CFRBGV Inc.

Friends in the Garden (FiGs)
2025-07-01 09:00 - 12:30, 2025-07-15 09:00 - 12:30, 2025-08-05 09:00 - 12:30, 2025-08-19 09:00 - 12:30, 2025-09-02 09:00 - 12:30 (Australia/Melbourne) | Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Come and join the FiGs group which meets every first and/or third Tuesday of the month.
Bring your gardening gloves, kneeling mat or knee pads, sun hat and water.
Find out more.

Botanic Illustrators
2025-07-02 10:00 - 15:00, 2025-07-16 10:00 - 15:00, 2025-08-06 10:00 - 15:00, 2025-08-20 10:00 - 15:00, 2025-09-03 10:00 - 15:00 | Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
The Botanical Illustrator group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 10am to 3 pm in the Elliot Centre.
Whether you are an artist, an aspiring artist or just dreaming about developing a new interest, you are welcome to come along and see what we do, get friendly advice and support.
Tea and coffee are provided, but BYO lunch.
For further information about the group, exhibitions or classes:
illustrators@rbgfriendscranbourne.org.au

Growing Friends meet every Thursday
2025-07-03 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-10 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-17 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-24 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-07-31 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-08-07 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-08-14 09:30 - 15:00, 2025-08-21 09:30 - 15:00 and 3 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.

Botanical Fabricators
2025-07-08 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-08-12 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-09-09 10:00 - 13:00 | Elliot Centre, Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
The Botanical Fabricators group meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 10am to 1pm in the Elliot Centre. Visitors and new members are always warmly welcomed, particularly if you are interested in textiles and textile crafts. Just phone or email Jenny Rollason (5998 2457 ) prior to your first visit for further information.
Please note that all Special Interest Group members must conform with the RBGV’s Child Safe Program – Find out more.

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

Botanical Weaving group
2025-07-27 10:00 - 16:00 | Elliot Centre, Ballarto Road/Botanic Drive, Cranbourne, Victoria, 3977, Australia
Botanical Weavers meet on the 4th Sunday of the month at the Elliot Centre, with two times available. One group meets in the morning from 10.00 to 12.30, and a second group meets in the afternoon, from 1.30 to 4.00.
New participants are welcome, and no experience is necessary. Participation involves a $5 donation for morning or afternoon tea (in either of the two small group sessions).
Find out more:

Botanical Weaving group

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.
