Commencing 1pm leaving every 45 minutes from the City Gardens Visitor Centre – Book preferred times during conference registration

A walk through these gardens is a walk back in time. The gardens which cover 20 hectares in 2019 were the culmination of strong lobbying in 1853 by the Moreton Bay Horticultural Society. The gardens were established in 1855 on the site of the Government Gardens that had been laid out for the fledgling settlement in 1828.  The gardens have seen a lot of changes over the last 165 years. The first curator, Walter Hill, who trained under Joseph Banks at Kew, laid out the foundations, and although later curators made their mark, the bones of this picturesque garden on the banks of the river, can still be seen. Hill held great influence over the horticultural work of Brisbane and his legacy still dominates the gardens. Recent works in 2018-19 have reworked some areas to the earlier design, new boardwalks have been built and improved pathways have aided access to important areas within the gardens.  

The gardens contain approximately 2500 trees primarily from tropical and
subtropical climes from around the world. You can find the oldest planted Macadamia, the oldest Tamarind and the oldest Bamboo in Qld. There are key collections & historic and significant trees including Moraceae (primarily Fig trees), Arecaceae (Palms – one of the 3 most diverse public collections in Australia), Gymnosperms (primarily Conifers) and an interesting Araceae collection.
Bordering this Botanic Garden is a small patch of mangroves including the
Grey mangrove Avicennia marina, and the Black mangrove Lumnitzera racemosa which were collected by Banks and Solander at Endeavour River. The garden is also home to the Blue Flax Lily Dianella caerulea and Lolly Bush, Clerodendrum floribundum, all discovered during the 1770 expedition.