George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens

You can do all of the following at the gardens any time of year:

• visit Eva’s Café in the historic Wesleyan Church
• walk through the rainforest and see the waterfall
  • the waterfall operates from 9am to 3pm
• see the different types of butterflies in the sensory garden
• have a barbecue next to the shady Borassus lawn
• see the tallest fountain in the Darwin area
• have a picnic on the lawns
• visit the gift shop selling local NT products
• take a photo of the 9m crocodile sculpture in the Africa Madagascar garden.

All of the following are activities for children:

• ride scooters or bikes on the garden paths
• play games on the heritage lawn
• climb up the birdcage tree house in the children’s playground
• play on the viking swing
• get a bird ID sheet from the Visitor and Event Centre
• find the five dinosaurs in the Cycad Garden.

You may see the following wildlife at the gardens:

• the Rufous owl in the rainforest
• giant spider webs throughout the gardens
• bush chooks (scrubfowl) digging in the gardens
• birds, snakes and possums.

There are two seasonal changes in the gardens:

• wet season - October to May
• dry season - May to October.

The following are flowers and other botanical plants you can enjoy:

• desert rose garden
• cycad garden
• frangipani
• boabs in the Africa Madagascar garden
• NT native plant collections in the woodland area
• tea pot boab tree and cannon ball tree
• bromeliads and orchids in the plant display house
• poinciana tree best in October or November

Plant Display House

Exotic plants and special seasonal displays including:

• Tropical orchids
• bromeliads.

Visitors are not permitted to pick any flowers in the gardens.

Cycads

Cycads are grown throughout the gardens.

NT, Australian and international cycads are displayed near the Geranium Street entrance.

Palms

Approximately 450 species, near or in the rainforest gully.

Rainforest gully

Waterfalls and ponds provide a setting for an established rainforest with an understorey of palms and shade plants.

Follow the boardwalk through the rainforest loop to see the magnificent trees.

Children's playground

A refreshing, safe and shady retreat for children and parents.

Native Top End plants

Planted throughout the gardens, particularly in the open woodland area.

Baobab collection

In the northern part of the gardens the baobab collection contains species from Africa and Madagascar.

Mangroves and coastal plants

These plants are on the beach side of Gilruth Avenue - a boardwalk forms part of a walking track to the museum.

The former Wesleyan Methodist church

This unique prefabricated church was designed, constructed and erected on Knuckey Street, Darwin in 1897.

It is one of the oldest churches in the NT.

In 2000 the church was moved and reassembled at the Gardens Road entrance.

The building now serves as Eva's Cafe.

Rufous owls

Rufous owls are often sighted in the gardens. You can read owl sighting book at the gift shop - it is regularly updated by visitors.

Desert rose display

See the vibrant desert roses.