National+Rhododendron+Gardens

=National Rhododendron Garden= =media type="custom" key="6739095"= The Gardens began in 1960 with a land lease from the State Government and with the help of the Australian Rhododendron Society the gardens were born. Situated behind the hills town of Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, the gardens comprise 104 acres of volcanic clay loam soil and with a rainfal of 1000mm a year this makes ecellent conditions for the growing of Rhododendrons. Many of early plantings were propagated by the members,from their own gardens and collections and with the edition of exoctic spieces from such places as New Guinea, India and Nepal, the gardens have a wonderful collection. A visit to the gardens is fantastic and any time of the year, however they excel themselves in Spring when the Rhododendrons, Camellias and Magnolias are in full flower and also Autumn when the maples and other deciduous trees and shrubs are ablaze with colour. [|www.parkweb.vic.gov.au] media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=National+Rhododendron+Gardens,+Olinda,+Victoria,+Australia&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.095668,76.640625&ie=UTF8&hq=National+Rhododendron+Gardens,&hnear=Olinda+Victoria,+Australia&ll=-37.851247,145.369173&spn=0.014267,0.037422&z=14&iwloc=A&cid=11072920146425644004&output=embed" width="425" height="350"