Centenary of Adelaide Botanic GardensPrint Page

The renovation of the Tropical House was undertaken to commemorate the centenary of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from 1855 to 1955.

The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a 51-hectare (130-acre) public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. Work was begun on the site in 1855, with its official opening to the public on 4 October 1857.

From the first official survey carried out for the map of Adelaide, Colonel William Light intended for the planned city to have a "botanical garden".  However attempts to establish a garden were abandoned owing to frequent flooding of the area. After second attempt had failed, the northern bank of the Torrens, opposite the present location of the Adelaide Zoo, was considered, and it was here in 1839 that John Bailey, an experienced gardener, made a third attempt, but no funding was offered.

The South Australian Agricultural and Horticultural Society (formed 1842) and other groups continued to press for the creation of a public garden. The public were aware of the economic and scientific benefits of such a garden, already seen elsewhere in the British Empire. In 1854 the present site was recommended to the government by the Society and George William Francis (who had begun appealing to the Governor Sir Henry Young soon after his arrival in 1849 to establish the garden), and Francis was appointed superintendent of the garden in 1855.

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