Ellerslie move 'all about money'

Masterton botanical artist Kerry Carman says there are negative financial, and positive horticultural, implications to the purchase of the Ellerslie International Flower Show by Christchurch.
"It's all about money, the organisers have chosen to sell the brand to the Christchurch City Council and there are various stories going around, depending on who you listen to. Maggie Barry's contention on National Radio was that the Auckland people didn't even know that the brand had been put up for sale," the former Listener gardening columnist said.
Ellerslie is the biggest garden show in the Southern Hemisphere and is moving to the Garden City after 13 years in Auckland. "What has Christchurch bought? All the experience is still in Auckland, essentially they've just bought the brand."
However, Carman said the intention for the Ellerslie Flower Show had always been to replicate London's Chelsea Flower Show in a Southern Hemisphere setting.
"I'm cheering for the fact that it's gone to Christchurch, it's a natural home. Now we'll see more horticultural input."
Emulating Chelsea could never
happen in sub-tropical Auckland with its emphasis on hard design, landscaping, trade and sub-tropical plants instead of the temperate climate plants rhododendrons, lilies, roses, perennials and roses grown throughout the rest of the country, she said.
"Roses hate Auckland, they get black spot, turn up their toes and then die because of the humidity," she said.
Times-Age gardening columnist Gareth Winter said Carman was right on the button and backed up her views. "It's no longer a place for plants people. For Aucklanders garden is a noun, for people in Christchurch garden is a verb it's not something you have it's something you do. It's very much an Auckland-centred thing.
"The designers think like Aucklanders. It's called the Ellerslie Flower Show but it's not in Ellerslie and there's not many flowers, the emphasis is on hard landscaping and non-flowering plants and foliage.
"I think it's very interesting. My suspicion is that it's going to be a little bit more complicated than they imagine because I'm sure Auckland will replicate it with a show of some kind, Christchurch only bought the name," he said.
The Auckland Regional Council has promised a bigger, better flower show to replace Ellerslie, which ended its last show in Manukau at the weekend.
The five-day show attracted 65,000 people and injected about $14 million into the regional economy.
Carman said that she thought it was spurious for the show to continue in Christchurch under the Ellerslie banner.
"Ellerslie's a place, they should rename it to something more appropriate to the national scene or something for Christchurch and Canterbury. When they moved it to Manukau nine years ago and kept the Ellerslie name I thought that was silly.
"I'd rather see them rename it after a New Zealand icon, I'm sure they could come up with something more inspirational,' she said. "I've been following this with great interest. I've enjoyed Ellerslie in the past but Christchurch has the potential to be bigger and better and more satisfying to home gardeners. I'm hoping it will really take off and become a mini-Chelsea."