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Home : The Gardens : Mount Lofty Botanic Garden

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden

Location and Map

Summit Road or Piccadilly Road
Crafers SA 5152 Australia
Phone: (+61 8) 8370 8370
Fax: (+61 8) 8339 6851

See Map of Mt Lofty Botanic Garden (300Kb PDF).

History

Photo: D. Jeisman

Less than half an hour from the city centre the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is on the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges.

This large hills garden in a spectacular setting overlooking Piccadilly Valley was started in 1952 and first opened to the public in 1977. It features plants from the cool climates of both the northern and southern hemispheres which do not grow well on the hot, dry Adelaide plains.

Between 1952 to 1977 Noel Lothian's vision and efforts resulted in the gradual acquisition by the SA Government of 80 ha of land on the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges for development as a Botanic Garden annexe for temperate plants (cool climate plants).

Formerly belonging to the Backhouse Estate, the land consists of seven intersecting valleys in a regeneration Stringy Bark Eucalyptus oblique forest. With an altitude of 600 - 700 ft, it is ideal for the planting of particular groups of plants in each valley and has an annual rainfall of 35 - 40 inches. It also has spectacular views down the Piccadilly Valley.

Part of the land had previously been used for market gardening with an aqueduct system still evident in parts of the Garden today. The original Stringy Barks had been felled to feed the ovens of Adelaide bakers or for use by the tanning trade.

Several walking trails take visitors up and down the seven valleys each dedicated to a particular plant groups including stunning massed displays of magnolias, rhododendrons, camellias, roses, and peonies, and Fern Gully has the richest collection of ferns in Australia. A fine collection of exotic deciduous trees make a breathtaking display in autumn.

A picnic lunch by the lakeside after an invigorating walk is just the thing to make a happy family day. Good walking shoes are recommended.

Collections and Displays

Photo: D. Jeisman

A cool temperate hills garden on the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges which has acidic soils and high rainfall. These conditions provide an ideal climate for groups of plants that find the Adelaide climate too harsh and dry.

Many native and exotic plants from the temperate world are displayed including collections of rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, viburnums, conifers and ferns.

Services and Facilities

Opening Times

• Weekdays 8.30 am - 4 pm.
• Weekends and public holidays 10 am - 5 pm.
• During daylight savings the Garden will close on weekends at 6 pm.
• Free admission.

Car parking available at the upper car park off Mawson Drive, or in the lower car park off Lampert Road.

Free Guided Walks

Every Thursday, 10:30 am (except if Christmas Day)

The Garden Guides conduct free 90 min guided walks in the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden leaving from the lower car park off Lampert Road.

Experience this 100 hectares of native bushland which has been transformed into a cool temperate garden of breathtaking displays which change constantly through the seasons.

ATCO Heritage Rose Garden
Formerly the National Species Rose Collection

This special collection of species roses displays the roses from which all modern roses have been bred. They are displayed in a linear taxonomic arrangement and are located in the northern corner of Mount Lofty Botanic Garden.

The species roses are grouped into sections based on the differences in characteristics of the flowers, foliage, prickles, hips and chromosome numbers. Some of these characteristics are visible, others are not. Each taxonomic group of roses is labelled to provide visitors with information specific to that group and individual rose species are also labelled. Developed in the late 1980's the collection continues to expand with the addition of new acquisitions grown by seed from known wild origin.

An adjacent display of labelled old fashioned roses derived from the species and their hybrids (eighteen different groups including Albas, Centifolias and Rugosas) are also part of this diverse educational resource.

The spring flowering, autumn foliage, ripening hips with their differing colours, shapes and sizes make an attractive display and is popular with rose lovers.

Stephen Forbes, Executive Director Botanic Gardens with Rick Brouwer, President ATCO Power Worldwide & Geoff Walshe, Executive Director ATCO Power Australia

ATCO Sponsorship

ATCO Power's sponsorship of the National Species Rose Collection will enable the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide to revitalise and enhance the heritage rose collection. It will also enable information and ideas for the collection to be enhanced so that the experience for visitors is further enriched.

Once fully revitalised, the ATCO Heritage Rose Garden will create a new, vibrant attraction that will improve visitor's knowledge and appreciation of the rose.

Design work for the revitalisation of collections has now commenced with the project due for completion over the next four years.

The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide gratefully acknowledges the support of ATCO Power. It is only through their partnership that this revitalisation project can take place.

BankSA Nature Trail

Photo: D. Jeisman

A self guiding walking trail.

The BankSA Nature Trail in the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is a popular self guiding walk which winds through a 7 ha area of natural scrub where visitors can discover native plants and animals in a managed but natural setting. The plants and animals on the trail vary with the season making it an interesting place to revisit at different times of the year. The bird life is remarkable.

The trail is an official alternative route for the Heysen Trail and is 850 m long and drops about 100 m, very steeply in some places. Good walking shoes are essential and care should be taken at all times, particularly in wet weather.

Ten points of interest are marked along the trail by numbered posts and a complementary brochure available at the start will help you find them and explain the ecology of the area. The trail can be started at either end and takes about one hour to walk.

The major over storey of the trail is Messmate stringybark Eucalyptus obliqua, the main tree of the Piccadilly Valley. At the turn of the century the whole valley was clear-felled with the exception of a few individual trees. The timber was harvested for use in the copper mines at Kanmantoo and as firewood in the factories of Adelaide.

Since then some parts of the valley have regenerated and, with the exception of competition from weeds and interruption by fire, a second generation forest has grown. As they walk BankSA Nature Trail walkers will discover the secrets of the understorey of this Eucalypt forest.