Send flowers to Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. At the 2021 census it had 111,973 residents, making it the third-largest inland city in Australia. The Western Freeway links it to Melbourne in approximately 90 minutes by road, and gold found nearby in 1851 turned the area into a boomtown that rivalled Melbourne for wealth.

Suburbs and areas

The inner established suburbs were laid out around the mining areas and include Ballarat East, Bakery Hill, Golden Point, Soldiers Hill, Black Hill, Brown Hill, Eureka, Canadian, Mount Pleasant, Redan, Sebastopol and Newington. Wendouree is the main suburban centre, with a large indoor shopping mall, and Wendouree West grew from a post-war housing estate. Mount Helen holds the main campus of Federation University, a few kilometres from the centre.

Buninyong is a separate local centre with its own police station, so if your recipient lives somewhere like that, double-check the address and include a phone number.

Gardens, the lake and the Begonia Festival

Ballarat lies at an elevation of 400 to 630 m, and the cooler climate suits begonias. The Ballarat Begonia Festival has run since 1953, when the first event was held on 12 March, and traditionally features floral displays, a parade along Sturt Street and a military tattoo. The festival was inspired by the Edinburgh Festival and was planned to be ready before the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens sit on the western shore of Lake Wendouree and cover 40 hectares. They include a large conservatory, a statuary pavilion with twelve white marble figures and Prime Ministers Avenue, with bronze busts of every Australian Prime Minister. Sturt Street itself has more than 2 km of central gardens. A posy of begonia-coloured blooms with a note about the festival would suit someone with a long Ballarat connection.

Cold weather and care

Ballarat has a moderate oceanic climate with four distinct seasons, and its altitude makes mean temperatures 3 to 5 degrees Celsius below Melbourne, especially in winter. July averages a maximum of 10.0 degrees and a minimum of 3.2 degrees. Temperatures can dip below freezing from May to September, and frosts and fog are regular sights.

A bouquet left on a front step on a frosty morning can chill, so ask for delivery to a workplace or arrange a time when someone is at home. In summer, the mean maximum for January is 25.1 degrees Celsius, but heatwaves happen, so the same advice applies about keeping stems out of the sun.

Sending to a hospital in Ballarat

The public hospital is Ballarat Base Hospital, run by Grampians Health Ballarat, which serves the entire region. The Queen Elizabeth Centre for aged care is on Ascot Street South. The largest private hospital in regional Victoria is the St John of God centre on Drummond Street North, established in 1915.

Ring the ward before you order, because some units do not accept flowers. Give the patient's full name and ward, and keep the arrangement small. For longer stays, a few cards and a gift for the recovery period can be a gentle alternative, and flowers can wait until the patient is home.

Local occasions

Ballarat's year includes the Royal South Street Eisteddfod, Australia's oldest and largest annual performing arts eisteddfod, conducted over twelve weeks, and SpringFest around Lake Wendouree, held since 2001. Sovereign Hill, a recreated 1850s gold mining settlement opened in 1970, draws visitors every year. These are good reasons to send flowers to a performer, a volunteer or a visitor staying in town.

Ballarat families mark Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May and Father's Day on the first Sunday in September, so for both aim to order early in the week.

Timing and sympathy flowers

Orders placed by 2pm on a weekday, or by 10am on a Saturday, in the recipient's time zone, can go out the same day. We do not deliver on Sundays. For a funeral, confirm the venue and time with the family or funeral director and check whether donations are preferred to flowers. Keep the colours soft, include your name on the card and arrange delivery before the service starts.

Did you know? The Ballarat Begonia Festival has been held since 12 March 1953 and was inspired by the Edinburgh Festival.