Don visited the Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat at Galston, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The Asian-inspired garden is only six years old, but already it is one of the better gardens in Australia. It surrounds a Buddhist Temple where members of the Australian Buddhist Association gather for prayers, and it is not normally open to the public. The good news is that the garden is open on the 16th and 17th of October, 2004, as part of the Galston District Open Garden Weekend.

Flowering peaches

One of the highlights of the garden is a fine display of ornamental peaches (Prunus persica). This small, deciduous tree grows to around 4m x 4m (12' x 12'). There is a winter-flowering group that produces clusters of white, pink or rosy red flowers from the end of July to the end of August, and a spring-flowering group with a wider range of flower colours. A popular cultivar is 'Versicolor', which has white, semi-double flowers striped and splashed with rosy-red.

In front of the Hall of the Goddess of Mercy is a traditional koi pond, filled with very large, spectacularly coloured koi carp. Penjing (bonsai) on treated pine stands line the edges of the garden areas. Fruit from many trees in the garden is used inside the temple as offerings to Buddha. There is also a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa), which is reputed to be the tree that Buddha sat under when he attained enlightenment in India 2,548 years ago.

Further information

This garden will be open on 16-17 October, 9.30am - 4.30pm for the Galston District Open Garden Weekend.
Tickets are available at the Galston Library and Greenshades Nursery at Galston.
Phone: (02) 9653 1864 or 0411 285 203 or visit the website: www.geocities.com/galstongarden/

Copyright CTC Productions 2004