| Author |
Message |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 71
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 4:20 am: |    |
Where to start, describing our Trillium Group trip to Oamaru on the South Island east coast, 11 gardens and a nursery in two days, how long have you got! Town gardens and country gardens, each stamped with their own character, all manner of unusual plants and interesting trees, wafting scents … and rain, rain, rain. We looked like an army of red pixies invading Oamaru, as a large contingent had called in at the nationwide cheap ‘n’ cheerful hardware store, the Warehouse, to buy waterproofs, gummies (wellingtons to you and me), brollies and spare socks.
Apologies for the photos (an underwater camera would have been useful) but in no particular order, here goes.
First off, Helen and Ian Alexander’s garden, an amzing oasis through the garden gate. Wide sweeping lawns behind the house, a closely planted cottage garden, then a rhododendron-lined walk leading down the paddock to the pond. Every so often you would be stopped by a drift of delicious scent and have to track it down. All sorts of exotic plants, including daturas and proteas, and blue corydalis growing like a weed.
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 72
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 4:37 am: | |
Another oasis, away up a hillside via a gravel road, to Robyn and Ian Kirk’s garden. What vision to turn a hillside into this vista. One thing I learnt from this weekend is that a collection of interesting plants does not a garden make. It was the trees that impressed me here, the Paulownia with its blue foxglove flowers, and Davidia, the handkerchief tree. Sopping wet handkerchieves on a day like this. And Metasequoia glyptostroboides, reminding me of the one I left behind in my garden in Yorkshire. I definitely need my own wood, and am casting acquisitive eyes over the reserve across the road. Wonder if the council would notice if a Paulownia appeared one day, and would they object?!
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 73
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 5:06 am: | |
Word had already got round that Bronwyn and Martin McCone’s garden was something special, and I doubt if there was one amongst us that wasn’t blown away. They have gardened here for 32 years, Bronwyn mostly taking care of the plants whilst Martin tends the grass. That’s an understatement, what a labour of love, the lawns here are of bowling green quality.
We started off in the display house, oohing and aahing over Bronwyn’s treasures, but it was the landscaping and the masses of unusual plants, set amongst mature trees and a huge variety of conifers, that linger in the mind’s eye. Trilliums everywhere, so many species and colour variants, a huge clump of Paris, a river of yellow trilliums meandering beneath the Prunus serrula, a dry pond, and a small pool looking so natural in a slight hollow. Form and texture and forty shades of green with the hostas and pulmonaria planting beneath a tree. Uncluttered and restful – well, restful for visitors but not for Bronwyn and Martin!
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Cliff Booker (Booker)
Advanced Member
Username: Booker
Post Number: 112
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 6:17 am: | |
Super stuff Doreen...please keep them coming!
Kindest regards,
Cliff |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 74
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:05 am: | |
Thanks, Cliff. Just had to stop for a meal break!
The last garden we visited - which some people unfortunately had to miss as they were facing a long drive home - was Joan Elder's, a renowned watercolour artist. Entering the garden there was a small area akin to a Japanese garden, with shallow water features which had me wondering where in my own garden I could put something similar. The garden consisted of winding paths, but the planning and planting was masterful, a sundial here, a seat there, as a focus, the heights of the plants carefully graded to form a bank either side of the path, with plants encroaching on the path to soften the edges. Here and there a splash of colour such as this lovely tiny-leaved coral-coloured maple, and again a borrowed view, this time of a majestic stand of eucalyptus. Don't think the council would take kindly to a stand of eucalyptus in My Reserve across the road though!
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Thomas Huber (Hubi1)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Hubi1
Post Number: 222
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:19 am: | |
Wonderful pictures, especially the Paulownia-flowers, Doreen!
I planted mine 3 years ago but had no flowers so far.
Does anybody know how long it will take until it flowers for the first time?
Thomas Huber, Neustadt/Hessen, Germany |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 75
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:50 am: | |
Thanks, Thomas. I know nothing about Paulownia, in fact I don't remember ever seeing it until I arrived in Oamaru, and there was one in its full glory in the Botanic Gardens.
In Bronwyn's garden I was very taken with some tiny clematis, the Australian native C. gentianoides, C. fusca, and a C. albicoma hybrid, the latter still in its pot (wish I'd had larger pockets!)
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 76
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 8:49 am: | |
Not long ago I posted a picture of my clothes post festooned with Clematis 'Sweet Hart', but here's a similar clematis at Bronwyn's threaded through with Tropaeolum tricolor. The clematis was perhaps a bit battered from the gales that swept through two days before our visit, but a very striking combination nevertheless.
A very different garden from the ones I've described so far was Linda and Bob Wilson's Stone Garden. This is more formal and makes extensive use of the local Oamaru stone, which is very smooth and white in colour. There were a number of different 'rooms' - a fernery, herb garden and Italianate pools for example - with long walks, and lots of old roses to come.
That's the lot for tonight, folks, maybe another instalment tomorrow. But if any of our hosts are lurking out there, a huge vote of thanks for sharing your gardens with us, it was a real privilege to visit, and we truly appreciate all the hard work and planning that went into the weekend.
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
John Forrest (Jof)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Jof
Post Number: 479
Registered: 12-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:36 pm: | |
Doreen
What a treat to have a guided tour of such beautiful gardens. I'm looking forward the next instalment.
John Forrest, Blackpool, North West England, UK |
Lesley Isabel Cox (Lcox)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Lcox
Post Number: 1035
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 8:45 pm: | |
HAve to join with John on this one Doreen, obviously a great weekend which I'm sorry I had to miss. Looking forward to more pics. But oh that rain! We didn't have a drop here and (for info of those up top) we're only 100 miles south of Oamaru and usually wetter.
Lesley Cox, Lower South Island, New Zealand |
dave toole (T00lie)
Intermediate Member
Username: T00lie
Post Number: 89
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 10:43 pm: | |
A terrific weekend.We saw some magnificent gardens.I kept running into Doreen ,so no wonder we seemed to take the same shots!.Although only some 4 hours drive from here ,it certainly is a different climate, with members of the Proteaceae family being able to be grown out in the open in many places.
The following are a few photies of larger growing shrubs that took my eye, followed by some smaller gems.
Protea sps.
Leucodendron sps.
Cantua buxifolia --A shrub of some 3/4 metres in height.(We also saw the attractive white form in the same garden).
Not a particularly good shot of a Trillium sps. with almost black petals.
Anemonella sps.
An usual coloured form of Trillium rivale
A treat for me.Although only a young plant --the first time i had come across what i think is Daphne petrea?? in flower.
Finally --In one garden --how i felt after taking all the sights/sounds/smells of 11 gardens in two days.
Sitting down on the job!.
Oops nearly forgot this one --an attractive leafed Trillium sps.
Cheers Dave
Dave Toole.Invercargill.Bottom of the South Island New Zealand .Zone 8. |
Susan More (Susan)
Intermediate Member
Username: Susan
Post Number: 70
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 4:49 am: | |
Well most of the week-end has been covered by Doreen and Dave, and I seem to have taken a lot of the same shots. Here are a few I managed to get. It was extremely wet and a Telopea or warratah was host to a couple of very wet bumble bees.
A tree I had not seen in flower before, Xanthoceras sorbifolia
Susan, Dunedin, New Zealand. |
Susan More (Susan)
Intermediate Member
Username: Susan
Post Number: 71
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 5:24 am: | |
A Paeony that may be one of the Coral series, either Coral Sunset or COral Charm maybe.
Finally, Dave actually did have that rest.
Susan, Dunedin, New Zealand. |
Cliff Booker (Booker)
Advanced Member
Username: Booker
Post Number: 113
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 6:30 am: | |
Well Dave...it looks like you went to pot initially and then turned into a real fun guy!!! Loved the hat!
Thanks Susan, Lesley, Doreen and barrel-chested Dave for these excellent glimpses into horticultural life Down Under.
Dave...your left knee isn't a patch on your other. |
dave toole (T00lie)
Intermediate Member
Username: T00lie
Post Number: 90
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 8:15 am: | |
Ha ha --very clever Susan.Cliff--some would say it's a good likeness however as it so happens ,i burnt my white gummys a few months ago.Cheers.
Barrel chested Dave .Invercargill.Bottom of the South Island New Zealand .Zone 8. |
Anthony Darby (Adarby)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Adarby
Post Number: 835
Registered: 6-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 9:32 am: | |
Mmm. They do look a bit burnt Dave. Maybe you should fawk out on a new pair?
Anthony Darby, Dunblane, Perthshire. |
John Forrest (Jof)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Jof
Post Number: 482
Registered: 12-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:25 pm: | |
Gosh! What can't you grow in N.Z.?
Seeing Dave there qiuetly contemplating his navel, reminded me of a visit in July to a local Open Garden. The owner greeted us at the door and quietly confided that she was not too happy with her F Plan Diet.
John Forrest, Blackpool, North West England, UK |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 77
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 8:50 am: | |
I know I said "hopefully another instalment tomorrow" but in the blink of an eye, nearly a week's gone by!
I'm glad to see you got a decent picture of the Cantua, Dave - it was blowing about so much in the breeze my photo was a dead loss. However, following an outing to Blue Mountain nursery's garden fete on Saturday, I'm now the proud owner of one. No idea how hardy it is; I'd better find out before next winter.
A couple more exotic plants from the Alexander's garden, where we saw the Cantua: a very happy-looking Aeonium and something I couldn't name, resembling a large bottlebrush.
I have to include a picture of Max Lory's wood, glades of rhododendrons and wonderful specimen trees, all delightfully laid out with an eye for light and shade and colour.
Bev Armstrong's, a short drive out of Oamaru, was not a big garden, but certainly packed a lot in, either side of a meandering path. A large clump of what-used-to-be-an-allium stopped us in our tracks - am I right in thinking it's now Nectaroscordum siculum?
And if you got the feeling you were being watched whilst in Bev's garden, you were not wrong. This guy's F-Plan Diet had worked so well, his torso was non-existent!
Wish I could have shared with you some photos of the town gardens we visited the first morning, as there were so many super plants and some real treasures packed into quite restricted spaces. But the rain was hammering down, and with visions of a rusted-up camera, the pictures are only in the mind's eye, so, nothing for it, you'll have to come and visit for yourselves!
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Lesley Isabel Cox (Lcox)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Lcox
Post Number: 1049
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 6:40 pm: | |
Doreen I'm far from sure but I wonder if the bottlebrush thingy could be a banksia?
Lesley Cox, Lower South Island, New Zealand |
Margaret Young (Myoung)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Myoung
Post Number: 622
Registered: 3-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 6:48 pm: | |
Nah! I reckon it's a lot of hamsters impaled on the branches by a butcher bird, ready to snack on later!!
M. Young, Aberdeen North East Scotland |
Doreen Mear (Doreen)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doreen
Post Number: 79
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 9:46 am: | |
In which case, my apologies, the pic should have gone on the wildlife page!
Doreen Mear, Wanaka (Middle of South Island) New Zealand |
Anthony Darby (Adarby)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Adarby
Post Number: 840
Registered: 6-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 10:11 am: | |
Perhaps you could use it to make jam and if it tastes rubbish use it as a mulch? You never know, it could could produce a carpet of blooms in the spring!? Daffodils? Silly me. You get tulips from hamster jam!
Anthony Darby, Dunblane, Perthshire. |
Anthony Darby (Adarby)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Adarby
Post Number: 843
Registered: 6-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 12:55 pm: | |
Looks very like Banksia serrata?
Anthony Darby, Dunblane, Perthshire. |
Lesley Isabel Cox (Lcox)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Lcox
Post Number: 1051
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 10:12 pm: | |
Doubt if it's hamsters. We don't have them here. But what about drowned rats, with all that rain?
Lesley Cox, Lower South Island, New Zealand |
Paul Tyerman (Tyerman)
Senior Member ( posting super hero)
Username: Tyerman
Post Number: 736
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 21, 2005 - 10:05 pm: | |
Wonderful pics all. Oh to have that much space for a garden. If you could see how everything is packed into my tiny little garden you'd wonder how I grow as many things as I do. Oh for some acreage!! LOL
These were some really wonderful gardens everyone. A real pleasure to be able to walk through them all with you. Thanks!!
Paul T. Canberra, Australia. |
|
Flowers and Foliage Now