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Volunteer guides of the Friends of the Wellington
Botanic Garden provide a guiding service to groups and visitors to the
Garden.
During the cruise ship season they also provide a
hosting service at the Cable Car entrance, providing information on the
Garden and advice on the best way to see the area.
If would like a guided tour for
your group, contact the Treehouse Information Centre, and a guide will
contact you and discuss your proposed visit. Generally tours are for 1
to 2 hours, and can be tailored specifically to your requirements.
Regular tours are run throughout the year - Sunday
walks, visits to the glow worms, and for the Stepping Out and Spring
Festival events. Rose Week and the Herb Festival are also covered with
relevant tours.
Details of regular tours are listed on this site.
The collections in the
Garden that can be covered in a tour include
Australian Garden features banksia, grevillea, kangaroo paw and other
interesting and showy flowering plants.
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Ovens Wattle, Australian Garden
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Begonia House with its spectacular seasonal displays, begonias,
orchids, lilly pond
Camellias currently being renovated, contains many cultivars of
these popular plants
Exotic Forest 46 species of pines and planted in the 1870s, a legacy
of trials to launch New Zealand's forest industry. Pines on Druid Hill
and Magpie Spur are some of the oldest pines planted in New Zealand
Herb Garden displays useful and attractive herbs for almost any
garden situation
The native flora offers a wealth of herbal applications. In New
Zealand, many 'herbs' used by Maori are trees. Rongoa (Maori herbal
medicine) uses herbs both in combination for holistic healing and
specific first-aid applications. Tohunga (the spiritual and medicinal
mentors of a tribe) would administer herbal medicine in association
with karakia (prayers). In addition, a great deal of day-to-day herbal
knowledge was, and is, accumulated by Maori women.
Horseshoe Bend a tranquil garden maples magnolias, hostas, primula
and rhododendrons
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Horseshoe Bend in autumn
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Lady Norwood Rose Garden
Maori Flax Collection (harakeke)
Native Forest Sheltered contain remnants of native forest that link
back to the forest of pre-European settlement. The oldest tree in the
Garden, a gnarled hinau in the Stable gully remnant, is over 200 years
old.
Perennials Hot coloured perennial plants tower up out of the
garden beds in front of the Begonia House. Many of these plants assist
in attracting beneficial insects to combat any aphids attacking the
Roses.
Rhododendrons Within the Main Garden are some large old 'Sir Robert
Peel' rhododendrons.
'Harry Tagg,' 'Christmas Cheer' and 'Cornubia' display their marvelous
large heads of pink, white and red flowers early in spring.
The Vireya Rhododendron Collection is planted in the valley below the Play Area and has
flowering plants almost all year round.
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Vireya Rhododendron
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Rock Gardens There are three rock gardens within the Main Garden
area.
The Oak Rock Garden features mostly South African bulbs. The best time
to view it is from spring through to mid summer. The blue flowering
oddity Puya alpestris is making a lovely show above the rockery.
The Main Rock Garden has a broader collection of alpine plants and bulbs
planted together with rhododendrons and maples. This rock garden has
plants from the Mediterranean, Continental Europe and Asia.
The Kauri Rock Garden features alpine plants. This garden will be changing
to display some of our many native alpines.
Notable Trees Redwood, sequoia, pinus, cork oak, common oak. Many
trees in the Garden date back to plantings in the 1860s.
Succulents Many plants with various shapes, forms and sizes.
Vibrant aloes shoot flower spikes of orange annually while the fucraea
takes ten years or so to produce huge heads of cream puffs.
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Succulent in Rock Garden
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Scented Garden This is the best place to be if you like dining on
delicious perfumes. Just below the Treehouse this garden is a wonderful
spot to linger. The white flowering false vanilla is very aromatic.
In addition to the
general tours, themed tours are also run. These include
Dinner in the Garden
Barking up the wrong tree
Giants of the Garden
NZ Native Plant Food, Fire, Fibre and Pharmacy Trail
Rare and Exotic, and in our Botanic Garden
Can't see the wood for the trees
Contact the Wellington Botanic
Garden Treehouse Information Centre for further information on the
Garden etc.
Treehouse Visitor
Centre
Phone: (04) 499 1400
Fax: (04) 499 1903
Email: treehouse@wcc.govt.nz
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