Ixia viridiflora, or turquoise ixia, a rare South African plant imported and grown on Bastia Hill by Jean Stevens. Photo / Supplied
On Friday, June 11, Tim Smit, famous for his pioneering work on the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, prefaced a showing of Robin Kewell's Eden documentary, with a glowing, video endorsement of Whanganui's own "Save the Blooms on Bastia" project.
That on its own was worth going
to hear. What followed, however, was a masterfully produced, two-hour film, that highlighted just what can happen when vision meets electric enthusiasm.
The 90 people who filled the Davis Lecture Theatre were enthralled with Robin's slick documentary, filmed over the seven-year period of construction that transformed an empty quarry into two huge, climate-controlled ecosystems.
These fantastical greenhouses were constructed using eight geodesic domes, built to contain a diversity of plant species grown in climates far away from Cornwall.
This was a "warts and all" production filled with hope, despair, tension, and finally exuberance. To produce something unique and on such a large scale is bound to be both difficult and daunting. To succeed, and so well, was a triumph.
