Hamilton Gardens

Infobox park
park=Hamilton Gardens


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location=Hamilton East
Hamilton
NZ
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opened=1960s
operator=Hamilton City Council
visitors=~600,000 per year
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Hamilton Gardens is a group of public gardens in the south of Hamilton owned and managed by Hamilton City Council in New Zealand. They are the Waikato Region's most popular visitor attraction, attracting 600,000 people and holding over 2000 events each year.Fact|date=May 2008 The gardens present the theme of the 'the story of gardens' and are divided into the Paradise, Productive, Fantasy, Cultivar and Landscape garden collections.

Hamilton Gardens is located between the bank of the Waikato River and State Highway 1. Entry to the gardens is free, with most gardens open from 7:30am to 6:00pm in winter and 7:00am to 8:00pm in summer. In the center of Hamilton Gardens is a convention center called the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion, a volunteer operated Information Center, the Turtle Lake Restaurant and the Turtle Lake Café.

The first development of gardens began in the early 1960s at what was then the city's waste disposal site. The first substantial development, the Rogers Rose Garden, was opened in 1971 in an attempt to block highway development over the site. Since 1982 many newly developed areas have been opened to the public. Additional features of the gardens include a lake walkway and a waterfall outlook.

Many services at the gardens are run by volunteers, including an Information Center, located centrally in the Lakeside court area.

Gardens

Paradise Garden Collection

*American Modernist Garden
*Chinese Scholars Garden
*English Flower Garden
*Japanese Garden of Contemplation
*Indian Char Bagh Garden
*Italian Renaissance Garden

Cultivar Garden Collection

*Hammond Camellia Garden
*New Zealand Cultivar Garden
*Rhododendron Lawn
*Rogers Rose Garden
*Victorian Flower Garden

Productive Garden Collection

*Herb Garden
*Kitchen Garden
*Maori Garden (under construction)
*Sustainable Backyard Garden

Landscape Garden Collection

*Bussaco Woodland
*Echo Bank Bush
*Hamilton East Cemetery
*Valley Walk

Annual events

*Hamilton Gardens Summer Festival
*The Pacific Rose Bowl Festival

External links

* [http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/ Hamilton Gardens] (official website)
* [http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/events.asp?PageID=2145827692 Event calendar] (from the official Hamilton Gardens website)