Top honour for North's down-to-earth lily breeder

Flower power has put Trevor Brljevich on top of the world.
The Northlander's hobby breeding zantedeschias (calla lilies) was rewarded when he was awarded a Royal Amalgamated Clubs for Flower and Bulb Culture medal while in Holland last month.
It was a very special honour. Only 14 other people had received the medal in the past 100 years, only three recipients have been from outside Holland and Mr Brljevich was the first zantedeschia breeder to get the award, the most prestigious in the world for flower and bulb culture.
The presentation caught the 75-year-old retired Maungaturoto dairy and beef farmer by surprise.
He had been battling to keep his eyes open during hours of speeches in, to him, incomprehensible Dutch at a flower breeders' conference when suddenly the language switched to English, he was given the heavy silver medal, everyone applauded and he had to say thank you.
"I was dumbfounded and in shock," Mr Brljevich said. "I didn't know the medal existed. I can't remember what I said."
He was "shouted" the trip to Holland by his business associates Sandra Simpson and Antony Toledo, from the Multiflora tissue culture laboratories in Auckland, who propagate flowers he has bred.
About 95 percent of zantedeschias grown commercially in New Zealand were developed by Mr Brljevich and Ms Simpson said he was the "backbone" of modern calla breeding.
"He is recognised as one of the founding fathers of spring or summer (coloured) zantedeschias," she said.
While in Holland, big-time flower breeders and growers pressed Mr Brljevich for the secrets of his success.
"They wanted to know what fertiliser I used and the pH of the soil I put the bulbs in. I had to say I sometimes used potato manure or a bit of blood and bone," he said, laughing over his horror at seeing the paperwork involved in high-tech modern flower production.
Mr Brljevich's methods are low-tech. He breeds zantedeschias in his backyard for his personal pleasure, not commercial gain, using techniques he learned from his father, the late Tony Brljevich, who bred tobacco in Dalmatia to raise money for his fare when he emigrated to New Zealand at age 16 early last century to avoid army conscription.
When Trevor was born in 1930 his father had a team of horses doing roadworks and had started breeding zantedeschias at home in Warkworth. The family later moved to Auckland, where Tony began growing carnations and zantedeschia cut flowers for sale, and was picking up a princely two shillings (20c) each for calla lily bulbs, which nobody else was producing.
Trevor and his brothers Frank and John had worked in the family gardens, picking up their father's knowledge of plant breeding.
In 1951 Tony's brother Joe needed help on his Maungaturoto dairy farm and 21-year-old Trevor went north to give his uncle a hand.
He started breeding zantedeschias using half a pod containing 30 seeds given to him by his father, who seldom parted with any plant material he considered might be personally useful.
Over the years he produced a range of commercially successful blooms, including Black Magic, Pacific Pink, Hazel Maria (named after his mother), Pink Persuasion, Harvest Moon, Majestic Red and Red Socks (named for the America's Cup campaign).
A recent hybrid, Passionfruit, starred at a big flower show he attended while he was in Holland.