By Tanya Steele
The Australian Rhododendron Society has been honoured by local police after a plaque was recently installed at the Olinda Police Station to thank the group.
Olinda Police Station has publicly thanked the long-standing community group for a planting they did at the station in 2022 – which was meticulously planted with care by the Rhododendron Society members.
Olinda Police Officer Sergeant Amy Johnson said the garden is really starting to take shape.
“It looks really nice,” she said.
“We’re grateful for the time and preparation the society put in.”
Australian Rhododendron Society, Victorian branch Treasurer Prue Crome was part of the original group that planted the Olinda garden and said they came and planted the trees all in one day.
“They’re mostly all Australian hybrids,” she said.
“We teed it up with them and their gardener to prepare the site.”
Via a social media eye watch post on 13 September, Olinda Police posted photos of a plaque installed in dedication to the group.
“Olinda Police would like to thank the Australian Rhododendron Society, a plaque has been placed outside the police station in appreciation of their work,” read the post.
“We look forward to seeing their beautiful blooms for years to come.”
In its infant stages, the garden full of rhododendrons has now grown large enough to display more blooms.
The police secured the help of a local engraver to get the plaque installed Ms Crome said the station garden is a real showcase for rhododendrons.
“The display is magnificent, the colour they provide, and once they get a little bit mature, they start looking after themselves, because they’re shading their roots.”
Sergeant Roy Higgins was the officer who originally approached society to get the garden planting in motion.
The old Olinda police station used to be full of azaleas and the new location now has an established garden that is coming into its own.
“It looks inviting to the public,” said Sergeant Johnson.
The Australian Rhododendron Society themselves are very active in the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens and continue many works there.
“We’re there every Tuesday as active members – all our propagation facilities, all the green shade houses, the Vireya house, all the infrastructure, the gardens that are older, have all been done by the society over the years before Vic Parks came on the scene,” said Ms Crome.
The Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden hosts an impressive collection of 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 3,000 camellias, and 250,000 daffodils that burst into vibrant colour during spring and autumn.
It is home to Australia’s largest collection of unique rhododendron hybrids, both native and imported, which cannot be replicated or reintroduced.
Established in Victoria in 1960, the Australian Rhododendron Society’s goals have always been to foster interest in and share information about the Rhododendron genus, especially regarding species and hybrids that thrive in the Australian climate.
“At the botanic gardens, we do all the propagation for the rhododendron collection,” said Ms Crome.
“At the moment we’re doing a lot of succession planting, so looking at certain groups of rhododendrons, targeting those for propagation,” she said.
”We are the ones who initiate new planting, and succession plantings, once training what to do with rhododendrons.”
As spring finally begins to wind into warmer days the flower show across the Dandenong Ranges is in full swing and residents can visit the Dandenong Ranges Botanical Gardens to see many varieties of rhododendrons and also catch a glimpse of the budding police station garden as they drive through Olinda.
