Garden Festival Season
/There’s a distinct whiff of spring in the air.
Despite the wintery southerly blasts that have recently come through, within the early crispness, it feels like the light is warmer and the birds are singing with a bit more gusto. No doubt I’m just romanticising the fact there is a cloudless blue sky out there, but I’m hopeful too that we’re another cog closer to warmth.
Spring is popping up in my inbox too with bright, energising announcements advertising upcoming garden festivals and tours. I laugh at myself sometimes when I realise what a kick I get out of exploring the opportunities on offer, considering only five years ago I wouldn’t have blinked an uninterested eyelid at them.
However, my formative experience as a fresh beginner attending Garden Marlborough in 2018 puts me in good stead to sing about all the inspiration that can be found, no matter your level of knowledge.
As a long-time design lover focused on interiors, I can safely say I had no idea that such incredible, private outdoor spaces were hidden away down driveways around the country.
I have eagerly attended more open gardens since, relishing the diversity in style, size and planting between each property and appreciating that a living canvas allows people to express themselves quite differently.
The vast rural gardens gave me as much inspiration as the small urban ones, as I gathered up plant names, combinations and digested the distinctly different atmospheres created within each. There are springtime horticultural events to suit everyone’s varying interests.
Paripuma is a sprawling native garden based on formal design principles. You can find it on the East Coast Tour of Garden Marlborough.
Some on my radar include the upcoming Botanical Expo at the Lincoln Events Centre, just outside Christchurch. I visited this in 2019 and was blown away by the huge display of daffodil specimens, alpine plants and floral art. This year, on September 11 and 12, they are also adding a number of new workshops, including tool sharpening, vegetable growing, houseplant propagation and seed sowing, amongst others.
***UPDATE: This has been unfortunately postponed with new dates and venue to be announced.
In my enthusiasm of the advantages found in visiting gardens as a beginner, I have joined with the Hurunui Garden Festival to host a series of free, informative garden walks with their clever owners during the upcoming event from October 28-31. This is a terrifically accessible, self-drive tour, priced at $10 per person at the gate of each garden you choose to visit. This year, they have also added artist studios, exhibitions, homestead visits and additional talks to their offering, which makes for a fantastic few days spent exploring the Hurunui, my own childhood turf.
Flaxmere garden is one of the 3 gardens which I’ll be hosting garden walks with the clever owners involved in the Hurunui Garden Festival. These are free to attend and aimed at beginners! A simple festival gate fee of $10 pp at the gate applies for general garden entry.
Also coming up in the Canterbury region is the Homegrown Garden Tour on November 6, encompassing five gardens in the Mayfield area. Each beautiful location will also host a great variety of stalls, which will only make the day out even better. Tickets are released on September 1.
Early November then sees the running of two of the country’s largest garden-focused events. There’s Garden Marlborough (November 4 to 7), with its slickly organised bus tour packages exploring phenomenal locations in the region, combined with their schedule of highly attended workshops and talks. This is a great festival to return to annually, exploring different tours and tapping into iconic, interesting speakers.
Meanwhile, in the North Island is the expansive Taranaki Garden Festival (October 29 to November 7). This 10-day celebration corrals a vast selection of diverse gardens, as well as huge list of package tours, workshops, talks, art exhibitions and food highlights. Set-price tickets can be purchased online and redeemed with garden entry as you go. I’m excited to be attending this year, for the first time.
Fabulous Welton House is part of the Wairau Tour at Garden Marlborough.
Art Garden is just one of 44 gardens that can be visited as part of this years Taranaki Garden Festival.
Photo credit - Jane Dove Juneau
Over November 6 and 7 you can enjoy the fabulous Wairarapa Garden Tour taking in 12 gardens, while further north you can find the Taupō Garden and Art Walk, showcasing 25 town and country gardens on November 20 and 21, with 21 one of these new to their biannual programme.
The Rotorua Festival of Gardens is taking place from November 12 to 14. Festival tickets allow access to more than 40 gardens open daily, plus free gardening workshops and the garden-themed market.
I’ve no doubt I am missing so many brilliant local tours from my list and I urge you to keep an eye out for opportunities close to home. Perhaps the best learning opportunities are from visiting gardens that share your environment and growing conditions.
This article was first featured in my Stuff ‘Homed’ gardening column for beginners , The Press, Dominion Post and other regional papers on August 12th 2021
All words and images are my own, taken in my home and garden in Christchurch, New Zealand unless otherwise captioned.
