Download a printable visitors' brochure about the gardens.

 The Gardens:

	The Sculpture Garden
	The Fern Glade
	The Ephemeral Wetlands
	Walking Tracks The Lagoon Walk Whipbird Walk The Creek Walk
	Rare and Endangered Flora
	Birds in the Gardens
	Other Visiting Fauna
	Guided Walks See news item on this page
	Facilities for Visitors
	Maps:  Location  Map of the Gardens
	Coming Events
	Future Developments PHOTO GALLERY
	WET WET WET
	Brad Kinross Photos
	Then and Now Photos

 The Friends:

	Our wonderful Sponsors and Supporters
	About Us
	Recent Work
	Social Pages
	The Story of the Gardens
	Contact Us
	Inquire about Joining Us
	Interesting Links

Welcome to our Maroochy Botanic Gardens Friends' website. The Friends of the gardens are a group of volunteers who provide a labour of love in maintaining and improving the gardens to be enjoyed by all.

The gardens are a place of natural beauty, where people can enjoy peace and relaxation. Visitors can increase their knowledge and appreciation of plants, their significance and conservation, especially those native to the Sunshine Coast region and subtropical forests of South East Queensland.

The gardens are open every day, 7am to 5pm (April to October) and 7am to 6pm (November to March). Visitors are very welcome, to just sit and relax, or enjoy walking the tracks and trails, or to have a picnic on the grass or under the trees. You may like to book in for one of the guided walks or attend one of the special events held in the gardens from time to time. There is no admission charge at the gardens, but there may be an entry charge for some of the special events.

You can see a brief video introduction to the gardens by visiting the ABC 'Gardening Australia' website video pages (click here) and clicking on the last video at the bottom of the page.

Visitors are asked to respect some simple procedures that have been developed to protect the environment and flora and fauna of the gardens, and to make everyone's visit pleasant:

	Dogs or other domestic animals are not allowed in the gardens, excepting guide dogs for the blind
	Rubbish bins are NOT provided in the gardens - visitors are asked to take their rubbish away with them. This encourages a balance of fauna species in the gardens, rather than encouraging and favouring scavenging species.
	No camping or open fires (you can bring your own gas BBQ)

The Friends of the gardens are a very inclusive group who welcome new members to join them in their volunteer labours. If you would like to know more about the Friends, surf the Friends' web pages, but better still, come and introduce yourself. We are working in the gardens every Tuesday (excepting over Christmas/New Year) from about 7:30 am. To inquire about the Friends of MRBBG, just click here

Gardens information desk trial
The Friends are presently trialling the manning of an information desk for visitors to the gardens. The Info Desk is located in the Arts and Ecology Centre building, and is currently manned on Tuesdays and Fridays, 10am to 2pm. Call in for a brief tour around the A&E building, and to talk about the gardens. We are also looking for some more volunteers to help man the Info Desk at other times. Please talk to us if you think you can help out with this very enjoyable work. Training available. Contact Kevin via our email

Holidays Activities for Children
The Sunshine Coast Council runs a series of activities in the gardens for children during the school holidays. The next series are scheduled for June/July 2012. Watch here for further details

Maroochy Arts and Ecology Centre  in the Gardens
The new Arts and Ecology Centre was completed and officially opened in August. It is a lovely building with many special features - well worth inspecting. The landscaping around the building is one of those special features, and is a great example of using low maintenance local native plants to achieve a gorgeous garden.
For more information about the Arts and Ecology Centre, and upcoming centre events, please refer to the Sunshine Coast Council website

AUTUMN - A Blooming Good Time in the Gardens

Many of our natives are now in flower, so it is a great time to visit the gardens. After a number of dryer than normal years, 2011 has had good rainfall, always welcomed by the range of local native species at home in the gardens.

The local grevilleas and lillipillies flower for much of the year, but many sub-tropical species their display reaches a peak in autumn. Many of the ground cover plants are also in flower or coming into flower soon. Other species may have passed their bloom season, but their tender new foliage looks beautiful at the moment. Many of the ferns have never looked better, despite the four recent flood events in the gardens.

So it is a great time to visit the gardens, to get some ideas for your own garden, or just to enjoy our local natives when many of them are at their best.

Guided Walks now on Wednesdays

Trained volunteer Guides take walks on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. If you enjoy plants, and learning about our special native plants, their stories and uses, please meet the Guides at the Information Sign near the car park for a leisurely walk with us. Walks begin at 9 a.m. and last for an hour. During the hot months we take advantage of the shady, cool areas of the Gardens, including the Mossy Log area, the Fern Glade, the Friendship Colonnade and the Ephemeral Wetlands. Note: walks are no longer conducted on Fridays.

Guided walks for groups can be arranged for suitable times, mutually convenient for guide(s) and walkers. But time is required for organisation so please let us know at least a month in advance. Contact Margaret on 5445 3375.

If you are interested in training as a Guide, applications for a new intake begin soon. Please contact Margaret (5445 3375) for details.