fitzroy gardens in melbourne city

victoria is called the garden state, not for nothing; there are so many parks and gardens within the central business district of melbourne itself. besides the royal botanic gardens, there are, among others, the treasury and fitzroy gardens, king's domain, alexandra gardens, queen victoria gardens, flagstaff gardens and the royal park. i visited fitzroy gardens recently.

the most notable feature of fitzroy gardens is the wonderful trees that line the many pathways. in the above picture, you see an avenue of majestic trees lining one of the pathways in the gardens.

fitroy gardens are of historical, aesthetic, architectural, scientific and social significance to the state of victoria.

i had wondered why many of the trees in fitzroy gardens have this protective cover around part of its trunk. i was to learn later that it is to protect the bark from attack by possums. i looked around but did not see any possum. i was told that the possums normally appear after dark. some people do go at night to see and feed the possums.



the conservatory is open every day from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. there are five different displays each year. it is used by tourists, school students and families and anyone who wants to capture a moment of floral beauty.




the captain cook's cottage, originally in britain, was bought by a prominent melbournian and presented to the people of the state of victoria. in 1933, it was dismantled and shipped to melbourne in 253 packing cases. a site in fitzroy gardens, with large european trees, was selected to complement the cottage. you have to pay a small fee to see the inside of the cottage.




there is a small ornamental lake in this part of the gardens. actually, this part of the gardens is called the treasury gardens. if you go to larger parks, like albert park, you will come across hundreds of ducks, black swans, white swans and other kinds of birds.

the other attractions in fitzroy gardens include the fairies tree - a favourite with children, the tudor village and the sinclair's cottage.