Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens - Latest News!

BGANZ Botanic Gardens Day

9/5/2019

Celebrated every May across Australia and New Zealand, Botanic Gardens Day is an invitation to rug up and visit your favourite botanic garden this autumn. Join us at Williamstown Botanic Garden for free activities on Sunday, 26 May 2019, 11.00am to 3.00pm.

11.00 am
Curator Chat
Get up to date with works planned for the gardens in a chat with WBG Curator, Shelley Wood.

12.00 noon
Postcard Tour
Explore the Gardens on a Postcard Tour. Learn about the early 1900’s craze for postcard sending and collecting and discover what these images and messages can tell us about the gardens.

1.30 pm
The Amazing Case of Dr Ward and Other Stories
Enjoy a botanic story with acclaimed, local storytellers Jackie Kerin and Sarah Depasquale. Join us as they take us back in time with the Amazing Case of Dr Ward and Other Stories” to meet a curious fellow who created an invention that changed the world!

All day
Nature, Reading, Art and a Cuppa
Discover our nature table, get cosy in our reading corner or get creative making your own collage garden art. Relax and enjoy a cuppa and chat with the Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens (us!)

Prizes and closing date for Paint the Gardens Art Competition

1/4/2019

Momentum is gathering for our Paint the Gardens Art Competition which will be held on Sunday 28th April and we've organised a delightful day for all to enjoy with entertainment, refreshments and activities for children.

We'd like to remind potential artists that the closing date for registering your artwork is 22nd April and we hope that you or your artistic friends have the opportunity to be involved. Please share!

OPEN
First Prize: $500
Highly Commended: $150 + $50 voucher
People's Choice: $150 + $50 voucher

YOUNG PERSON
First Prize: $150
2 x Highly Commended: $50 voucher(s)

TO ENTER: Please check our Conditions for Entry and contact us with the following information:
Name, email, contact number, title, size, medium and if you can supply an easel on the day.

We look forward to seeing your entry!

Shapes and Patterns of Williamstown Botanic Gardens

17/2/2019

Our biennial art competition, Paint the Gardens, will take place on Sunday, 28th April and we're already taking registrations for artwork based around the theme 'Shapes and Patterns of Williamstown Botanic Gardens'.

With free entry and prizes to be won, why not put your paintbrush, pencils or charcoal to work to create a masterpiece to be displayed along our Palm Avenue. Check our Conditions of Entry and contact us via our email williebotgardens@gmail.com.

Teddy Bears Picnic!

5/1/2019

If you go down to the Gardens today, you'd better go in disguise. If you go down to the Gardens today, you're in for a big surprise! For every bear that ever there was is gathered there for certain because today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic!

Date: Wednesday, 16th January
Time: 10.30 am
Place: Williamstown Botanic Gardens under the Golden Elm
Address: Cnr of Osborne and Giffard Streets Williamstown
BYO: Picnic, teddy and dress-ups!

This event is brought to you by Hobsons Bay Libraries and the Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens.

A Helping Hand over the Holidays

9/9/2018

The Spring school holidays are only two weeks away and we need volunteers to set out and put away our very popular Reading Corner. It's a great way to get involved and a joy to see children quietly immersed in reading and nature.
You only need to volunteer for a day or two by coming in around 9am and bringing out the books and cushions then returning around 3pm to put them away. If you're not already, why not become a member of the Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens for more opportunities, guest speakers and visits to other gardens.
Contact us on williebotgardens @ gmail.com

Save the Date!

9/9/2018

With spring in the air and warmer weather around the corner, it's an excellent time to visit Williamstown Botanical Gardens and be inspired to enter our bi-annual art competition, 'Paint the Gardens' which will be happening on Sunday 28th April 2019

The competition will be open with the theme based around our gardens. Standby for entry details.

Why not bring along a sketchpad and your preferred art medium to capture the beauty of the gardens. It's a lovely way to spend the day!

Garden Book Talk

30/7/2018

There is a whole lot more to a garden book than pictures of plants, descriptions of pests and information on soils and pH. Garden books can be about the world of gardens, inventions, travel and poetry. They can be sexy, scary, highly entertaining and deeply thought-provoking. Following Helen Page’s very popular presentation on garden books last year, we invite you and your friends to an encore and a further peek into her library. Helen says she has read several wonderful new books this year on gardens, trees, plant collecting, biographies and more, which she is looking forward to sharing with you.
Don’t forget to bring along your own favourite garden book to share with the group.

7.30pm, Monday 6th August 2018
Williamstown Croquet Club
104 Victoria Street, Williamstown

BGANZ Botanic Gardens Open Day

22/5/2018

Get arty with us this Sunday 27 May as part of Bganz Botanic Gardens Day - 11.00am to 3.00pm. Young ones and the young at heart can design a beautiful collage garden, stay on to enjoy the Reading Corner and listen in when storytellers Jackie Kerin and Sarah Depasquale weave their magic with “The Amazing Case of Dr Ward” at 1.30pm to 3.30pm. Free, no bookings required. Just rug up and come along! Please share!#bganz #botanicgardensday2018

The Magic of Spring

10/10/2017

Our hard work on a cold winter day has brought the magic of Spring to the gardens! Visitors have been delighted at the wonderful sight along our avenue of elms with a beautiful burst of colour from the many daffodils, jonquils and bluebells planted that day.

Thank you to everyone who was part of this special display. There are many ways we can become more involved with our gardens. You can join the Raking Team on Friday mornings, help set-up the Reading Corner during school holidays, come along on outings to other botanical gardens and other activities planned over the warmer months. If you're not a member, why not join and stay in the loop for more opportunities to contribute to our gardens.

Talk - Dry Stone Walls

4/8/2017

Our next General Meeting on Monday 7th August is a joint meeting with the Inner West Branch of the National Trust Victoria. It will feature a talk by Raylene Marshall, curator of 'a stone upon a stone', about Victoria's significant dry stone walls. Dry stone walls were used not only for fencing and walls as a result of land clearing but also by indigenous people for fish and eel traps. Find out more about these intriguing structures we take for granted on our rural landscapes.
Check your emails for details from Lindy. If you're not a member, please leave a comment below. Maybe consider becoming a member!