Sometimes, I find that it’s nice to get out and about in a garden that I’ve been to before. On Friday, I fancied getting out somewhere in the sunshine without being at work, so I took myself off to Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens.

This border garden bed was pretty with lots of orange California poppies in it. It was bright and cheerful in the midday sun.

Fig trees are always interesting trees. The one in the picture below seems more than happy to be located on this rock. Nature, if left alone can do some interesting things.

This tree is Eucalyptus grandis, or flooded gum. A native of northern New South Wales and Queensland, it can reach fifty metres tall. It is a tree frequently grown for its timber, which is often used for flooring and furniture. I like this tree for its form and the colour of its bark.

From gum trees to bananas-botanic gardens are always interesting places where you don’t always know what plants you will see around the next corner. These bananas belong to the species Musa acuminata, native to Southern Asia.

The leaves of Cupressus cashmiriana, or the Kashmir cypress tree are rather pretty, especially when there is wind blowing through them.

This particular tree has featured many times on my blog, just because I find it so interesting. It is Ficus macrophylla f columnaris. This particular form of the Moreton Bay fig is restricted to Lord Howe Island and doesn’t have a single trunk-all its trunks come from aerial roots that come from the branches. I love how the tree looks, it is far more interesting than a ‘normal’ tree. Every time I visit the gardens here, I go and have a look at this tree just because I think it’s fabulously different.

As a comparison to the tree above, the tree below (again a well-justified favourite of mine) is Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay Fig. It is usually the first tree that I see on walking into the botanic gardens as I normally go in through the same gate. Both trees are the same species, but the one above is a sub-species of the one below. Both great trees-I just wish I had somewhere to plant an example of each!

Bamboo is one of those plants that can look good if cared for properly, like below. While not a group of plants that I’m especially fond of, bamboos can be a good addition to a garden if chosen wisely.

Tree roots were a thing on my walk around the botanic gardens. All these roots are from several examples of the species Ceiba speciosa or the floss silk tree, which is native to many countries in South America.

The buttress roots of Heritiera actinophylla, or black booyong. This tree is another Australian native tree, living in rainforests from New South Wales to Queensland.

Rhododendrons are far from favourite plants of mine. On saying that, I came across three seperate species or cultivars that were delightful on my trip (the flowers of which you can see in this post if you so choose: https://flat-cap-gardener.com/2025/08/29/flower-friday-29-08-25/). The bark of this particular rhododendron belongs to Rhododenzron ciliicalyx. The photo doesn’t quite pick it up properly, but there is a very nice bronze-like sheen to it. I really like this species of small tree.

I thoroughly enjoyed my walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. The weather was great, the sun was out and if I can’t be in the bush, a botanic garden is almost as good!