A garden of small treasures delights Gillian Vine.
Having gardened on her 0.4ha property since 1986, Karitane gardener Maggie McDonald says she has learned to concentrate on things that do well there.
"I now have a lot of plants that cope with East Otago’s climate and I mulch heaps," she says.
Sometimes her policy fails, though. Last winter, she lost four federation daisies, bushy marguerites that are only half-hardy.
"I covered them with frost cloth and they still died,’’ she said, adding that one she forgot to cover survived.
"What does that say about frost cloth?"
Despite being a coastal township, Karitane can have quite severe frosts, something that may trip up even established gardeners like Maggie, but more difficult to cope with is the very low rainfall, often resulting in summer hosing restrictions.
These two factors mean that before indulging in her love of what she calls "little treasures", she researches carefully.
"I look up plants and then check the growing conditions [they need]," she explains.
When she bought the property, a bank along the front was filled with flaxes and toetoe.
She has replaced these with low-growing plants, most of them summer-flowering, which need little moisture.
As well as adding colour, the change has opened up the view of the front garden, where a mature kowhai is the dominant feature.
Close to the house a shady patch is filled with heucheras, whose foliage is as bright as most flowers.
They share space with an old cottage-garden favourite, lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis), which has pink and blue flowers on the same plant.
Nearby a potted Louisiana iris sits in a tub of water, ideal conditions for it.
Having read these irises could succumb to the cold, Maggie consulted an iris specialist who scoffed and said they were quite hardy.
Nor did they need as much sun as was generally supposed.
As a result of following the iris guru’s suggestions, she is hopeful it will flower this year.
The Louisiana is just one of many species and varieties she grows, including Siberian (Iris sibirica), Spuria, Pacific Coast, Dutch and Japanese (I. ensata) types, ensuring a long flowering period.
She doesn’t grow bearded irises, saying: "I don’t like them. I like the flowers but I don’t like the foliage."
Many of the irises are in the back garden in a bed where a silver pear gives height.
Edged with old English primroses and blue polyanthus, this area is packed with other delights, including fritillarias, cowslips, pink dog’s tooth violets and one of her woodland sweet peas (Lathyrus vernus), a European perennial that forms a small mound and is suitable for damp shade.
The pink or wine blooms appear in spring and foliage may die down after flowering.
Taller perennial plants include lupins, the Fan series of lobelias and Phlox paniculata.
"I love my lupins; I’ve got heaps of them," Maggie says, adding that by deadheading, she has flowers until February.
Because of the range of perennials, she suggests "it’s more of a summer garden".
Having said that, she agrees there is no shortage of small treasures to admire from now until autumn.
See it
The McDonald garden is one of six that will be open between 11am and 4.30pm on Saturday, October 15, as a fundraiser for the Waikouaiti Presbyterian parish. Tickets are $10 a person and include Devonshire tea at the church hall, Kildare St, Waikouaiti, where there will be plant and produce stalls. Coffee and tea will also be available between noon and 2pm at the Karitane Presbyterian hall, Stornaway St, Karitane. Those who take picnic lunches can eat them at either hall. For tickets, phone (03) 465-7897, (03) 465-8484 or (03) 465-8428. Tickets are also available from 11am on the day at the Waikouaiti church hall.
