History

A GARDEN THROUGH TIME

Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' and Blue-faced Honeyeater.

Photographer : Ann Thompson

Myall Park Botanic Garden is more than a beautiful place where people can find respite and inspiration. It is a refuge for biological treasures from all around Australia, an outdoor classroom where people can acquire knowledge and motivation to be stewards of the plant and animals in our communities.

This Garden is in an ideal location to feature plants from semi-arid, arid and dry tropical regions. Soil types differ throughout the Garden and range from neutral softer grey brigalow soil, light loams over clays, to red lateritic acid gravel ridge. A significant feature of the ridge is the deep grey/blue water holding layer of clay which allows for the cultivation of deep rooted large trees.

The landscape so intrigued Garden founder Mr Dave Gordon that in 1941 he set out clearing parts of the ridge and surrounding slopes to take advantage of the diverse terrain. In these areas he visualised a collection of Australian plants. Experienced collectors were sent around Australia and many species, some no longer found in their natural environments, were returned for propagation.

The Directors of Myall Park Botanic Garden continue to add to the original collection and develop additional projects such as management of the natural environment, accommodation for visitors, links with art and science, and an extensive educational programme for adults and children. Overall the Garden contains over 700 Australian plant species, of these 200 are native to the local western Darling Downs region.

Most of the work carried out at the Garden is done by volunteers, from the Directors to the many people who may travel hundreds of kilometres to offer days of continuous work in the Garden proper and in the important preservation areas such as the seed bank. Some visitors arrive for a night’s stop over and stay additional nights to offer valuable hours of assistance. Our extensive records of fauna species observed over time are often enhanced by these visitors’ observations.

History of the Garden

Portrait of Dave Gordon in his 100th year

by Victoria Cooper

Portrait of Dorothy Gordon by Jean Harslett

Dave & Dorothy Gordon

on the verandah at "Myall Park"

Dave's herbarium on the top floor

of the "Myall Park" house

The nursery in its heyday

The Garden owes its beginnings to amateur botanist, David Gordon A.M. (1899 - 2001) who had a life-long love affair with Australian plants.

The planted area of the Garden occupies approximately 90 hectares of Myall Park Botanic Garden's 132 hectares. Many species planted by Dave are now extremely rare, and in some cases extinct in their natural habitat. Seeds and cuttings were gathered from all over Australia in the 1950s by Dave, his family and employees, and propagated in the custom-built nursery.

The 1950s and early '60s were the heyday for Dave and his garden - with the help of gardeners and nursery men he planned his dream and made it come true. His wife Dorothy was an excellent artist, and Dave delighted in her botanical paintings. Family holidays became plant-hunting expeditions - everything at Myall Park rotated around the garden.

Dave envisaged creating new plants by hybridising certain desirable species, and on three different occasions he was rewarded by the discovery of new seedlings in his grevillea section. He named them after his daughters, G. 'Robyn Gordon', G. 'Sandra Gordon' and G. 'Merinda Gordon'. The first two have become best sellers in the Australian nursery industry, thanks to Dave's generosity in giving away cuttings without thought of payment.

Times change. Robyn died in 1969, and Dorothy in 1985. In addition, the wool boom years gave way to some of the toughest times known in the Queensland pastoral industry.

Dave's enthusiasm for his garden kept him going. The plants took their chances with nature, and the fittest survived. Visiting plant lovers continued to bring him treasures, and one of his greatest interests in later years was in waterlilies. Dave and other local land holders are given credit for saving the rare pink 'Undulla lily', Nymphaea gigantea var. neorosea, from extinction.

In 1988, determined to ensure his Garden's future, Dave invited a group of his family and friends to form a committee. This developed into the non-profit company, Myall Park Botanic Garden Ltd with aims modelled closely on Dave's love of Australian flora.

This enthusiastic group of volunteer directors now runs the Garden with assistance from a generous Friends committee, plus occasional grant funding and sponsorship.