By Parker McKenzie
The Australian Rhododendron Society Victoria has been caring for the Dandenong Ranges Botanical Garden in Olinda, the premier cool-climate garden in the state, since the 1960s.
Prue Crome, from the society, said she first joined when she wanted to work in the botanic gardens.
“Over the last 12 years it’s become a full-time job, I’m totally engaged in making sure the collections are safeguarded,” she said.
“The gardens were initially established by the Australian Rhododendron Society in the 1960s and it was allocated the land as a firebreak to Olinda by the then government of the day.”
The Dandenong Ranges Botanical Garden is home to 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 3,000 camellias and 250,000 daffodils of various species and colours. It hosts the largest collection of Australian and overseas-raised hybrids of rhododendrons, which cannot be re-bred or imported.
Ms Crome said the Rhododendron Society pushed for botanical garden status, which they successfully achieved.
“The original people who set up the garden weren’t just Rhododendron experts, they were full-on nurserymen, landscapers and they knew lots of plants,” she said.
“In those days you could bring in all sorts of exotic things that can no longer be put in. The collection is very broad.”
The society meets every Tuesday at the Botanical Garden to care for its wide array of plants and flowers.
Ms Crome said the volunteers from the society spend countless hours caring for cool climate plants in the garden.
“It really balances what is offered with the Royal Botanic Gardens with its collection, and then the Olinda Gardens has the things they can’t grow in Melbourne or Cranbourne,” she said.
“Sometimes a few of our members will go in there on another day of the week to do various jobs, particularly to do with irrigation.”
The Botanical Gardens is open daily from 10am to 5pm and is free to view.
Ms Crome said most of the infrastructure in the gardens was built by the society and has been upgraded over time with the help of Parks Victoria.
“We do a lot of maintenance of our structures and we are in the throes of refurbishing all of the shade houses,” she said.
“It’s a really friendly group who are passionate about all sorts of plants, not just rhododendrons.”
Ms Crome said the gardens were formally known as the National Rhododendron Garden.
“The collection is so important, not just to Victoria but also internationally,” she said.
“Aside from in New Zealand, we probably have the largest collection of rhododendrons in the southern hemisphere, and also some other plants, exotics like maples, magnolias and camellias.”
