The Brisbane Botanical Gardens at Mt Coot-tha is 56 hectares of subtropical gardens, with more than 100,000 plants of 5,000 species.
The gardens commenced in 1970 and officially opened in 1976, as an alternative location to the Brisbane City botanical gardens. The site was chosen as a flood free location, as the city botanical gardens had suffered from eight major floods of the Brisbane River.
The gardens have different zones or regions, and various walks to help you navigate through them and see what you want.
If you are not able to walk too far, there is a free minibus tour on weekdays at 10.30am. Sometimes they don’t run (such as public holidays), so checking first may be a good idea if you need to rely on this service.
Guided walks are provided by volunteers, leaving from the information centre at 11am and 1pm, between Monday and Saturday, but not on public holidays.
Self-guided walks let you take your own pace. Follow the Australian Plants Trail, Australian Rainforest Trail, Bunya Forest Trail, Gardens Explorer Trail, Queensland Conservation Trail, and the Citriodora Trail Access which leads to the summit of Mt Coot-tha. We followed the Children’s Trail, with the brochure that comes with a checklist of things to keep an eye out for. It is along this trail we saw a live native beehive with a lot of activity around the entrance of the hive.
The Japanese Gardens were created as a gift for Expo 88 from the Japanese Government. The garden theme is ‘tsuki-yama-chisen’, which means ‘mountain-pond-stream’, and features elements of stone, water, paths and vegetation.
The nearby Bonsai House displays 100 plants, with some more than 80 years old. The Bonsai House hours are 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm on weekdays, and from 10am-3pm on weekends and public holidays.
The Fern House has more than 80 species of ferns, some live on rocks, in trees or in water. The Fern House is open between 9am-4pm daily.
The Tropical Display Dome displays tropical plants, following a pathway that winds up through the dome around a pond in the centre with water plants. The dome ensures the climate inside is the right conditions for the tropical plants, that would normally not be able to grow in Brisbane. The Tropical Display Dome is open between 9am-4pm daily.
The Tropical Display Dome is ironically near the Arid Region Plants section. The plants are open to Brisbane’s weather, so they would receive more rain than you would expect in the dry regions of Central America and Africa it represents. The Cacti and Bromeliad House, however, is covered to keep it drier.
The Fragrant Plants and Herb Gardens invite rubbing the leaves to release the fragrances of herbs, and to smell the scents of blooms and other plants.
The Bamboo Grove is the oldest part of the gardens. The clumping bamboo existed before the gardens were built, over 100 years old. The bamboo is unique and interesting as it has not flowered after 100 years. Once it flowers it will die and will commence a new life cycle.
The gardens have water fountains spread throughout, and sheltered picnic tables allow for a picnic lunch. There are some roads running through the gardens that let you drive to parking areas other than the main parking area. The roads are not open on weekends and public holidays, and close earlier at 4pm when they are open.
On the grounds of the botanical gardens at the main parking area, are the Planetarium, Library, and Herbarium. The Planetarium and the botanical gardens together make for a great day out, which is what we did, as well as drop into the library for a while waiting for our show to start in the Planetarium.