A chance to see the rarest
Few people - even residents of Western Australia - will ever have the opportunity to see the State's endangered plants growing in their natural habitats, so we bring many of the rarest to you.
The 4600 square metre Conservation Garden is intended to eventually house approximately 400 species in a gently undulating landscape complete with a billabong and swales - depressions which become moist or even swampy following winter rainfall.
Plants are grouped according to region or type of country - such as granite outcrop, sand plain, northern and arid - with additional categories for critically endangered and winter-wet. Some spectacular favourites are represented such as species of Banksia, Darwinia, Dryandra, Eremophila, Grevillea and Verticordia.
If you are familiar with native gardens in Western Australia, some inclusions might surprise you. For example, silky eremophila (Eremophila nivea), a handsome shrub with silvery white foliage and violet flowers, is critically endangered yet it is also commercially available and widely planted in home gardens.
Interpretive signage explains why certain species in the Conservation Garden are threatened and highlights the successes of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority in pulling some plants back from the brink of extinction by using techniques ranging from DNA analysis to tissue culture.
The Authority acknowledges the vital contribution made by the Department of Environment and Conservation which collects the seeds of rare and endangered species in the wild and arranges translocation of plants when necessary.
In essence, the Conservation Garden is a visual consolidation of the essential and substantial work the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority undertakes to preserve Western Australia's precious biodiversity.
Community awareness is a positive factor in the conservation of our flora. The people of Western Australia have shown immense support for various conservation programs, and the Authority want to express its appreciation by bringing these beautiful plants to public viewing in Perth so that all visitors can understand and enjoy them.
Take an audio tour through the Conservation Garden
You can listen by clicking the play button below, download the file to your mp3 player or subscribe to receive BGPA podcasts that we release for certain events through the year, such as the Kings Park Festival.
Conservation Garden Tour
Download audio file (24 MB)