Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden, Wellington, New Zealand

The Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden welcome you to this web site and this fascinating public garden.

New Zealand's most historic public botanic garden is located in the heart of Wellington

, the Capital City of New Zealand. It is classified as a Garden of National Significance by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture and is an Historic Places Trust Heritage Area.

Located within walking distance of the commercial and shopping heart of the City, it is only a short distance from the National Museum - Te Papa.

The most spectacular entry is by Cable Car. Leaving from Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, it terminates at the lookout entry to the Garden, which provides spectacular views over the city and the harbour. (See photo at end of this page) Return to the city by walking the downhill walkway back to the city heart, through the children's play area, Main Garden with its old trees, Duck Pond, and seasonal plantings, to the Rose Garden and Begonia House, then through the historic Bolton Street Memorial Park.

Come, enjoy, rest a while, have a coffee at the cafe and browse the Begonia House shop but, most important, bring your camera for those memories of this fascinating garden.

This site aims to provide items of interest and assistance to all visitors and members of the Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden.

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VISITORS

If you wish to see the main areas of the garden and enter via the Cable Car, purchase a one way ticket and then walk back to the city on the Downhill walkway, visiting all main areas.

From the Rose Garden you can either:
1. Return to the Cable Car climbing up via Serpentine Way and Remembrance Ridge. This is a relatively steep walk and can be tiring on hot days, but does include most of the Sculpture Walk
2. The recommended option is to continue walking the Downhill Walkway to the city, passing through the Bolton Street Memorial Park which includes a collection of heritage roses, and the historic cemetery and finishes close to the Parliament Buildings (the "Beehive").

DAILY GUIDED WALK CLICK FOR DETAILS

Details of the Downhill Walkway click this link
Photo of Tui, commonly seen and heard in Garden

'Flash' slide shows
(auto repeat)

Introduction to Garden
plus featured areas
Autumn
Begonias
Guiding
Lady Norwood Conservatory
Light and Sound Festival
Tulips

Also see menu item :
'Photo Gallery/
slide shows '
for list

50th Anniversary of the Lady Norwood Begonia House
Images of this event
25 November 2011

Commemorative plaque

Lady Norwood begonia house
Lady Norwood Rose Garden and fountain donated by the Norwood family in foreground

Mr Wayne Norwood about to 'open' the special tillandsia structure to commemorate the 50 years of the Begonia House.

Wayne Norwood talking at the function

Guests at the function

Guests at the function

Special speaker Professor Swee Tan
addressing the guests

Guided walks (click link for details)
Guided Garden walks
Glow worms
Self guided walks (click link for details)
Downhill walk Cable Car to City
Kowhai Walk
Sculpture walk
Norwood Path
Self guided brochure walks
(Brochures available Treehouse and Begonia House)
Solander walk
Braile (Sensation) walk
Self guided walks
Native plant walks introduction
Pukatea walk
Waipiro walk

Visit the Wellington Botanic Garden on Facebook
CLICK HERE

Aerial views of the Garden
annotated to show the main garden features
CLICK TO VIEW

RUGBY WORLD CUP
As part of the celebration of this great event,
the Garden has planted the tulips themed in
honour of the many teams visiting this country.

IMAGES COURTESY WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL

The Garden has had a number of astronomical observatories, with a number still remaining.
For a historic review, CLICK HERE

Historic fence conservation. CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATON

Who was James Hector?

The first director of the Garden, he also held many significant positions from his arrival in Wellington in 1865 including keeper of time, director of the Dominion Museum, founder of the NZ Geological Survey (forerunner of the DSIR)and NZ Institute (forerunner of the Royal Society of NZ).
His story is to be found in a summer exhibition in the Treeshouse Information Centre in the Garden.
Well worth a visit.

Read his fascinating story James Hector click link
Page updated and extended 2/2/2012

Who was Albert Kellogg?

He was first to describe the giant Sequoya from America, a number of specimens which are found in the Garden

He supplied most of the North West American plants imported by James Hector, that became such a feature of this garden, including the commercially important Pinus radiata.

Read his fascinating story Albert Kellogg click link

Who was George Vernon Hudson?

A teenager when he first came to Wellington, he was the first to describe the life cycle of the native glow worn from specimens found in this Garden. His extensive insect collection eventually became the founding collecton of the Dominion Museum, subsequently Te Papa.

With an interest in astronomy, he wrote many articles on his star gazing in local papers, discovered a star, and was the first proponent of daylight saving. He used the observatory telescopes in the Garden in addition to his own.

Read his fascinating story George Vernon Hudson click link

Panoramic view of city from the Garden entrance at the Cable Car lookout

If you turn left exiting the Cable Car and go to the second lookout in front of the
Skyline Restaurant, you receive the best panoramic view of the city and harbour

View back to Wellington City across the harbour

Full site counter from 14.12.08
(Does not include pdf files) Site optimised for resolution of 1028 x 768.

Web master Phil Tomlinson can be contacted by e-mail
information@friendswbg.org.nz

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