Calendar

Here you will find a calendar of Friends’ activities in the Gardens including lunchtime talks, social events, exhibitions and the ever-popular spring and autumn plant sales. In addition to events arranged by the Friends, we include some events arranged by the Gardens and by other organisations. A full list of events arranged by the Gardens is in their What’s On webpage.

Thursday talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November.  Talks last for 1 hour.  We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and thank all those who have donated.  Please note: unless otherwise indicated, talks are in the ANBG Theatrette.

It is a good idea to reserve a seat at the talks that you wish to attend; talks may be booked out very quickly.  Bookings can be made from about 30 days in advance until the night before the talk or until seating limits are reached.

The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Some summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au 

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  • Wattle bird at the Gardens

    Illuminate ’26

    Visitor Centre Gallery Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    The Photographic Group’s annual exhibition Illuminate’26 opens to the public on Thursday 5 November and runs until Sunday 29 November.
    It takes place in the ANBG Visitor Centre from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm daily.

  • A group of volunteers are removing Burgan weeds from Black Mountain.

    Black Mountain Weeding Work Party

    Caswell Drive entry on the mountain side Caswell Drive, Aranda, ACT, Australia

    Another opportunity to help remove hundreds of woody weeds from Black Mountain

    Free
  • Buyers at the 2026 Growing Friends Plant Sale

    Native Plants for Friends

    Growing Friends Shed, below the Banksia Centre ANBG, Clunies Ross Street, Canberra City, ACT, Australia

    In lieu of a Spring public sale this year, Growing Friends are offering Friends a selection of plants during November. All plants are sourced from within the Gardens and are $6 or more depending on the size of the pot.

  • Anna Howe ‘36 Views of a mountain, a tower and gardens’

    ANBG Theatrette Clunies Ross Street Acton ACT 2601, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    In this talk Anna compares photographs of Black Mountain and its tower to Hokusai’s 36 views of Mt Fuji and discusses how they might guide us to look at local scenes in different ways.

  • Kingsley Dixon ‘A life in the service of plants’

    The Cinema, Kambri Cultural Centre ANU

    Kingsley has spent a lifetime unlocking the mysteries of the Australian bush and now calls on us to help our plants, animals and landscapes to thrive and continue to define who we are as Australians. Abstract  Since I was a small child the Australian bush and its plants have been a boundless source of joy […]

  • Georgia Reed: ‘Digging into the Australian National Soil Archive’

    ANBG Theatrette Clunies Ross Street Acton ACT 2601, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Georgia will introduce the Australian National Soil Archive of over one hundred thousand samples, outline its history and significance, and discuss how archived soil collections contribute to contemporary research. Abstract What is a soil archive, and why do we preserve soil samples for the future? The Australian National Soil Archive contains over one hundred thousand […]

  • Arian McVeigh ‘ANU Kitchen Garden – a third space for students to connect with each other and nature and enjoy good food’

    ANBG Theatrette Clunies Ross Street Acton ACT 2601, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    The ANU Kitchen Garden Program provides opportunities for students to connect with each other and nature while they tend an organic community garden and share the produce they grow. Abstract The ANU Kitchen Garden Program creates opportunities for students to connect with each other and with nature through a focus on environmental sustainability and fresh, […]

  • Professor Tim Entwisle ‘Three Worlds Oak: The First Memoir of a Genus’

    ANBG Theatrette Clunies Ross Street Acton ACT 2601, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    A dying hybrid oak in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens sets off on a search for its parents, and in doing so reveals the extraordinary diversity of the genus Quercus. There is far more to oaks than the familiar English tree. Abstract In Tim Entwisle’s latest book, Three Worlds Oak, a dying hybrid oak in Melbourne’s […]