If romantic pictures aren’t your style, why not pack a picnic and bring you loved one to soak up the sun, top up your wairua/spirit and absorb the magical views from the rock gardens. Thinking it’s time to ask the big question? The botanic garden provides a bounty of spots that will surely help promote a "yes". For a floral backdrop, try your luck at the colourful herbaceous borders or for something with scenic impact stop by the gazebo in the rhododendron dell.
Who said Valentine’s should be just about love for humans?
We all know how much we rely on the rest of nature for our survival and wellbeing. In form and texture, colour and shape, plants have evolved to survive and interconnect with their surroundings. We can learn from them. Aroha mai, aroha atu. Love received, love returned.
Next time you pass the tree in your garden or smell that aromatic jasmine as you walk down the street, give it some love.
If you must buy a Valentine’s gift, a living plant will continue giving long after the flowers in the vase have wilted and the plastic packaging’s in the landfill. The leaves in the picture are from New Zealand native plants and are all cordate (heart-shaped).
Ask at your local native nursery for a special cordate-leaved plant for that special someone.
Garden Life is produced by Dunedin Botanic Garden. For further information contact Alisha Sherriff.
