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Australia
& New Zealand
Why
New Zealanders Love Their Gardens
New Zealanders
love their gardens. From the landscaped front lawns of their detached
suburban houses to public parks and gardens in New Zealand, there
are a wealth of botanic delights waiting to be discovered. The
country's mild, temperate climate, its north-south axis and range
of altitudes mean a wide variety of plants may be seen. These
range from subtropical to subantarctic species, often within a
couple of hours drive of each other.
New Zealand gardens boast a beautiful selection of native flowers
and trees, including the magnificent flowering pohutukawa
tree (known as New Zealand's Christmas tree because it flowers
in December) and the alpine Mount
Cook lily, the world's largest buttercup.
In many places,
garden tours in New Zealand include private as well as public
gardens. Some of the large private country gardens in the Eastland,
Manawatu-Wanganui, Wairarapa and Canterbury regions were former
estates and are quite spectacular.
The damp,
lower slopes of Mount Taranaki are renowned for their rhododendron
gardens, at their 'blooming best' in October, as are gardens in
Dunedin. Christchurch, known as the Garden City, is well named
with its extensive leafy parks and magnificent Botanic gardens.
The Ellerslie
Flower Show, held in November is the largest floral exhibition
in the Southern Hemisphere. It is held at the Auckland Regional
Botanic Gardens in Manukau City over five days on 5.5 hectares
surrounded by native bush. Not simply a display of flowers, Ellerslie
has become a major cultural event, showcasing lifestyle, art,
landscape and design, with creative displays of flowers and foliage.
There are more than 300 exhibits with many of the displays presented
taking months to build.
The picturesque
South Canterbury district of Timaru is gaining a reputation as
the rose garden of New Zealand. Roses thrive in Timaru because
it has plenty of sunshine, warm dry summers, cold winters and
definite seasons. Timaru is home to one of the world's most respected
rose experts, boasts an impressive collection of public and private
rose gardens and now it has its very own rose.
The new rose,
a pale, creamy, apricot known as the 'City of Timaru', has been
produced by famed British rosarian, David Austin, father of the
English rose. Possibly the largest of its kind in the Southern
Hemisphere the Timaru rose garden in New Zealand attracts rose
lovers from around the world.
The New
Zealand Gardens Trust provides a searchable Web site of gardens
in New Zealand, and the promotion of excellence in the open garden
sector through the setting of recognised credible standards. The
NZGT is working in partnership with Qualmark, New Zealand tourism's
official mark of quality, to encourage our best New Zealand gardens
to meet the high standards required of businesses operating in
the tourism market.
Related Web Sites:
newzealand.com
Destination
New Zealand
New
Zealand Gardens Open to Visit - Virtual Tours
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