Let’s begin with a quote from the book “Melbourne’s Garden” published in 1946 to commemorate the centenary of Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens which were founded under the direction of Charles Latrobe, Superintendent of Port Phillip.
“….for Melbourne’s million and a half The Gardens means only one thing – the hundred acres of landscape that flanks the Yarra on the south, within sight of the heart of the city, yet a sanctuary for peace and meditation.”
As a prelude to my exhibition of paintings “Refuge” which opens at Tacit Galleries on 5th May, I am taking a look at the Gardens both past and present and what they mean to me. I can recall that one of the few times I experienced any inner peace as a child was when I visited these gardens with family – it was as if I had entered another world.
Three factors were thought to have contributed to the success of the gardens; contours, soil and climate. The hilly terrain was considered unsuitable for housing and these hills drained into a chain of useless marshes next to the Yarra River. So the Yarra was rerouted and the marshes transformed into an ornamental lake whilst the terrain was landscaped to provide the vistas we enjoy today. Melbourne’s temperate climate is considered ideal in supporting a vast variety of botanical species – although climate change is having an impact. Recently a 150 year old white oak near F Gate collapsed from heat stress and this clearly had a distressing impact on the staff of the Gardens.
In 1846 the first superintendent of the gardens John Arthur planted the first elm trees and erected the first fence to keep out the goats, and 50 years later William Guilfoyle planned the vast landscape that has made the gardens famous. “Botany has become a broader and broader study through the years, and it matters not from which branch of the sciences this knowledge has come, the botanical staff of the gardens has applied each new advance to the purposes of the gardens themselves”.
Next door to the gardens is the National Herbarium which is basically the state’s botanical museum, containing specimens of every native plant found in Victoria and almost every known Australian native plant. There are also representative botanical collections from around the world. “A staff of professional botanists is engaged in the work of identification and classification not only for the purposes of the gardens themselves, but also for various government departments, for schools, farmers and the general public.”
The intention of my forthcoming exhibition is to take the viewer on a journey around the Gardens at different times of day and in different weathers. I have sought to share the recuperative and consoling powers that nature has to offer us. There have been many times I’ve visited these gardens for psychological recovery from the challenges of everyday life, such as losing one’s job, difficulties in relationships or even working one’s way through art school.
Modern advertising often specialises in glamourizing the unattainable; that is, places that are rare, remote, costly or famous. Yet here we have an exotic location right under our noses that we can visit at any time. And the sun need not be shining to appreciate the mysteries of these gardens. A visit on a quiet, drizzly day can be an oddly therapeutic experience as you get the feeling that you have the whole gardens to yourself – tearooms and all. Thus one can absorb the almost surreal beauty of the gardens, the thought that has gone into the landscaping and the far flung vistas.
I found it a challenging experience roaming around the Gardens with my book in hand, trying to identify the locations of photographs from 75 years ago. Annoyingly, there are no images of the tearooms and Craft Cottage in the book. Such are the transformations that have taken place that some locations are simply unrecognisable, which perhaps highlights the fact that Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens are a work in progress – and probably always will be.
Many thanks to my friend and fellow Gippsland artist Helen Timbury who found the book “Melbourne’s Garden” at an opp shop and bought it for me.
Reference:
“Melbourne’s Garden” by Crosbie Morrison, Melbourne University Press, 1946. Revised 1957.
