A New Year
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” ~ Mark Twain
Hamilton Gardens-New Zealand.
I’m still in the travel mode in my head, New Zealand was a mind blowing adventure, filled with wonderful people, stunning scenery, incredible plants and so many great gardens. It’s hard to get back in the groove of working when my mind wanders off to all the great things we saw on that adventure. But the reality is that alarm clock, I’m teaching a couple classes at the Community College this term, and propagating plants like crazy in between a million other things. I need to remind myself constantly of that Mark Twain quote.
I thought I would take a brief minute to share a few photos of the gardens visited in New Zealand. The botanical Gardens are free, which is hard enough to wrap your mind around when they all have amazing collections, flawless displays, conservatories and in the case of the Hamilton Gardens pictured above, a stunning array of hardscape features that one from the United States cannot fathom could be free to the public. Please visit the gallery to see some of these amazing gardens.
I might have to make this a two parter, as I started to realize a full gallery barely covers any of the gardens we saw. From some private rock and crevice gardens, to the botanic gardens at Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Auckland and the stunning, Hamilton Gardens. The Hamilton Gardens is literally like a Disneyland experience for horticulturalist, from jaw dropping themed gardens that open up as you walk through tunnels and through closed doors, it’s an experience I’ve never quite had before. The whole “garden room” concept is taken to another level as you go from the italian rennaisance, to an Indian Palace, to a garden party, a surrealist experience with moving structures clad in ivy and the shrunken feeling of an Alice in Wonderland. I have to say you should see Hamilton gardens at some point or you are missing out.
Aciphylla aurea at the the base of Mt. Cook.
I’ll try to get another one of these travel logs posted up, but stay tuned for a talk on the gardens and plants of New Zealand, hopefully coming to a garden club near you!
A couple of sunny days had me getting the rock garden cleaned up, in between potting up seedlings and rooted cuttings. I think it’s going to be a run of cold and clear for a bit which is great for getting the garden cleaned up at home.
Mark