Jean Galbraith

This is the story of Jean Galbraith, one of Australia’s most influential botanists and writers on nature, plants and gardens. During a writing career that spanned seventy years, she turned botanical writing into a literary art, developed new forms of garden writing in Australia, and was tireless in spreading knowledge of native plants. The magic of her writing delighted her readers. She put her vision of nature into words and helped Australians of all ages to see their own landscapes in new ways. This is also the story of a writer and her place, a valley in Gippsland, Victoria. The valley was fundamental to her being and the source of her inspiration. She celebrated the beauty of all she saw – a peppermint tree by her fence, a drift of wildflowers near a creek – but she was also witness to encroaching industrialisation that transformed her landscapes. Through telling the story of Jean Galbraith’s passion for nature and her simple life, of her writing and its farreaching influence, this book offers insights into Australia’s gardening, botanical and environmental history.