Trees preserved restore Camellia's history

The Camellias of St Ives have come home.

A preservation program saves trees and beautifies the new home for residents.

The much-loved trees of the former Camellia Grove Nursery have been replanted and are settling back in their old home, which is now the site of the new Bupa St Ives aged care home.

To preserve the history of the camellias, Bupa transplanted 50 camellia trees from the old nursery and cared for them offsite during the build and landscaping of the new home.

The camellia trees have now been transplanted back in time for spring and for the Bupa St Ives residents and community to enjoy.

Bupa St Ives General Manager John Kemsley said it was important to preserve the camellias and their history.

“The Camellia Grove Nursery was quite well known for people in the North Shore and I remember coming to the nursery with my family when I was younger to admire them.

“It was important to the community, to our residents and to Bupa that we preserve the legacy and beauty of the camellias.

The residents and staff love seeing the camellias; it’s wonderful. We went down to Bunnings the other day to buy more herbs and veggies for the garden too.”

The old Camellia Grove Nursery was established by the late Professor E.G. Waterhouse in 1939.

Bupa St Ives also has other links back to preserve the memory of the old nursery. The ground floor is split into two areas: Camellia Grove and Waterhouse Estate. Level 1 (Japonica Court) and Level 2 (Sasanqua Manor) are named after particular species of camellias, while Level 3’s activity area is called Treetops.