Melbourne – Page 2 – anevolvingscientist.org

WPC : 2017 Favourites

Fortunately, this challenge offers the use of different reasons for selecting our favourites from 2017.

Emotional pull – walking around Borough Market, London, the scene of a terror attack just three weeks later.

Borough Market and The Shard

Borough Market, East London

Memorable experience 1 – a week in Saint Petersburg, with my daughter and our fabulous guide, Elena, seeing many highlights of the city that are off the regular tourist trail. Sometimes cold, sometimes wet, worth every minute.

Palace Square & Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg

Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg

The Botanic Garden of Peter the Great

Yusupov Palace: Plotting the demise of Rasputin

Faberge Museum

Memorable experience 2 – East Sussex with family: visiting Batemans, the home of Rudyard Kipling, Sheffield Park and its beautiful gardens, and the white cliffs of the coastline.

Rudyard Kipling’s residence, Batemans

Rudyard Kipling’s study, where, among many stories, ‘IF’ was written

Sheffield Park, East Sussex

Pure indulgence, Edendum Restaurant, Brighton, East Sussex

Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex

Photographic effects – Experimenting, and modestly claiming some success!

Sheffield Park, East Sussex

Conifer Gardens Tree Farm, Mt Dandenong, Victoria

Gardens – regular visitors would be disappointed if some Aussie gardens missed the “Favourites” list.

Cranbourne Gardens, RBGV

Taeve Tara Garden, Mt Macedon, Victoria

Tawny frogmouth

Cranbourne Gardens, RBGV

Cloud Hill Garden, Mt Dandenong, Victoria

Inspired by The Weekly Photo Challenge set by Ben Huberman

Wishing all my blogging friends a Merry Christmas, and a Safe and Prosperous New Year.

WPC : Transformation : The Cranbourne Gardens

The Cranbourne Gardens, is a division of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne. It is located in the outer suburb of Cranbourne, about 45 km south-east of the Melbourne city centre.

The indigenous Australian Boon Wurrung people inhabited the area around Cranbourne in pre-European times. The site of Cranbourne Gardens was used for sand mining from as far back as the 1820s, largely to supply the building of Melbourne and its suburbs. The military used the site from 1889 until the 1960s, with private licences also issued for sand mining, grazing and timber gathering.

In 1970, the area was declared a division of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. The transformation began. Occupying 363 hectares, the gardens opened to the public in 1989.

It is The Australian Garden, opened in 2006, that is the major attraction. It aims to display the beauty and diversity of the Australian landscape. 100,000 plants are spread across the fifteen display areas in this project. Many wildlife species have returned and are supported by the landscape.

This wide brown land – all the buildings are designed with the landscape

Cranbourne Gardens, RBGV

Ancient grass tree against a eucalyptus background

Natural sandstone formed over the millennia

Four watering cans signify low water requirements

Eight watering cans to signify moderate water requirements

Cranbourne Gardens, RBGV

Temperate environment

Excellent signage

Signage about more than just the plant species

Vista combining desert with more temperate zones

A contribution to the weekly photo challenge, transformation

Gardenalia 3

Continuing the series of distractions from, or inclusions in, landscaping found in open gardens. We are forever grateful for the garden owners prepared to share their gardens with us.