On the last Sunday of the month a free guided walk sets off from the Gardens’ Visitors Centre at 11am.

This Sunday, volunteer guide Heather Haughton will take visitors around the Botanic Gardens, which are now in a magnificent flush of spring colour.

“In particular, the Home Garden at the back of the Visitors Centre is a riot of reds, pinks and whites, while further down the track the Sandstone Garden is really coming into its own, as initial plantings burst into flower,” Heather said.

“The Home Garden’s plants were chosen for their suitability for use around the house; they are basically low growing, hardy and readily appreciated for their vivid colours.

“The Sandstone Garden’s layout replicates, on a small scale, the course of the Clyde River from its source on the sandstone plateau west of Milton down to Batemans Bay.”

Heather says that anyone who is familiar with typical Sydney sandstone plants will recognise many of the species now in flower.

“In the Sensory Garden, an extremely tall spike on a grass tree is attracting ants and flying insects to feed on its nectar,” she said.

Today, Friday, at the Gardens, the winning entries in the annual photo competition will be announced and the 2015 Gardens’ calendar depicting these entries will be launched.

The Gardens are open from 9am to 4pm Wednesday to Sunday (every day in school holidays) and located five kilometres south of Batemans Bay on the Princes Highway.