Prince Edward to visit Botanic Gardens

Growing crowds at the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens are set to swell when Prince Edward visits

President of the Friends of the Gardens Joan Booth with Director of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Gary Davies at the new Lily Pad Deck. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

BOOMING visitor numbers at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens will receive a royal bolster this week when the gardens host Prince Edward.

The prince is expected to attract a crowd when he opens the new lily pad decks at the gardens on Tuesday, which is the only public event during the two-day royal visit.

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Gardens director Gary Davies said the new lily pad decks, built to replace a smaller deck over the historic lily pond, were designed to hold a crowd.

Mr Davies said the picturesque site was one of the most visited and photographed sections of the gardens.

“Many people come to have their wedding photographs here and numbers are growing,” he said.

The gardens are set for a bumper number of visitors this year, following a record 461,600 the financial year before.

In the year to date, from July to the end of February, numbers are already up 27,000. So far this financial year the gardens have had 332,000 visitors, compared with the 305,000 for the same period the year before.

Prince Edward will open the new lily pad decks at the gardens on Tuesday.

The $230,000 lily pad decks, built to cater for the growing numbers and to commemorate the garden’s bicentenary this year, have been supported through a $42,000 injection from the Friends of the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens.

Friends of the RTBG president Joan Booth said garden supporters were delighted that their efforts were being recognised with a royal visit.

“I think it’s an amazing coup for the gardens, which has played such a significant role in Tasmania’s history,” she said.

The lily pond was the original water reservoir used to water the whole gardens and is surrounded by 100-year-old trees.

The lilies themselves are also 100 years old, and were kept damp and alive for the two months the pond was drained for the building works.

Mr Davies said the resident duck population also survived the upgrade, and had already moved back in.

Prince Edward, left, will officially open the deck at 11am Tuesday, with the public invited to gather at 10.30am.

The prince, who arrives in Hobart tomorrow, will attend a number of engagements to allow him to meet young Tasmanians undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award — including students at St Aloysius Catholic College at Huntingfield.

He will also play a game of real tennis at the Hobart Real Tennis Club, attend a breakfast at TasTAFE Drysdale Restaurant and a luncheon at Government House.