At the end of February, I got myself out for the morning on a trip to Barangarro, a park in Sydney that is only a few years old (you can read about my first visit here). It is a very nice place to go for a walk around, especially when you need a break from the busy city streets. I am also a little disappointed as it could also a lot better, but I’ll explain that later as I am going to start with the things that I enjoyed looking at.

Barangaroo is a park that only contains plants of the Sydney harbour area, which I think is a great idea as they don’t always get celebrated as much as they should.

The first plant I enjoy looking at was this banksia, which is because of the fruit, which has the botanical term of a follicle. I think they are really odd looking things, but I’m a fan of odd looking plants. This particular species is the coast banksia, or Banksia integrifolia.

I do love a fern frond as it opens up. I think it’s the almost pre-historic but delicate looking leaves.

Callistemons are lovely trees with the flowers that do look like bottle brushes, which are their common name. Their flowers are also very vibrant colours, like in the two photos below. this species is the crimson bottlebrush, or Callistemon citrinus. Birds love the nectar contained within the flowers.

This flower that’s on the verge of opening up is from the species Banksia spinulosa, or the hairpin banksia. It is native to the east coast of Australia, from the state of Victoria in the south to Cairns (Queensland) in the north.

All the plants in the garden beds at Barangaroo are great, but I came away feeling a little underwhelmed. This is because it felt a little uncared for somehow. I was hoping to see a wider variety of plants, especially those that are flowering. I know that I have shown some flowers, but there are more plants that flower at the end of summer. Barangaroo is the perfect place to show some of these species.

I am going to visit again at different times of year to see how much the place changes and see if my views change. I could be a little critical too, as I spend all day every day working in gardens!