Recent Events

The ‘Centenary Chats’ in March 2013 will focus on Celebration.  Hazel Davies will describe how Australian and exotic floras have been intrinsic to our culture when marking significant life and society milestones.

Hazel Davies is a Senior Floristry Teacher at the CIT Floristry Program. As well as teaching floristry over the past 12 years, Hazel has enjoyed an extensive career in floristry since 1978, including being Florist at the Sydney Opera House, and exhibiting at major centres such as the Floriade Exhibitions at the Canberra Centre and for the 2007 APEC Summit.

Addressing the theme of the Role of Women in Nation-building and Sport, Dr Penny Olsen will describe the women who illustrated and promoted Australian flora, and the influence of prominent botanist Baron von Mueller on their work. These Collecting Women were part of a worldwide interest in the science and art of native plants. Some undertook local and distant expeditions to capture images of these plants. Their art fostered a national appreciation of native plants.

Michael Bryce, Patron of the Friends of the ANBG, will talk about his travels with Australia’s first female Governor-General – his wife.

Michael Bryce is an architect and designer acknowledged in Australia and overseas for his distinguished work in graphic, urban and environmental design. Michael and Quentin Bryce were married in 1964. They have five children and ten grandchildren.

The bushfires that ravaged Canberra in 2003 were the catalyst for the creation of the National Arboretum Canberra first envisaged by the Burley Griffins. The National Arboretum, which will open in early 2013, provides an opportunity to conserve threatened species, a place for community recreation and a valuable resource for ongoing education and research.