The Wittunga Botanic Garden is one of three Botanic Gardens in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

administered by the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, a State Government statutory authority; the other two are the

Adelaide Botanic Garden The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital ...

located in the inner city's parklands, and the

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden First opened in 1977, the crescent-shaped Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is situated on 100 hectares on the eastern slopes of Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills east of Adelaide in South Australia. The cooler, wetter location suits plants from tem ...

. The Wittunga garden is located on Shepherds Hill Road, Blackwood, on the western scarp of the Adelaide Hills. Beginning as a formal

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

at the home of

Edwin Ashby Edwin Ashby (2 November 1861 – 8 January 1941) was an Adelaide based Australian property developer and a noted malacologist interested in chitonsWinckworth R. (1942). "Obituary. Edwin Ashby, 1861-1941". ''Proceedings of the Malacological Society ...

in 1901, it changed over the years assisted by the efforts of Edwin's son, Arthur Keith Ashby to include South African and native Australian plants. Wittunga’s displays of these plants are especially spectacular in spring and include rich collections of

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * E ...

Leucadendron ''Leucadendron'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where they are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Description Species in the genus ''Leucadendron' ...

, and

Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form a ...

, complemented by displays of exotic and unusual bulbs and colourful annuals. The majority of the South African plants in the garden come from the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

district which has a climate similar to that of Adelaide. The Australian collection features plants from the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

and

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

, southern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and includes a fine collection of

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s. Meandering pathways through the Terrace and Sandplain Gardens give visitors the opportunity to see these distinctive and colourful collections. Many different birds can be seen attracted by the good supplies of nectar produced by the flowers of plants in the collection. In 1965 Edwin Ashby's son Keith donated the garden to the State. It was opened to the public in 1975 and is managed by the Botanic Gardens of South Australia. The garden features several small rotunda with seating, lawns suitable for picnicking and a trail of interpretive botanical signage. Connected by a spillway, two ponds in the park support a variety of native water birds and amphibians. Among the resident birds are Pacific black ducks, Australian wood ducks, Australasian grebes and Eurasian coots. A population of

Murray River turtle ''Emydura macquarii'' (common names include Murray River turtle, Macquarie River turtle, eastern short-necked turtle, eastern short-neck turtle and southern river turtle) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. It is a wide-ranging spec ...

s can often be seen basking on the surface or on the ponds' muddy banks during warmer months. In 1980, it was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate.

Special events

An annual outdoor concert occurs in March, and is coordinated by Lions Club of Blackwood Inc. The event was first held in 2003 and features live music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and dance performances presented under the title of Wittunga Under the Stars. Previous performers have included the Bearded Gypsy Band, Zen Knights, New Orleans Ramblers, ''Studio Flamenco'' dancers and the St. John's Grammar School Band.Radford, Hayd
"Wittunga Under the Stars 2013"
''WeekendNotes.com ''Retrieved 2014-01-05.

References

External links

Wittunga Botanic Garden

Botanic Gardens of South Australia
Retrieved 29 June 2017.
Friends of the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide
Retrieved 12 September 2012 {{Authority control Botanical gardens in Australia 1975 establishments in Australia Gardens in South Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

Special events

See also

References

External links