Up the garden path

New Zealand's most famous garden show, the Ellerslie International Flower Show, is gearing up for its third Christchurch outing in March. Green-fingered travel is a booming - or should that be blooming - travel trend. If you're visiting London or Paris, make time for my two favourite botanical treasures
Kew Gardens, London
Three hundred acres of botanical delights grace this public parkland, located on the south banks of the Thames River. Less than an hour from central London, Kew is close to Wimbledon and can easily be reached by tube, or a more leisurely option is to take a boat ride down the Thames from Westminster Pier.
Attracting several million visitors a year, Kew contains the most-visited gardens in the world. They are "Royal" because for many years they played host to Britain's monarchs. In the 1700s, Kings George II and George III extensively developed the site. George III commissioned the lauded landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown to create a park, and Kew Gardens flourished under George III's botanical director, Joseph Banks.
The acclaimed botanist, who accompanied Captain James Cook on his Pacific voyages, turned Kew into a magnificent depository of the world's plant species. Many New Zealand species were nurtured here in the late 1700s. In 1840, the royal family handed over Kew Gardens to the state, and it became the headquarters of the Royal Botanical Society.
It was during the Victorian age that many of Kew's exhibition greenhouses were developed. The show-stopping Palm and Temperate Houses are glorious riots of glass and iron. Constructed by Decimus Burton, the greenhouses were the inspiration for other celebrated Victorian structures, particularly Crystal Palace.
The Palm House features an aerial walkway which offers a bird's eye view of its lush, exotic wonders.
The most recent exhibition house to be built in Kew was opened in 1987. The Princess of Wales Conservatory is a display of the world's diverse climates. Housing plants in 10 different computer-controlled climatic zones, it's a fabulously presented microcosm of the world.
There is no mistaking Kew's regal heritage. One of the most popular sites is the former royal residence of Kew Palace. Built in 1631, it was the favourite home of George III and his wife Charlotte, who died here in 1818. Keep an eye out for Princess Elizabeth's treasured dolls' house.
Other notable sightseeing stops include Queen Charlotte's cottage and the 10-storey Chinese Pagoda, designed by William Chambers in 1761.
GIVERNY, FRANCE
Europe's most popular garden is undoubtedly the botanical splendour of Claude Monet's Giverny.
Located 75km north-west of Paris, the small hamlet of Giverny has become a shrine to the godfather of impressionist painting.
Claude Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883, and the artist's most acclaimed works, including Nympheas (Water Lilies), were painted here. The northern end of the property features Clos Normand, Monet's much-adored  pink-and-green house. The adjacent studio has become the main entrance to Monet's garden, which is a year-round tourist mecca.
Monet's symmetrically laid-out gardens became a labour of love and are guaranteed to please in all seasons. Through the spring and summer, daffodils, tulips, rhododendrons and wisteria are followed by an orgy of poppies and lilies. Through autumn and early winter, the garden is festooned with roses, sweet peas, dahlias, sunflowers and hollyhocks.
In 1895, Monet bought a neighbouring property and developed his water garden. Jardin d'Eau was bedecked in water lilies,  wisteria and the famous Japanese bridge, which has since been rebuilt.
Monet's instant fame as an impressionist painter inspired many American artists to flock to France in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Many of their works have been housed in a fine collection  in the suitably named Musee d'Art American - just 100m north of the main entrance to Monet's house.