Australia's Highest Botanic Garden




After picnicking at Mt.Wilson in the Tree Fern Cathedral and watching the Magpie and the Currawong fight over crumbs from our sandwiches, we went to Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens.  There are birds where there are gardens!   These gardens are stunning with mountains as backdrops, interesting art work and sculpture integrated with plants and paths with water features to follow.  They showcase cool climate plants from around the world and cover about 623 acres.



The Waratah /Annual Celebration was in full swing.  The Waratah grow in patches of sandy loam on ridges and plateaus in the Sydney basin, NSW Central and South Coast districts and in the Blue Mountains.  They are shrubs or trees that grow between 9 and 16 ft. tall!  Spectacular!  They are more often seen in parks and reserves than in nature now.  The Waratah is the floral emblem of New South Wales and there is an Aboriginal story.  I love this!  
Waratah



Visit a rock garden, a bog garden, rrhododendrons conifers, Gondwana Walk, woodlands, jungle rain-forest and more.  The views are breathtaking, the walks winding and peaceful, the flowers colorful and the birds beautiful.  My favorite bird is the Superb Fairy -wren with such a blue color and a tail that sticks straight up!  The female has the same form but is a brown.

Rhododendron
Rhododendron 







Male Superb Fairy-wren
Female Superb Fairy-wren

Laughing Kookaburra

Back to Sydney to catch a plane to Cairns!

Note:  Google Gondwana  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/238402/Gondwana

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Location: Mount Tomah NSW 2758, Australia

Comments

  1. Caron MichelleOctober 28, 2014 at 3:16 PM

    Thank you for sharing these amazing pictures! The little blue wren's are such characters - and Aboriginal legend has it that the Laughing Kookaburras chorus of laughter every morning is a signal for the sky people to light the great fire that illuminates and warms the earth by day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linda Britt DesignOctober 28, 2014 at 4:44 PM

    How I wish we had Laughing Kokaburras but our Ravens have to do the morning wake-up sun call! Love your comment and your country.

    ReplyDelete

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