Many gardens were open for the Taranaki Garden Festival and today we saw 3 of the best: Cairnhill Garden, Oakley Garden and the Puketarata Garden.
CAIRNHILL GARDEN
This garden is about 1 1/2 acres and was started from scratch over 50 years ago by the owner. This is what it looked like back then:
The owner loves Hosta Lilies and she has a lot of them:
Driveway and path photos:
Lawn areas:
Checkerboard garden:
Camellia sasanqua hedges:
Vegetable garden:
Fountain:
Yellow Peony:
Black Iris:
Rhododendrons:
OAKLEY GARDEN
This is a 1 1/2 acre garden where the owner is a horticulturist and has interest in propagating plants and growing them in pots.
Here are some photos of hanging pots:
Many of the special plants in the garden are in pot groupings:
Rhodohypoxis baurii
Plants for sale:
Garden pictures:
Special plants:
Poor Knight’s Lily (Xeronema callistemon)
Aristia capitata
Rhodohypoxis baurii
PUKETARATA GARDEN
This is a large country garden whose owner is a sheep farmer.
Long driveway:
This is a haha to keep the sheep out of their garden:
Views from the house:
Tennis court
Gardens around the house:
Perennial garden – listen for the birds:
Stokes’ Aster (Stokesia laevis)
Gladiolus carneus
Lupine and Heuchera
Allium
Cape Cowslip (Lachenalia cv.)
The property is 20 acres but a large portion of it, down the hill, has been donated to the National Trust for a perpetual open space.
