Festival celebrates creativity of gardeners

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the popular Garden and Art Festival in November - which includes 20 local gardens and a Family Garden Day at the Haiku Reserve.
Gardens opening their gates in the Katikati area include well-known Homewood (owned by Milenka and John Holwerda), the Burrwood Country Gardens at the top of Lund Rd, newcomers River Cottage on Willoughby Rd, and the rose-filled plot of Colleen Thwaites on Quarry Rd at Te Puna.
Orchestrating 65 gardeners, 70 artists, 40 sculptors, 20 speakers and five shipping containers, and the total transformation of a city park, conveys the task that has consumed the Bay of Plenty's Garden and Artfest organisers over the past year.
This seventh biennial festival, that has traditionally attracted thousands to enjoy a weeklong celebration of the creativity of gardeners and artists of the fertile coastal region of the Western Bay of Plenty, runs from November 8-14. While the 60-plus, predominantly private, gardens that open to the public that week are the focus of the festival - the event is expanding its range this year.
New directors, Jo Bond and Arne Herrmann, want to bring the festival even closer to the people in the Bay "and make it even more attractive to those who visit from outside the region".
Gardens have been "handpicked" to showcase the work of private gardeners in a range from sprawling country grounds, gardens themed to match the architectural style of homes, new and established gardens, to city courtyards.
Many garden owners have teamed up with local artists and craftspeople to create the largest exhibition of local art ever mounted at one time - and the festival has also secured an outdoor exhibition featuring the work of 40 New Zealand sculptors.
One of the stand-out hits will be the TVNZ Urban Transformation, which takes place in Masonic Park in Tauranga.
The revamped park will be transformed overnight into a fantasy forest created by collaboration between a local artist and a landscaper. The Urban Transformation will run for two weeks - lit at night and a soundscape by day.
Giant, bright garden images will adorn shipping containers placed around the region. 
Joining luminaries such as Peta Mathias and "bugman" Ruud Kleinpaste in the speaker series will be some Western Bay experts, including Trish Waugh on sustainable gardening, Shirley Kerr on fabulous fungi and David Clayton-Greene on landscaping for beginners.
Garden trail passes start at $29 for one day with early bird specials available until September 30; speakers and workshops are priced at under $10 and many attractions are free.