Wildflowers and native flora

   

There is a wonderful variety of botany, wildflowers and native flora to discover at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden.

Bushland setting

The garden lies in an area of Sydney sandstone bushland adjacent to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

Most of our bushland is in its natural state, while some areas such as Lambert’s Clearing have been cleared from the bush and were farmed for some years before being set aside as picnic areas.

Two kinds of endangered ecological communities, Duffy’s Forest and Coastal Upland Swamp, have been identified within the Wildflower Garden.

Native flora areas and attractions

Wildflower displays

A real talking point is our display of native flowers in bloom at the Visitor Centre.

The display is maintained weekly across the year by volunteers from the Australian Plants Society, whose team selectively cut samples of our common wildflowers and display them on a labelled stand to aid in identification. It’s one of the only places in Australia where you can come and see a collection of actual specimens of what’s flowering at any point in time.

The display takes a recess during December and January when the flowers are generally fewer.

The Knoll Garden

This is a display garden containing native plants from around Australia, lovingly maintained by the Australian Plants Society.

Located on a rocky hillside next to Lambert’s Clearing, it is fenced to reduce predation by wallabies. There is usually something flowering at all times of the year, and it provides a relaxing place to be inspired with ideas for your own native garden.

Our Fern House

This was established ahead of the Wildflower Garden’s opening in 1968.

Adjacent to Lambert’s Clearing, it’s a cool retreat with groves of tree ferns, winding paths and ponds to explore.

Caley’s Pavilion Gardens

This feature a wide variety of showy native flowers, rainforest trees and bush foods such as macadamia, Davidson’s plum and native ginger.

Join us for a botanical lecture

If you’d like to learn more about the fascinating botany of the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, make sure you come along to one of the Walks & Talks run by the Australian Plants Society’s North Shore Group.

These occur on Monday mornings at Caley’s Pavilion, and involve a lecture on a botanical topic, followed by a gentle bushwalk into the Garden to observe specimens of plants relevant to the topic.

To learn more, view the Walks & Talks program.