For the last month there have been around 10,000 native plants and grasses adorning the front steps and forecourt of the State Library. This is Linda Tegg’s Grasslands installation, which aims to give us a peek at Melbourne’s indigenous landscape, when the ground was covered in flowering native grasses.

As the installation comes to a close on Sunday 23 November, we’re reflecting on Grasslands and its impact on the Library and our community. Located in one of Melbourne’s busiest public spaces, it invites plenty of public interaction … and the response has been great – each day people pause to take photos, sit among the grasses for lunch and ask questions about the plants. Our incredible volunteers have overheard all sorts of comments, from ‘Looks like you’re sitting in a country paddock’ to ‘Can it be made permanent?’.

We have had visitors interested in all sorts of topics, including a doctor who wanted a list of the plants to investigate allergies, an ecologist who pointed out that less than .01% of Victoria’s original grasslands remain, and a group that came to see the Yam daisy and Aboriginal food plants. Artist Linda Tegg said, ‘The recurrent response has been an expression of wonderment, followed by a comment about making it permanent. People have come up to say thank you.’

Over the last six weeks we have watched the Grasslands installation change and grow, with dominant grasses receding as other species extend and flower. There are just a few more days to come and experience the much-loved grasses before Sunday – don’t miss out.

The photos in this post were shared with us by the public. Share your own photo tagged as #LibraryGrasslands to win a flowering crate of grasses from the installation. Winners will be announced on Friday 21 November and need to be available to pick up their grasses on Sunday 23 November from 12-2pm. The remaining plants will be planted in Royal Park for all to enjoy.