

Katherine Marshall, Open Space Technical Officer,Wellington Shire Council

Rare or Threatened Species Gardens (ROTS)

These beds have been in the planning stage for a long time and it is very rewarding to see those plans come to fruition. Each of the three beds covers a different Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) from within Wellington Shire and will showcase both common and rare or threatened plants local to that EVC. The EVC’s covered are Heathland, Lowland & Dry Ironbark. Due to the nature of this plant collection, plants are quite difficult to source, and it is unknown which of these plants will thrive. The collection will be a constant work in progress and all successes and failures will be recorded.

Note: the tree guards (photo below left) had to be put in place after Purple Swamp Hens enjoyed a tasty treat with the Chocolate Lilies.

Plant Replacement Plant sourcing and replacement in our Summer Walk and Catalogue Garden has commenced.

Recording plants that have failed replacing with species that fit in with the theme of a design is a really important component of maintaining this plant collection.

The Summer Walk was designed by Andrew Laidlaw and is basically a low water use display garden. There are a great

And there is much more to come with the Out-Reach trailer taking the Gardens into the wider community, online capabilities expanding and new partnerships with community organisations presenting every day.

By growing people the RTBG is helping Tasmanians of all ages and backgrounds to more effectively produce, use and enjoy plants and to be part of their Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.

Flowers are from left to right – Bulbine bulbosa, Stylidium gramnifolium, Arthropodium strictum. Photo credit: Sale Botanic Gardens

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REGIONAL GARDENS: NEWS IN BRIEF number of plants that fit this theme and as long as plants are selected to fit the integrity of the design, the garden will continue to look great.

The Catalogue collection however is strictly plants out of the document ‘Plants Listed in Nursery Catalogues in Victoria 1855-1889’.

The book itself records about 200 pages of various plants and cultivars and it will be an on-going project selecting the right plants and most importantly, trying to find plants from this catalogue that are still readily available in Victorian nurseries today.

Sale Botanic Gardens Friends Group Our Friends Group continues to go from strength to strength assisting Council to manage the Gardens. Recently some members attended the Association of Friends of Botanic Gardens Inc. Conference in Port Augusta. They had the opportunity to present to the conference about the latest developments in our Gardens and thoroughly enjoyed the gathering.

As part of their developing role in the Gardens the Friends will commence propagating for the first time at the end of October. It is hoped that this activity will enable a ready to go approach to required plant replacements.

Queensland State-wide updates include:

Mackay Regional Botanic Garden Mackay has completed phase one of its $2 million Meadowlands Amphitheatre. The coming of Myrtle Rust in May to Mackay has seen extensive planning, research and treatment strategies undertaking to limit the spread of the disease and its impact on the Living Collection.

Team Leader Ross Demuth received a regional council award for his work developing a Council wide policy and coordinating Council’s response across the region with Biosecurity Queensland.

Bundaberg Regional Botanic Garden Bundaberg Botanic Gardens has undergone extensive improvements, replanting and infrastructural redevelopment in many areas of the site, including lake, stream and wetlands areas and rainforest zones.

The living collection is being re-evaluated and consolidated with mixed exotic and native plantings in some areas refocusing on natives, a new fruit tree sections in conjunction with the Rare Fruit Growers Association and improved collection management with new irrigation creating more suitable microclimate for ephyphites and plant diversity.

Gladstone’s Tondoon Botanic Gardens are in the process of moving existing playground facilities in anticipation for a new children’s Nature Play Garden – “Feathers”, the Living Collection record system is being brought up to date with much time spent on this process, and discussions with external suppliers to access waste water from the South trees treatment plant to be run through a series of wetlands ponds.

Other projects include the Arboretum Path construction, bridge and deck refurbishment and upgrade and Japanese Tea House refurbishment. Tondoon Botanic Gardens turns 25 in 2013 and staff and management are currently planning a week-long celebration to include a variety of tours, activities and community events.

Redlands IndigiScapes Centre Redlands IndigiScapes Centre, south of Brisbane, are creating a new themed Heathland Garden. Wallum and dry heath areas are characteristic of some of the coastal parts of South East Queensland, including North Stradbroke Island and Russell Island in Moreton Bay. Growing many of these species away from their natural sandy habitats will be a challenging experience.

Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens has seen extensive new plantings and continue growth in both public interest and support for the ‘green within the gold’. A new Friends Centre has consolidated focus for the growing volunteers’ involvement within the Gardens.

Cairns Botanic Gardens Cairns Botanic Gardens recently opened its amazing new Visitors Centre featuring indoor and outdoor interpretative spaces with state of the art audio visual linkages, specific interpretative displays all contained within the building mirrored facade that reflects and blends in with the lush surrounds.

For further details on what’s been happening in Queensland - visit the Queensland Regional tab at www.bganz.org.au

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Calendar of Events BGANZ New Zealand 15 -16 November Auckland Botanic Gardens

BGANZ Victoria Plant Forum 2013 February (Venue/Date tbc)

BGANZ 6th Biennial Congress 2013 20-25 October 2013, Dunedin, New Zealand In conjunction with the BGCI 5th Global Botanic Garden Congress

BGANZ Professional Development

VII Southern Connection Congress

November 15 16 BGANZ-NZ Sustainable Management, Auckland Botanic Garden

Dept. of Botany University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ. www.octago.ac.nz/V11-southern-connection

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February 2013 BGANZ VIC Jerry Romanski - “Mature Tree Management” at BGANZ VIC Spring Plant Forum

8th BGCI International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens Education and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 12-15 November 2012, Jardín Botánico del Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico

13th International Association of Botanic Gardens Congress 13-15 November 2012, South China Botanic Garden, Guangzhou, China www.IABG2012.comwww.bgci.org/education/news/0722/ www.bgci.org/education/mexicoform

Fascination of Plants Day 2013 18th May http://www.plantday12.eu/

BGCI 5th Global Botanic Garden Congress 20-25 October 2013, Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand It is likely other activities will be scheduled either side of these times. Further details will follow nearer the time of the Congress in 2013

International Horticulture Congress 17-22 August 2014, Brisbane –the “Olympics” of horticultural science www.ihc2014.org/

www.bganz.org.au