House & garden

Plant your history

Beautiful bountiful bamboo

One of the most recognisable plants growing at Museums of History NSW today is bamboo. This colourful plant has a long history in colonial gardens

Picture from the Yokohama Nursery Company

Turning the leaves of Australian garden history

The Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection comes into bloom with a beautiful collection of rare Yokohama Nursery Company catalogues

From the collection: The garden year with Mr Bear

This charming children’s book was published in Sydney in late 1937 or early 1938 by the Australian seed company Arthur Yates & Co

Window cornice (detail), Drummoyne House NSW, c1870s

Drummoyne House window cornice

The carved window cornice from Drummoyne House is a rare example of Australian decorative arts

Man with curly hair being hugged by woman with headscarf holding drink and cigarette.

In conversation with Wendy Whiteley

Wendy Whiteley OAM talks about the significance of Lavender Bay in her extraordinary life as wife, muse, mother, and creator of a much-loved garden

Glass Wardian Case at Vaucluse House , used to transport and display plants and ferns
Plant your history

Wardian Cases and the Victorian Fern Craze

Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward was a physician who lived near the docklands in London's east. In 1829 he was having little success with his fern garden, however carefully he planted and tended to it