Winter Gold at the Australian Botanic Garden

August 2012

This month, at Australia�s largest botanic garden, you can discover a stunning sea of vibrant yellow and gold wattle blossoms in the Wattle Garden and Arboretum when these iconic Australian plants are at their best.

There are 180 different kinds of wattles on display at the Australian Botanic Garden, including Acacia �Winter Gold� with its bright yellow, ball flowers providing pools of winter sunshine and the world�s only red-flowering wattle, Acacia �Federation Scarlet Blaze�.

The golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was officially proclaimed Australia�s national floral emblem in 1988, the year of Australia�s bicentenary and also the year that the Garden was officially opened. In 1992, 1 September was formally declared National Wattle Day.

Acacia mariae x semilunata �Annan Gold� came from a chance seedling that appeared in one of the garden beds. Its parent species are very showy and the Garden grew this plant to observe if the hybrid was worth cultivating. It grew into a beautiful small to medium shrub with masses of bright yellow flowers with a lovely sweet perfume and can be seen in the Wattle Garden.

The variety of texture, foliage, colour and leaf form of wattles can provide year-round interest to any garden and many have decorative pods. Wattles mainly flower in winter and produce their seeds in summer, providing critical food sources for wildlife at these times. Wattles occur in all habitats, from the coast to mountains and deserts. Golden wattle seeds germinated at the Garden have also been �off the planet� surviving unharmed aboard the International Space Station for a six-month period in 2008.

Aboriginal people traditionally used wattle in every aspect of their lives such as using seeds for food, pods for food and soap, foliage for soap and medicinal purposes, bark for bandages and footwear and wood for tools, weapons and fires.

From garden to table, you can visit Melaleuca House Cafe where wattle is on the menu! The Visitor Centre has a range of wattle products on offer including wattle seed muffin mixes, roasted wattle seeds so you can cook up your own feast inspired by the Garden and for those cold winter nights, wattle seed barley and cinnamon tea.

Come into the Garden on Saturday 11 August to celebrate wattle season with wattle inspired activities such as tours, craft activities and demonstrations. This event will be held from 11 am - 2 pm in the Wattle Garden. This free event includes live entertainment and a wattle discovery trail for kids.

Acacia-pycnantha

Acacia-macradenia

Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia

Home

Winter Gold at the Australian Botanic Garden