CFRBGV Inc.

Raising Rarity - Presentation and Tours
2025-05-18 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Auditorium, Cnr Ballarto Road and Botanic Drive , Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Raising Rarity is an RBGV program designed to engage the wider community in the conservation of threatened Victorian plant species.
“With over a third of plants in Victoria listed as threatened, we need the help of the wider community to join us in our conservation efforts. With community involvement, we can grow more plants in more locations and in climates they may be better suited to” says Dr Meg Hirst, Seed Ecologist at RBGV.
Following ground-breaking work with school students, local government, and other botanic gardens, the newest aspect of this work is the possible commercialisation of a rare plant collection. RBGV is trialling rare plants in the nursery and research beds at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne with the aim of making these available for purchase by the public in 3 or 4 years. RBGV’s scientists and horticulturists are hoping to explore the ‘horticultural potential’ of each plant to determine whether it is suitable for inclusion in the program. The ultimate goal is to find endangered plants that are attractive and easy to grow, as possible sales will help preserve the plant for the future.
At our event, a presentation by Matt Henderson, Raising Rarity Project Officer (Horticulture) and Tash van Velzun, horticulturist and RBGV Education Officer, will be followed by two tours in the Australian Garden:
– to the Research Beds, to see rare plants currently being developed
– to the Eucalyptus Walk, to see wild-collected plants from which the rare plants may come.
This is your opportunity to find out more about this vital research which hopes to preserve our plants for the future; you may also wish to sign up to a special Raising Rarity newsletter.
To find out more and book:
https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/69552-raising-rarity-presentation-and-tours

Growing Friends meet every Thursday
2025-05-22 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-05-29 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-06-05 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-06-12 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-06-19 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-06-26 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-03 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-10 09:30 - 15:00 and 16 more dates | Growing Friends Nursery, Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Growing Friends meet every Thursday from 9:30AM to 3PM to help propagate a great variety of Australian native plants from cuttings and seeds.
More information about Growing Friends.
The nursery is open to Members on Thursdays as well, to allow them buy plants from 10.00 – 2.00PM. Come along and select from a range of plants, many of which you will find in the Australian Garden.
Available: grasses, strap-leaved plants, climbers, groundcovers, indigenous plants, small & large bushes and trees.
Interested to be a member of Cranbourne Friends? Please check the Join us page.

Botanic Illustrator Ellis Rowan - statue proposed - talk by Stephen Ryan
2025-07-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Auditorium, Cnr Ballarto Road and Botanic Drive , Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Stephen Ryan, well known curator of Dicksonia Rare Plants in Mount Macedon, previous host of Gardening Australia, author, radio commentator heard on 3CR and ABC, will be speaking on Sunday 13th July at 2:00 pm, at the Auditorium in the RBGV Cranbourne, on his campaign for a life-size bronze sculpture of internationally renowned Australian botanical artist, naturalist, writer and explorer Ellis Rowan.
The statue will be located at Mt Macedon and sculptor Jennifer Mann has been commissioned by the Mount Macedon and District Horticultural Society (MMDHS, President Stephen Ryan) to prepare and undertake this project as a global movement for more statues of notable women in Australia continues.
This extraordinary woman was born in Melbourne in 1848 and passed away at Mt. Macedon in the family home in 1922. She travelled over vast tracts of Australia from Western Australia to Northern Queensland, also traversing the Torres Straits, New Guinea, North America, and India to name but a few. She negotiated places a white woman had yet to been seen in and for the most part did it solo. She painted over 3000 works mainly in watercolour and predominantly of flowers, birds and occasionally insects and butterflies. Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (Government Botanist of Victoria, Director of Melbourne Botanic Gardens) supported her work from an early age and assisted her in the identification of new plant species. She was probably the best-known Australian woman of her time worldwide and the National Library in Canberra holds about 1000 of her works, thought to be the largest collection by any artist held in a single institution anywhere in the world.
For more information: https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/73487-botanic-illustrator-ellis-rowan-statue-proposed-talk-by-stephen-ryan

Wattles and Wildlife: talk by Bill Aitchison
2025-07-20 14:00 - 15:30 | Auditorium, Cnr Ballarto Road and Botanic Drive , Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Did you know Koalas like eating the blossoms of acacias, and that it has been found that acacias are cooler than eucalypts, so on hot days Koalas tend to favour spending their time in acacias?
Acacias provide food, shelter and essential ecological functions, supporting a diverse range of animals, from pollinators like bees and birds to herbivores and small mammals.
To learn more, join us for a presentation by Bill Aitchison, leader of the Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA) Study Group who will be speaking on “Wattles and Wildlife” in the Auditorium at the RBGV Cranbourne from 2.00 pm on Sunday 20th July 2025. Additionally there is an opportunity to join a guided walk of the wattles in the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne with Barrie Gallacher from 11.00 am till 12.30 pm for an extra $10. There is a limit of 25 participants for the guided walks.
For more information and to book: https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/72999-wattles-and-wildlife-talk-by-bill-aitchison

Banksia Festival 2025
2025-08-16 - 2025-08-24 | Cranbourne Gardens, Corner of Ballarto Rd & Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Join the RBGV and the Cranbourne Friends for an exciting series of lectures, workshops, art and craft exhibition, book and plant sales, guided walks, and more, from Saturday 16th August to Sunday 24th August 2025, to celebrate Australian culture inspired by the plant genus Banksia.
To find out more and to get the full festival program, including booking information, head to https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/71798-banksia-festival-2025

How to Teach Nature Journaling
2025-09-06 10:00 - 15:00 | Auditorium, RBGV Cranbourne, Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
An opportunity to learn more about the practice and art of Nature Journaling, in an immersive 5 hour workshop. Suitable for those looking to develop their own personal practice more deeply, or who would like to develop skills to guide others through the process of connecting to, observing and recording nature in a creative way.
For more information, https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/75221-nature-journaling-workshops

Photo courtesy of Paula Peeters.

Introduction to Nature Journaling
2025-09-14 13:00 - 16:00 | Auditorium, RBGV Cranbourne, Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
A fun and welcoming 3 hour workshop, featuring an ‘Introduction’ to the world of Nature Journaling, for those who would like to explore and learn more about this creative practice and its myriad benefits. Paula Peeters will provide an overview about Nature Journaling, along with some tips and advice, before guiding participants through a series of activities within the gardens. Learning by doing!
For more information https://cranbournefriends.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/75221-nature-journaling-workshops

Photo courtesy of Paula Peeters.
