Although best known for its heritage roses, Tudor Park, near Invercargill, has much broader appeal, as Gillian Vine finds.
It seems appropriate that there are scores of old roses in Joyce Robins' garden as she is a former president of Heritage Roses New Zealand.
With the help of her husband, John, Joyce has created a splendid 1ha garden at Tudor Park, a 15-minute drive from the centre of Invercargill.
When the Robins bought the property in 1996, they employed landscaper Sarah Gunn to draw up a concept plan, extending the existing garden while retaining existing soft lines.
"She did a great job,'' John says.
Unlike many landscape plans, no plant suggestions were included, as Joyce had clear ideas of what she wanted to plant to create a fairly formal, English style to complement her roses.
As well as the all-important shelter, she wanted lots of trees around the perimeter, plenty of shrubs and enough perennials to ensure there were always flowers to put in the bedrooms of B&B guests.
Apart from a pair of golden elms, the trees are mainly smaller, deciduous types. They include a medlar, common whitebeam (Sorbus aria), flowering cherries (Prunus), Paulownia, dogwoods (Cornus) and numerous willow species.
In the Cornus group, Joyce's favourite is C. nuttallii, which has creamy-white flowers (actually bracts surrounding the true flowers) and lovely autumn colouring.
There is a large Malus x zumi Golden Hornet, dripping with yellow apples that are larger than those of most crab apples. In England, this decorative tree is widely planted to cross-fertilise other trees as it has a profusion of white flowers.
"I like the Malus. I think the Malus looks better than Prunus, as it's less flamboyant,'' Joyce says.
But the Prunus has its place, too, and in spring lots of snowdrops flower under them.
"I always dreamed of getting big drifts of snowdrops and it is now happening,'' Joyce says.
The willow collection is planted near a pond and includes her favourite, Salix daphnoides, the violet or daphne willow. It has small catkins in spring before the leaves appear and the stems have a white coating that gives it a frosted look, best seen in winter.
Tudor Park's paulownias rarely flower properly, not because of the climate but because native pigeons eat the buds. That is disappointing as the blooms of this Chinese native look like great purple foxgloves on the bare branches.
The trees look big for their relative youth.
"I had English people staying here who couldn't believe the growth in this garden in the time we've been here,'' Joyce says.
That is understandable, as the beautifully clipped hornbeam hedges in the central part of the garden look more like 50 years old than 10, as do the trees.
Reflecting Joyce's love of heritage varieties, roses clamber up sturdy structures and fill beds near the house.
She feels many people think of heritage roses as lovely but are put off by what they see as a short blooming period.
"With old roses, you don't just have one option. There are the flowers, then hips and autumn colour in their leaves,'' Joyce says.
One of the best perfumed and most perpetual flowering old roses is Stanwell Perpetual.
The soft pink-flowered shrub grows only a bit more than 1m, so is good for a smaller garden.
"It flowers on new growth, which is rather unusual for an old rose.''
The best time to appreciate the roses is usually late spring but at almost any time of year Tudor Park has plenty to attract the visitor, whether a homestay guest or there just to see the garden.
