Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden
The Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden is located on the Stuart Highway, 1.4 kilometres north of the Eyre Highway in Port Augusta West, South Australia. The garden was established in the 1980s and opened in September 1996. It is an initiative of the City of Port Augusta and corporate funding, and very limited state-government support.
The Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden was designed by the landscape architect, Grant Henderson. It features Australian and overseas plants from arid environments within its 250 hectares. Some of the aims of the Botanic Garden are to bring attention to arid-zone ecosystem conservation, draw attention to the economic significance of arid-zone agriculture and create a better understanding of the arid-zone environment amongst the general public.
The garden has an interpretive centre, cafe, gift shop, walking tracks and an eremophila garden. The eremophila garden contains around 155 different varieties, one of the largest collections of its kind. In 1988, a herbarium and meeting room for groups meetings and conferences was opened. The Botanic Garden is open 7 days a week, except Christmas Day, from 7:30 am to sunset.
