Enhanced visitor experience: We've transformed the arrival experience by constructing a brand-new Visitor Centre creating a welcoming entry point to the Enclosed Gardens. Through this, we have also upgraded our venue spaces - all officially opened on 18 September 2024.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant flora of the South Pacific islands

The Pasifika Garden will display plants from the South Pacific islands and their closest equivalents. In the centre, a Samoan Fale Afalau shelter will provide an event or teaching space as well as screen the upper glass structure. Within a jungle setting productive plants would be grown such as the: yam, talo, ta’amu, sweet potato, arrowroot, sugar cane, ti, paper mulberry, pandanus, taro, banana, breadfruit; possibly the kava and coconut showing their use and cultivation.

Step back in time to the cloistered courtyards of the Middle Ages

From the fall of the Roman empire through to the 16th century, a distinctive form of medieval garden was the monastic, cloistered courtyard. The structure of the courts in this example are based on the ruins of St John of the Hermits Monastery in Sicily. One court is a simple Cloister Garth, which was a form of courtyard generally used by the monks for prayer and contemplation. The other is an Apothecary’s Garden, which supported the healing of the sick in a monastic hospital.

Experience the grandeur of European royalty through this dramatic theatrical garden

During the 18th and 19th centuries, European royalty developed dramatic theatrical gardens that included the elements of stage set design. These gardens weren’t just used for theatrical events, they provided a setting for important people to dress up in expensive clothes and powdered wigs and to be seen. This German or Austrian form will feature a Rococo / Baroque façade, large reflecting pool and two sculptural groups. This garden design has a direct association with classical music, linking it to the arts inspired theme of the Fantasy Collection.