Illawarra Grevillea Park

Bulli, New South Wales, Australia, Australia

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Illawarra Grevillea Park is a not-for-profit botanical garden located in Bulli on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, at the foot of the Illawarra Escarpment just a 10-minute walk from Bulli Station, that was opened in 1993 by professional gardener Ray Brown and evolved from a 1980s backyard collection housing the Australian Plant Society's wild grevillea collection.

Set on 2.4 to 40 hectares of land (with 5 hectares of display gardens) about 1.5 hours south of Sydney with ocean views, the park is arguably the best of its kind in Australia and features an extensive collection of grevilleas including hundreds of cultivars, hybrids, and naturally occurring species, along with many other Australian native plants from all over the country, particularly prominent banksias.

The park houses rare and endangered plants such as Grevillea caleyi, Banksia vincuntia, and Eremophila delisseri, many of which have been grafted to grow in the humid NSW east coast climate, and includes multiple large colorful display gardens, a naturally occurring rainforest with a sensory trail and vine forest walk leading to an extremely old giant blackbutt tree, a small chapel, public toilets, parking, and picnic facilities. In 2022, the park was officially renamed and unveiled as the region's new Botanic Garden, adding a new sensory walk in the rainforest area.

The park is maintained entirely by volunteers and is only open to the public on seasonal open days on the first two weekends of May (Autumn), July (Winter), and September (Spring) each year from 10 am to 4 pm, with adult entry costing $7 and children entering free, while dogs on leash are welcome. Visitors can purchase an extensive range of native plants for sale, including the most extensive range of grafted grevilleas anywhere in NSW, plus gardening books at cheap prices in the chapel.