Find a plant detail worth sharing

Start with a shape, look for a detail, then compare notes

Agree on a walk that leaves room to look

Start with SANBI’s garden map and choose a route that suits your group. Try asking, “Would we rather look closely along a shorter stretch or keep moving?” You do not need to cover the whole garden to give the outing a purpose.

Pick an outline that catches your eye

From the path, pause at a plant that draws your attention. Try describing its overall shape to each other: upright, rounded, spreading—or another word of your own. Which part made you choose that description?

Compare two leaf shapes

Where you can see different leaves without leaving the path, compare their outlines. Ask, “Which of these shapes would I recognise again?” A long narrow leaf and a broader one might give you different answers; there is no need to identify the species.

Look for a detail you nearly missed

Take a closer look from the path, keeping your hands clear of the plants. You might notice an edge, a visible vein or the way light catches a surface. Try asking, “What can you see from there that I haven’t spotted?” Look rather than picking or rubbing a leaf.

Change the scale of your looking

From another position on the path that suits your route, look at the planting as a whole again. Ask, “Does the detail we noticed still stand out, or do we see a different pattern now?” The change can be in your attention rather than a longer walk.

Take one observation into the conversation

Before moving on, each choose one detail to describe to the other person. Try, “Which shape will you remember, and what made you notice it?” Let their answer give you a reason to look again, without turning the visit into a plant-identification test.