Terry Dowdeswell is getting great enjoyment from his tiny garden plot in central Whanganui.
"It's just so rewarding to see people come and look at it. They stop and look and look, and they take the veges, and I hope that I'm showing you can grow something you can eat on a little patch and it doesn't have to be in rows," he said.
Mr Dowdeswell and his wife moved to Ingestre St in central Whanganui from rural Brunswick Rd a year ago. The former owner of Dowdeswell Delphiniums loves gardening.
"It's been my life. Not only that, I like doing different stuff. I don't do standard stuff. I like having fun and so I like to do what the plants tell me they want."
After selling the delphinium business to Katrina Hindmarsh the Dowdeswells moved and immediately went on holiday. But he put in an easy summer garden before they left.
He sprayed off the lawn, added topsoil and chicken manure and planted orange and yellow marigolds and blue delphiniums - in diagonal stripes.
The winter garden is different. They no longer using their garage and the Dowdeswells are foodies. Mr Dowdeswell planted vegetables and he gives away a couple bags a day - mainly of leafy greens at this stage.
He's got 12 varieties of ornamental kale - all edible- lots of lettuce types, red cabbages, two varieties of beetroot, two types of parsley, brussels sprouts, onions and carrots all growing in decorative patterns. It's quite a sight.
This year's summer garden comes next.
"I'm still thinking about it, but I want to gradually replace this with summer veges," Mr Dowdeswell said.