With my passion for macro photography growing, I try and find new sources of shooting, the garden at home offering only a limited selection of flowers, plants and bugs. I decided to look into some gardens around the area, and discovered Canterbury Gardens, in Canterbury, Victoria.
They are situated off Canterbury Rd and Mailing Road, as per map below:
As per the Boroondara Council website (http://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/our-city/parks-gardens/popular-gardens):
"Canterbury Gardens, located at 190B Canterbury Road, Canterbury, are an example of the Gardenesque style of gardens from the early 1900s.Today, a selection of established trees from this time survives but few of the original smaller plants still exist. The park features rolling lawns, specimen trees and superb, colourful displays of perennial borders and annual beds.The gardens are situated on an area of former market gardens and farms. In the 1850s W Creek, or West Creek as it became known, traversed the property and passed under a long culvert at the lowest point of Canterbury Road. This has since been sentunderground leaving the valley dry.The land was fenced in 1903 and named Canterbury Reserve after Viscount Canterbury the Governor of Victoria (1866–1873). Since the 1940s Carols by Candlelight has been held in the gardens, and it is a popular venue for local residents' celebrations – the setting is ideal for weddings – and recreation throughout the year."They are quite small in size, however, near the western entrance (off Chaucer Crescent) is a beautiful area with many different flowers, as well as a whole display of roses. There are also further beautiful bushes on the perimeter of the park, offering additional flowery bushes, visited by bees, butterflies and other insects.
This is a great opportunity to catch many varieties of macro and close-up photos, and even though I went around lunchtime on a very sunny day, I still managed to get a few shots (some of them posted on my +500px gallery - https://500px.com/GRoyer/sets/discover_canterbury_gardens):
I would highly recommend this little garden if you are in the area, either for a photography trip or just a nice stroll along the shadowed alleyways. Definitely worth a visit, and, in my case, another few visits. I'm also interested how the different trees and bushes will change with the seasons, offering no doubt endless photographic opportunities.
Please let me know if you have similarly discovered gardens like these, especially if you are a fellow photographer.
