Gardeners open gates for Hospice
If
you fancy the thought of strolling around other people's gardens on
a summer's day, take note of the dates of the Heroic Garden Festival
on February 18 and 19.
Gardeners open their gates to the public for a fee with proceeds going to Mercy Hospice. There are gardens all over the Auckland isthmus to visit if you fancy a drive, but there are also plenty to see closer to home.
All of the gardeners will be available to chat to visitors on the day.
Eric Walton and Wayne Deed of Glendowie have a large subtropical garden which descends to a stream and water lily ponds and provides access to a neighbouring garden which is also part of the festival. This is a plantsman's garden with collections of palms, bamboo, gingers, canna, bromeliads, crinium and other subtropical plants.
Neighbours Glenn Crowther and Bruce Fraser have a mature subtropical garden created over the past 17 years. Palms underplanted with bromeliads, cordylines, and vireya encompass a pond and waterfall, leading down to the stream where garden art and sculpture are for sale. Visitors can follow the stream back to Eric and Wayne's garden.
See www.heroicgardens.org.nz. Tickets are $35 and allow access to mroe than 20 gardens over two days.