Welcome, this is the Osca Monthly Where in Melbourne Puzzle page.
(There is a new puzzle posted at the beginning of every Month.)
WHERE IN MELBOURNE - JULY PUZZLE
This month's puzzle has not been solved and is revealed today, 28th July 2014.
Scroll down to read all about July's mystery location.
Clue 1 - 'Not all volcanoes are the same'
"Ok, I thought the palm tree would have helped suggesting that the location might be a park of some kind. I've also included the seat in the first clue. It appears to have been around for a while. But of course the big clue is the reference to a volcano. As with the other puzzles, this location is close to the heart of the city where volcanoes don't exactly abound."
"Never mind, it is time for another clue.
Clue 2 - 'Oh look, another palm tree. But this one is a different species'
PLEASE NOTE
"Unfortunately, at this point of updating the blog on the 28th to reveal the answer, one of those inexplicable computer things happened and the blog reverted to a draft from about 2 weeks ago.
I have lost all the post from clue 2 onwards and the work I did on the history.
Apologies.
I will attempt to re-build the article."
Clue 3 made a reference to the lovely green lawn, more species of plants and a garden setting.
Clue 4 went something like this -
In 1873, then curator of these gardens, William Guilfoyle had a bluestone reservoir built to solve watering problems. Inspired by tropical landscapes he'd seen in his travels, Guilfoyle designed and landscaped the reservoir to be reminiscent of a volcano.
When the gardens connected to mains water in the 1930's, the reservoir fell into disrepair, but it's been resurrected over the last few years by landscape architect Andrew Laidlaw.
And now for the Solution
This month's photo is of Guilfoyle's Volcano at the Botanic Gardens.
. . .
A little bit of history about Guilfoyle's Volcano.
William Robert Guilfoyle (1840-1912) was a landscape gardener and botanist, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens and responsible for the design of many parks and gardens in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
W R Guilfoyle
Born in Chelsea, England, to Charlotte (née Delafosse) and Michael Guilfoyle, a landscape gardener and nurseryman, the family migrated to Sydney in 1853. William Guilfoyle was educated at Lyndhurst College, Glebe where he received botanical instruction by William Woolls, William Sharp MacLeay and John MacGillivray, who all encouraged him to follow in his father's career.
In 1868 William Guilfoyle was appointed to the scientific staff of HMS Challenger that travelled around the Pacific Ocean.
HMS Challenger
He recorded the voyage with a series of watercolour sketches and a detailed account in the Sydney Mail. Guilfoyle settled in the Tweed River valley where he grew tobacco and sugar cane and first met the noted German botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller.
Australian Botany (1878)
In April 1873 Mueller created the genus Guilfoylia and described William Guilfoyle as "distinguished as a collector who evidenced great ardour" and held high hopes for his collecting ability. Mueller's opinion changed when Guilfoyle was appointed to take his place as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne on 21 July 1873.
Mueller accused Guilfoyle of being a "nurseryman with no claims to scientific knowledge whatever" and of getting the job due to being related to the wife of the responsible Minister and went on to subsequently abolish Guilfoylia as part of the genus of Cadellia in his botanical census of 1882.
His scientific and educational approach to the Botanic Gardens come in for criticism by influential Melburnians, who wanted a more aesthetic gardens for recreational use.
Plan of the Melbourne Botanic Garden by William R Guilfoyle - Director.
William Guilfoyle set about creating the Gardens’ world-famous "picturesque" landscape style.
Over the next 35 years, Guilfoyle sculpted sweeping lawns, meandering paths and glittering lakes, creating a series of vistas offering a surprise around every corner. The swamp and lagoon were separated from the Yarra River under the direction of Carlo Catani, a civil engineer with the Public Works Department, allowing Guilfoyle to create the chain of ornamental lakes further adding to the beauty of the gardens.
A feature of Guilfoyle’s designs were the erection of over a dozen structures in the Gardens, including pavlions, summer houses, rotundas and ‘temples’. These structures were generally located at junctions along the path system and took advantage of an attractive view. They were also practical buildings providing much needed shelter from Melbourne’s hot summer sun and unpredictable rain. The Rose Pavilion, for instance, was used for band recitals during the summer months.
The Rose pavillion.
Another, the "Temple of the Winds" monument was dedicated to Governor Charles La Trobe. The temple is composed of 10 columns instead of the normal 8 or 12 which are more easily divisible by the four points of the compass. According to historian Ken Duxbury, such structures added a picturesque charm to the landscape, highlighting points of visual interest along the trail of the paths and serving a role not dissimilar to the grottos, classical temples, follies, hermitages and pagodas along the circuit walks of the classic ‘English Landscape School’ gardens such as Stourhead.
The Temple of Winds monument to La Trobe.
In addition to these structures, Guilfoyle added a series of large iron archways to highlight entry to the rest houses and to mark points of transition like ‘doorways’. About ten of these archways still remain
Guilfoyle originally constructed his 'volcano' in 1876 with the aim of providing gravity-fed irrigation for the Botanic Gardens. It remained the main water supply until the 1930's, when the gardens were connected to the mains water and the reservoir fell into disrepair.
For many years there had been plans to reopen the volcano
to the public and finally in 2008 the project received the much needed
funding and work commenced.
Guilfolye, was quoted as saying, “Combine the useful with the ornamental.” The restoration by lanscape architect Andrew Laidlaw has made it into a reservoir
again. Combining the ornamental with the useful.
With an overall planting theme of
“Gardening for an Increasingly Dry Climate”, the design is aimed at showcasing plants that
perform well under such conditions.
Entrance to Guilfoyle's volcano.
With no original plans to go on, Andrew Laidlaw set out to evoke a volcanic eruption by using succulents, which when not watered turn red creating 'lava flows' right around the volcano and bold features including rocks that appear as if they have been blasted out of the volcano and strewn over the landscape.
Getting there:
Tram 8 will take you almost to the Volcano. Get off at the Corner of Domain Road and Park Street and walk into the gardens. It is right there. The Botanical Gardens can also be accessed from St Kilda Road – follow the signs to Guifoyle’s Volcano.
Parking:
1 hour free in Domain Road. Paid parking in Birdwood Avenue.
Opening Hours:-
The gardens are open from 7.30am to sunset every day of the year.
research links :
This page was last updated Monday July 28th 15:35PM AEST.
