I'm a sucker for a botanical garden in any town, so when I drove an hour and a half to drop Jamie off to do a bikepacking trip, I stopped past the Colac Botanical Gardens - being Spring, it was an ideal time to come, and I needed a break to stretch my legs.
The gardens are set on the shores of Lake Colac, which is a really lovely large lake where houses look out on the water and on the other side, sometimes people camp. It's the kind of place perfect for dog walking, running, walking or laying about on the grass in the spring sunshine.
flowering peach and almonds
Of course roses and fruit trees were in blossom - some very pretty specimens, but also the shapely pods of this Queensland flame tree, which would make good maracas.
Pods of an Illawarra flame tree
Of course there were many traditional cottage plants, such as the flowers below, and many tulips, daffodils and other bulbs showing off their colour. I always wonder what I'd plant if I had control of a botanical garden. I'd definitely look at more unusual varieties than the stock standard - there's many cultivars online I find really interesting. But that might not be the easiest or most economical route.
There were many traditional English oaks forming various avenues - it's likely most were planted in the '50's. There were various elms and pines as well. These form a canopy of shade, of course.
I'd heard of barberry before, but never seen it, and found it makes quite a lovely specimen in spring with it's bright yellow orange flowers which were rather eyecatching. I failed to write down the details, but to be fair, I wasn't thinking of a Hive post at the time.
Through the trees I could see the lake - you could do a whole loop of the gardens and back along the riverside if you chose, and there was also a river cafe attached to the gardens, though I didn't go in. There was also a few succulents leading down to the waters edge, but nothing I didn't already have so I didn't do a sneaky cutting as I often do with succulents.
There were some lovely shady areas and microclimates - in one, this white leaf caught my eye. These are the white leaved suckers of white poplar (populus alba) which I'd never seen before. It's very pretty, don't you think? I couldn't take better photos without trampling over the garden.
This central arbor hosted roses but also forget me nots, cosmos, narcissus, and other perennials. Unfortunately I didn't take photos of a cannon (some kids were climbing all over it) but I did manage to take the photo of the water fountain as I was walking away from it, just as it occurred to me Hivers might like a look!
As I walked past the water fountain I heard what I thought were a chorus of nesting birds. I couldn't quite place the sound, but it was loud, and there was a lot of them.
Would you believe they turned out to be large bats or flying foxes? They are huge - and too high up in the trees to take photos with my mobile phone. I loved them, and stood staring for a long while.
There was also a gully with Australian shrubs, trees and ferns - a mini rainforest dug into the park with a cooler climate. Something rustled in the leaves - I was very disappointed to find the place infested with blackbirds, which are absolute pests around here. I used to live with so many of them which were released in the 1800's as part as an effort to europify Australia, making it more like home, but they liked it too much. I'm glad my new town doesn't have many at all, chased off by larger native birds.
I also loved this - it's elephantine, ugly trunk was also beautiful. I think it's a Bunya Pine, known for it's trunk and heavy seed pods, and native to Australia.
If you're driving down to the 12 Apostles on the inland route past Colac, and want to stretch your legs or maybe have a pleasant picnic, this is definitely worth a stop, particularly in Spring, but I'd also like to see it in Autumn when the trees turn gold.
