Such fantastic support

A new Gardens Explorer vehicle for 2016/17 year

RTBG Buggy

Driver: RTBG Board Chair Damien Bugg; Front seat: Joan Booth Friends; Doug Davies RTBG Board; Gary Davies RTBG Director

Thanks to a wonderful donation, the Friends of the RTBG have been able to purchase a new and much needed electric tour buggy for the Gardens. The new vehicle has improved capacity and functionality and will add significantly to the much in demand tours that have increased in popularity this spring and summer. The buggy will be used in conjunction with the existing older buggy for public tours, run principally by the wonderful volunteers of the RTBG. Our thanks to all.

Various tours are available, Buggy details HERE

 

 

Field work donation

Australian Plant Society (Hobart Group) President Bruce Champion, accompanied by Christine Howell and Chris Corbett donating a cheque for $3000

Australian Plant Society (Hobart Group) President Bruce Champion, accompanied by Christine Howell and Chris Corbett donating a cheque for $3000 to  RTBG Seed Bank Coordinator James Wood . (Left) RTBG Deputy Director Mark Fountain with Horticultural Botanist Natalie Tapson

Australian Plant Society (Hobart Group) President Bruce Champion, accompanied by Christine Howell and Chris Corbett donating a cheque for $3000 to the field work fund of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. This donation will assist in the 2015-16 collecting work planned on Tasmania’s West Coast. The RTBG would like to thank the Society for their very generous support.

A new Gardens vehicle

TORO Workman all purpose vehicle

TORO Workman all purpose vehicle

Management and staff gratefully acknowledge the support that is regularly provided by the Friends of the Gardens towards important projects and initiatives within the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
The Friends have recently provided the Gardens with a much needed new TORO Workman all purpose vehicle. The new vehicle is well suited to the terrain of the RTBG, switching from driving on bitumen to grass with ease, compared to the other vehicles that operated onsite in the past. It provides a comfortable ride for the driver and passenger and has a carrying capacity of about 400 kg. It runs on unleaded fuel and is relatively quiet. All together an ideal vehicle to assist staff in keeping the grounds to a world standard. Thanks again to the Friends for the wonderful support.

Support for the Gardens nursery

Mixed conservatory Orchids

Mixed orchid display in the RTBG conservatory

The Tasmanian Orchid Society (TOS) provides the Gardens nursery with an annual donation. The TOS has donated money to the unit in 2015 to assist us with the development of new growing facilities in the nursery. The donation is generally associated with the orchid collections but it also benefits the propagation and cultivation of other plant groups.

Some of the funds were used to purchase a new misting system in the propagation house and more recently we have created a new enclosed heated grow unit in Glasshouse 2 for our Amorphophallus titanum collection, as well as some additional benching for the nursery.

The RTBG has a close association with the Tas Orchid Society. The Orchid volunteer group (made up TOS members) work in the nursery every second Friday helping Margot White our senior nursery horticulturist in maintaining the Orchid collection.