Kings Park and Botanic Garden

It's wild out there!🌧️ For the safety of our volunteers and visitors, guided walks will be cancelled on Monday 1 June.

🍃⚠️ Severe Weather Sunday 31 May 2026 - Closures Notice ⚠️🍃

Please be aware the Lotterywest Federation Walkway and Rio Tinto Naturescape Kings Park are currently closed due to severe weather in the Perth region. Guided walks and the Friends of Kings Park Plant Sale have also been cancelled.

🌧️⚠️ Friends of Kings Park plant sale rescheduled ⚠️🌧️

Due to the heavy rain ☔️ forecasted for Sunday morning, the Friends of Kings Park plant sale has been cancelled and rescheduled to Sunday 7 June.

Watch the Friends of Kings Park page for more information. We hope to see you then!

It's happening! The set up for Lightscape 2026 is almost complete 🎉

The Western Australian Botanic Garden is transforming into an unforgettable after-dark experience you won't want to miss.

💫 Opening next week, Lightscape runs 5 June - 26 July.

To find out more and to book 👉 https://bit.ly/3QRS0Ee

Seed banks are the "behind-the-scenes" of ex-situ flora collections, helping to safeguard species for the future.

However, conservation is far more complex than simply placing seeds into storage. Many native species remain largely unexplored by science, and researchers still know very little about how their seeds survive, age, or germinate.

At Kings Park Science, researchers are expanding the ex-situ conservation collection to Myrtaceae species from south-west Western Australia that are potentially vulnerable to Myrtle Rust, an invasive fungal disease threatening hundreds of Myrtaceae across Australia.

This project is exploring major unknowns in seed biology, including how long seeds remain viable, what environmental cues are needed to break dormancy, and whether some species can survive conventional seed banking methods at all. Not all seeds respond to storage in the same way, making species-specific storage and germination protocols essential for long-term conservation success.

By uncovering these hidden traits, Kings Park Science is building the knowledge needed to protect Western Australia’s remarkable flora in a rapidly changing environment.

📷 Chenille Honeymyrtle (Melaleuca huegelii) germinated after dormancy treatment; PhD student Lauren Murfit preparing seeds for germination trial. Credit: E Au

Join the Kings Park Guides, Western Australia for a relaxing morning of walking, plants and art this Saturday! 👣

Nature has inspired many Australian artists to create wild and memorable artworks that live in the Western Australian Botanic Garden. Enjoy stories of heritage, history, artists and their relationship to our flora as you journey around the park with your Kings Park Volunteer Guide.

🌿 Nature in Art Guided Walk
📅 Saturday 30 May
🕕 10:30am - 12 noon
📍 Meet at the Guided Walks sign near the Visitor Information Centre
🎫 $10
👉 https://bit.ly/3EVhhYK

📷 'Symbiotica' sculpture at the Western Australian Botanic Garden entrance, Kings Park

Banksia splendida subsp. macrocarpa, meaning "splendid large fruit”, lives up to its name with impressive follicles that form after its stunning blooms 🤩

This compact shrub (up to 1.5m) is commonly called the 'Shaggy Dryandra' due to its downward turned buds, flowers and fruit. However, if you look underneath, you’ll find a beautiful surprise 🏵️

When collecting seed we gently rub the spent flower to release the follicles which are then burnt and left in an oven to slowly dry. After a few days it releases its seed.

In the wild this species grows south-west from Three Springs following the low Kwongan sandplains towards Badgingarra.

Although the Shaggy Dryandra is protected under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, we see it grow happily in the Western Australian Botanic Garden. Multiple specimens are flowering now around the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Memorial, down the hill from the Roe Gardens carpark 👀

📷 D Hamilton

Today marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week, which takes place from 27 May to 3 June each year 🖤💛❤️

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 is 'All In', a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day. 'All In' makes clear that we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation and that we must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.

This afternoon BGPA staff engaged in truth-telling with a screening of the 2024 documentary Genocide in the Wildflower State, a film exploring the events that took place in Western Australia between 1905 and 1972. You can find out more about the film here, and watch it on SBS OnDemand 👉 https://bit.ly/4dOcXrO

Tomorrow our team will enjoy a Noongar language workshop to celebrate culture and this Reconciliation Week's theme.

If you'd like to see what events are happening near you this week, visit the Reconciliation Australia website 👉 https://bit.ly/3USrIAo

📷 Beedawong Meeting Place, Western Australian Botanic Garden, D Blumer

'Little Lights in the Square' is set to transform Yagan Square into a glowing gateway to Lightscape from 5 June - 26 July ✨

Wander Yagan Square's playfully illuminated neon pathways to begin your Lightscape journey, then hop on the free Lightscape shuttle bus from Perth Busport to take you on the short trip up the hill to Kings Park to enjoy the full show 🚌

During the 2 weeks of July school holidays 'Little Lights in the Square' will shine even brighter with FREE entertainment from 5pm - 9pm.

Follow the glow! Start your Lightscape shuttle bus journey at 'Little Lights in the Square' and make your 2026 Lightscape experience even more memorable 🌈

Find out more about Little Lights in the Square 👉 https://bit.ly/496iKYb
Find out more about Lightscape 👉 https://bit.ly/4duvsRP