On safari

In 2011, our garden is going to be in the Kerikeri Garden Safari. The organisers don't know it yet, and neither does my partner, but that's the plan. It's the only way I'll ever stay motivated, focused and energetic enough to do all the things that will have to be done before I can sit down on the terrace, look around me and say: "Brilliant. Now I can relax."
I'm slightly embarrassed that I've never been asked to be in the safari. You'd think, after 10 years of publishing a garden magazine, I'd have a garden that would excite and inspire. But like mechanics' cars and builders' houses, my garden has been more about desperation than inspiration for a shamefully long time.
It has only in the past five months made it on to the to-do list. Now, though, I'm on a roll, aware that, with the 2010 Kerikeri Garden Safari just a couple of weeks away, I've only 12 months to get it sorted for next year's.
I love that our garden safari, being in a subtropical area, is one of the earliest in the country. It's been running for 23 years now (that's a lot of safaris my garden hasn't made it into) and there are usually around 20 fabulous gardens to visit. Some are repeats and it's great being able to see the changes the owners have made during the year.
Judged in 2008 as a garden of national significance, Palmco has redeveloped its garden in hope of maintaining the award.
And Rolands Wood, an on-going Kerikeri Rotary project, has undergone even more transformation since it was last in the safari.
At the other end of the country is another of my absolute favourite garden events. It's the Dunedin Rhododendron Festival, which runs from October 17 to 25, and is entirely responsible for my continued efforts to grow rhodies in a less than ideal environment. There are more than 50 events on during the week including garden tours and demonstrations, along with plenty of art, food and wine.
Dunedin has an ideal climate for rhododendrons and azaleas which thrive in private gardens, as well as three gardens of national significance; the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, Larnach Castle and Glenfalloch Woodland gardens. The organisers have scored some top guests and are offering a gardening workshop with Tony Murrell, cooking classes with Judith Cullen and workshops with Fionna Hill.
The Taranaki Rhododendron and Garden Festival in New Plymouth follows hot on Dunedin's heels from October 29 to November 7. This year's programme includes guided walks, celebrity speakers, workshops and 50 open gardens, including 16 gardens of regional and national significance.
There are some great vegetable gardens to visit this year, including a big, rambling organic garden, a tidy, nursery-grown example, and a tiny urban patch.
The popular "Gardens in Development" category is included again in the hope of nurturing up-and-coming gardens and giving visitors an opportunity to see them develop during the year into quality gardens. (I'm hoping Kerikeri will also start this category so I can sneak in at the ground floor.)
Taranaki has captured the incredibly knowledgeable Lynda Hallinan as a guest speaker, as well as floral designer Fionna Hill. There's also a workshop on how to grow microgreens, and although I'm not entirely sure what microgreens are, I'm certain I need to be there.
I also need to be at the Hunter's Garden Festival in Marlborough from November 3 to 8. There are garden tours from the plains to the secluded inlets of the Marlborough Sounds, an art auction, workshops and a garden fete in Blenheim. And, of course, there's wine, too. It's one of the things they grow really well in Marlborough. Yep, book me in for all of that.
I'm not quite so desperate for the Coromandel's Pohutukawa Festival from November 19 to December 5 because I'm not a great pohutukawa fan. I know that's botanically incorrect but, hey, you can't love everything. I do, however, love the work of many of the Coromandel's artists, and the festival is well known for its art exhibitions, as well as the Whangamata Jazz Festival. That's reason enough to go.
Tauranga's Garden and Artfest has always been a standout event. I've been to several and the quality and diversity of the gardens on show is amazing. This year more than 80 Bay of Plenty gardens are open for the week-long festival and provide a backdrop for the work of many local artists in venues from small urban courtyards to rambling country estates. It's on from November 8 to 14.
Back in Auckland, the Jassy Dean Trust Garden Safari on Waiheke Island is on over the weekend of November 13 and 14. It's the 10th year of this exceptional festival, with gardens ranging from mad, artistic "island-style" spaces to fabulously upmarket showplaces. The great leveller is that Waiheke is a challenging environment for all gardeners with difficult soil, salt-laden winds and a lack of water, but if you didn't know that, you'd find it hard to believe.
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