Mount Annan In Bloom
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
Paper daisies, great coffee, Australian art and a local Thai favourite — Mount Annan makes a very good case for staying WEST this spring.
Paper Daisy Festival 
The WEST Journal 
Melov Thai, Mt Annan
You don’t need to travel far to find something worth making a day of.
Come spring, Mount Annan puts on one of Western Sydney’s prettiest displays as thousands of paper daisies burst into colour across the Australian Botanic Garden. Pink, white and yellow blooms fill the landscape and suddenly one of South West Sydney’s favourite green spaces feels a little more like a wildflower field somewhere much further from home.
It’s also the perfect excuse to spend a day exploring Mount Annan, a hidden local gem.
WEST has put together the Mount Annan Paper Daisies Day Out — coffee, flowers, art, a little plant science and a very good Thai lunch, all without leaving the suburb.
Paper Daisy 
Paper Daisy 
Kids activities
START WITH COFFEE
First stop is The Garden’s Café, tucked inside the Australian Botanic Garden.
Grab your coffee - they pour one of our local favourites, Goliath Coffee - and settle in amongst the greenery before setting off. There are all the expected breakfast and lunch staples here too, but for this itinerary we’re using it as fuel for a morning of wandering. For those with little ones, there’s a great playground right next door – so let the kids run off some steam before heading to the daisies.
There’s something particularly good about starting the day inside the Gardens. No shopping centre car park, no rushing between appointments. Just coffee, fresh air and 400-odd hectares ahead of you.
Goliath Coffee 
Paper Daisies, Mt Annan 
The Gardens Cafe, Mt Annan
FIND THE PAPER DAISIES
Then, the main event.
Every spring, the Australian Botanic Garden becomes known for its spectacular paper daisies. Great carpets of colour appear amongst the native landscape, creating one of those distinctly Australian displays that feels almost too perfect to be real.
Naturally, this is your insta-worthy photo stop. But don’t make the mistake of taking one picture and moving on. Wander through slowly, look at the display from a few different angles and spend some time actually enjoying it. Paper daisies have that rare ability to be spectacular en masse and equally beautiful close up.
WEST Tip: head out on a bright day if you can. Paper daisies are daylight activated, meaning their flowers open in response to sunlight. So this might be one occasion when waiting for a blue-sky Western Sydney morning really does pay off.
Paper Daisy Festival 
Paper Daisy Paper Daisy Festival
FOLLOW THE ART
Once you’ve taken approximately 400 photos of flowers, keep exploring. Scattered throughout the Botanic Garden is a collection of sculptures and artworks that make wandering the grounds feel like an outdoor gallery. Some are bold and obvious, others seem to emerge quietly from the landscape.
It’s a nice reminder that the Gardens aren’t simply somewhere to look at plants. There’s art, design, science, history and culture woven throughout the landscape.
Make a loose sculpture hunt of it and see what you discover along the way.
Pinot Picasso Experience 
Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan 
Pinot Picasso Experience
STEP INSIDE THE AUSTRALIAN PLANTBANK
From the beauty of Australian plants above ground, head into the science helping protect them for the future.
The Australian PlantBank is one of those places you can live around the corner from for years without necessarily realising what happens inside.
Part research facility, part conservation centre, it is home to some incredibly important work around Australian plants and seeds. Visiting adds another dimension to the Gardens: suddenly the flowers, bushland and native species you’ve spent the morning walking through become part of a much bigger story. Take a tour if one lines up with your visit, or simply allow some time to explore. It’s interesting, unexpected and exactly the kind of place WEST loves finding in our own backyard.
Australian Plantbank 
Australian Plantbank 
Australian Plantbank
FINISH WITH THAI
By this point, you’ve totally earned your lunch.
Leave the Gardens and make the short trip over to Mount Annan Marketplace, where local favourite Melov Thai is waiting.
It’s a casual, warm neighbourhood restaurant serving all the Thai favourites you want after a few hours spent walking — fragrant curries, stir-fries, noodles and a very solid Pad Thai.
Order a few dishes for the table and call it a day well spent. The paper daisies might be what gets you there this spring, but Mount Annan gives you plenty of reasons to stay a little longer. Because sometimes the best day trip is much closer than you think.
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