An introduction to Growing Native Plants

In the 1970s and early 1980s the Australian National Botanic Gardens (then known as Canberra Botanic Gardens) produced a landmark series of booklets called 'Growing Native Plants', issuing one volume a year for 14 years. This was at a time when little was available on this topic in commercial publishing.

With the private publication of 'Australian Native Plants' by John Wrigley and Murray Fagg in 1979 and the first volumes of the multi-part 'Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants' by Rodger Elliot and David Jones in the 1980s, there was less demand for the government to produce the series and it finished at Number 14.

This web version updates highlights from the series, making the information available to a much larger local and world audience. In recent years new profiles have been added, written by botanical interns and trainees as part of their training program with the Australian National Herbarium. The authors research each species and talk to the horticultural staff of the Gardens to gain further information.

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