The Ken Baker Orchid House
Ken Baker was a visionary and a moving force behind the establishment of the Botanic Gardens
Ken worked tirelessly in the 1980s to convince the then Beaudesert Shire Council to allocate the land to the garden club and also undertook the initial design for the gardens
Ken and Muriel Baker in 2006 – tireless workers for Botanic Gardens.
After Ken died, Muriel donated his orchid collection to the gardens and in September 2012 work commenced on clearing a section to build an orchid house as a living memorial to Ken Baker.
Curator Brian Davison and his team did a magnificient job of designing and constructing a safe and secure house for the orchids.
Many other members donated orchids and Nanette Cresswell and Sonia Wagstaff undertook the care of the rapidly growing collection.
In March 2014 the then Manager of the Gardens, Roger Lenehan, presided at the opening of the Orchid house attended by many members of Ken and Muriel Baker’s family
Some of the wonderful orchids on display.
The spectacular Stanhopea nigroviolacea (upside down orchid)
The showy, perfumed flowers are produced at the base of the pseudobulbs and grow vertically downwards through the potting medium and flower underneath the plant.
Overlooking the orchid house and deck over the lake.