BotanicSydney

Our Millennium Cherry trees took their sweet time this year, blooming a couple of weeks later than they did in 2025. But judging by this spectacular display, it was worth the wait. These Sydney-bred beauties, a hybrid of the Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) and Taiwanese Cherry (Prunus campanulata), are drawing crowds of bees, Kookaburras, Magpies and Rainbow Lorikeets alike. Bred by Graeme Richards at the University of Western Sydney to thrive in Sydney's climate, the Millennium Cherry was named in h

Not all sweet treats come from a jar... 🍯🌳 For this National Tree Day, Paul is showing off one of the Garden's sweetest winter blooms, the Range Bloodwood (Corymbia abergiana). This Far North Queensland native is absolutely dripping with nectar, filling the air with a honey-like scent and attracting a lineup of hungry visitors. Think bees and birds by day, then possums and flying foxes on the night shift. . The best part? Its drooping branches bring the flowers right down to eye level, so you ca

Not an egg. Not AI. It's an orchid! Horticulturist Val Pintilie is in the Orchid House at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to introduce one of our most unexpected blooms. When Dendrobium thyrsiflorum flowers, its blooms unfurl to reveal what looks remarkably like tiny sunny-side-up eggs - with golden-yellow centres framed by pearl-white petals. Native to the Himalayas and northern Indochina, this orchid doesn't just produce one or two flowers. It creates spectacular cascading stems packed with do

Our ginkgo is turning gold 💛 Paul is giving us a main character moment with one of our youngest ginkgo trees. Look at that buttery-yellow glow! Ginkgo biloba is a literal icon. It’s the only survivor of a 200-million-year-old plant lineage (talk about resilience). Even wilder? Several ginkgos in Hiroshima survived the atomic bomb blast and are still standing. A descendant from one of those trees is currently growing over at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah in the new Camellia Garden, Ts

POV: you waited 5 days for this glow-up 😮‍🌸 Watch one of our orchid beauties, Rhyncholaeliocattleya ‘Pastoral Ave Maria’, bloom in this dreamy time-lapse. Captured by our Senior Horticulturist, Val Pintilie, this hybrid dates back to 1961 and clearly still knows how to make an entrance.

Look what’s arrived! 📚👀 The first advance copies of our new book What the Flora? are hot off the press and have landed at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Isn’t it beautiful? The book features over 50 real botanical illustrations, many of which are held in our collections at the Daniel Solander Library. What the Flora? will be hitting the shelves of retailers across the country from September 1. If you live in Australia and you pre-order a copy now, you can enter a draw to win a prize. Head to t

Ibis locking in Looks like it’s not just the humans flocking to the renewed Cadi Jam Ora Garden. Our resident ibis have also been spotted foraging and soaking up the new stories, knowledge and perspectives shared by First Nations Elders, community and guides like Tyra.

Cutting Cadi shapes🕺 Our First Nations Educators, Lachlan and Tyra, are pretty excited about the renewed Cadi Jam Ora Garden. So excited in fact, they decided to carve out some shapes (C-A-D-I shapes to be exact). It’s the first major refresh of the space since it opened for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The renewed area weaves in new storylines guided by the perspectives of First Nations people. Lachlan and Tyra were both involved in the collaborative project alongside Elders and the local First Na

Citrusy scented 🍋🌿 Behind Lachlan is the newly refreshed Cadi Jam Ora Garden, and today he's showing us the many uses of lemon-scented tea tree that grows within the garden. Despite the name, it’s not a tea tree in the Melaleuca genus. This native belongs to the Leptospermum genus, with leaves that release a fresh lemony aroma somewhere between citronella and a bush medicine cabinet. Traditionally, it can be used as an insect repellent, a soothing salve for bites and stings, and also brewed as a

One-minute guide to planting a camellia🌺 Join Horticulturist Ellen as she plants Camellia japonica ‘Volunteer’, a New Zealand cultivar that starts in frilly whites and pinks, then deepens to rich crimson tones. Japonicas prefer part shade and need space. Plant in slightly acidic soil (pH 5.5–6.5) and adjust with organic matter or sulphur if needed. Dig a hole twice as wide as the pot but no deeper, camellias have shallow roots. Use loamy, well-draining soil, position the plant carefully, and wat

It might be winter in Australia, but that won't stop us entering the WATERLILY WEIGH-OFF 2025 💪 We've assembled a team of horticulturists (and maybe one work experience student) to participate in the sporting event of the year. We've got some stiff competition but we're feeling pretty confident about our chances... TAKE THAT! We're pretty certain that we've won, but if you doubt us you might want to check out some of the other entries. Thanks to @denverbotanic for the challenge - see you at the

A touch of Victorian drama and a Lynchian twist inspired Putricia the Corpse Flower’s throne. #WeWatchTheFlower #WeDoNotRushPutricia