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Dawson Cactus Gardens

Other Name 571 NAPIER STREET, WHITE HILLS Location 571 Napier Street, WHITE HILLS VIC 3550 - Property No 174058 Level Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1] Dawson's Cactus Gardens &

Statement of Significance

Dawson's Cactus Garden is significant on a State-wide basis: as one of the most intact cactus gardens in Victoria, the plants not merely used as isolated specimens but forming a total design, and the collection of buildings such as the shade houses and quarantine shed which complement the plants; for its collection of outstanding individual specimens of cacti and succulents, amongst which are many plants imported in the period prior to restrictive quarantine embargoes; for the manner in which the garden reflects the hot and relatively dry local climate; for the retention of a mid-nineteenth century rendered brick residence, characteristic of Bendigo architecture and now romantically dwarfed by giant cacti and mature trees; for its contribution to the streetscape of the Midland Highway, a thoroughfare which contains notable gardens such as Rosalind Park, Lake Weeroona and White Hills Botanic Gardens; (and) historically as a noted specialist nursery responsible for the wide range of cacti and succulents throughout Australia.[1]