Recently installed interpretive signs take you to a mountain-top, back down to the coast and into the forest interior.
Do you know about the diversity of growth habit in our native pittosporums or that manuka and pohutukawa belong to the same plant family? Thirteen signs throughout the collection cover these topics and more.
Education is an important role for a botanic garden and there are many ways Dunedin Botanic Garden fulfils this role.
Along with programmes such as the monthly Friday lunchtime HortTalk, plus brochures, tours and school education kits, interpretation panels add to people's visits.
Located in the upper botanic garden, the New Zealand native plant collection was established in the early 1900s and has about 3ha of cultivated borders with an additional 10ha of bush.
Much of the collection is arranged into subcollections based on habitat, plant attribute or taxonomy, the science of plant classification.
As a botanic garden it makes sense to group plants according to this botanical system so some are planted as a family, such as Myrtaceae and Asteraceae, and others are grouped in genera, such as Hebe and Pittosporum.
Because diversity is important, not only to plant health but also the aesthetics of a display, there is always a mix of plant types in any given border.
Use of grasses, groundcovers, trees and shrubs not associated directly with the particular theme of a border provide visual contrast.
So come along and enjoy the beauty of our native flora and you may just learn something new.
•Shirley Stuart is curator of the New Zealand Native Plant Collection at Dunedin Botanic Garden.
