Visitors to the Ellerslie Flower Show can take a rare tour there, Gillian Vine reports.
Visitors to Ellerslie International Flower Show have the opportunity to tour some of Canterbury's finest gardens.
Among them is 19th-century Otahuna, built by politician Sir Heaton Rhodes, who served as the society's president for more than half a century.
Otahuna is now a top-flight boutique hotel with 12ha grounds not usually open to the public.
So it is something of a coup for the Canterbury Horticultural Society to be able to include the gardens at Otahuna Lodge on one of its Ellerslie garden tours.
The builder of Otahuna, Robert Heaton Rhodes (1861-1956) followed his father into politics, beginning a long parliamentary career when he was in his 30s.
In 1891, Sir Heaton married an Australian, Jessie Clark, whose brother, Alister, had married Sir Heaton's sister Edith.
A notable rose and daffodil breeder, Mr Clark may well have influenced his brother-in-law, for Otahuna was to become as famous for its fields of daffodils, grown by Sir Heaton's English-trained gardener, A. E. Lowe, as for its stud cattle.
But Sir Heaton was well ahead of his brother-in-law when it came to garden design and he spent about 10 years designing and laying out his garden.
An extremely knowledgeable horticulturist, he was elected president of the Canterbury Horticultural Society in 1903 and held the post for 53 years.
Owned since 2003 by Americans Hall Cannon and Miles Refo, who have restored the gardens and extensively upgraded the house, Otahuna is considered the finest example of Queen Anne-style architecture in Australia and New Zealand and has a Grade I Historic Places Trust classification.
Daffodils still bloom in profusion in spring and many of the trees planted by Sir Heaton have matured into splendid specimens.
When he created the woodland, Sir Heaton kept the trees at a sensible distance from the house so, today, they form a frame around three sides of Otahuna with the fourth open to take advantage of the view across the plain.
Paths through the woodland encourage the visitor to meander, pausing to admire shade-tolerant belladonna lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) before ambling towards the Dutch garden with its gravelled paths, neatly clipped box edges and geometrically placed trees, including a quartet of splendid, shaggy-barked palms.
Although the orchard, with its mix of old and new trees, is of interest, it is the 0.2ha potager that commands the most attention.
In what was once a paddock for Sir Heaton's stallion, 95 varieties of vegetables and herbs are grown.
The situation is ideal: a sunny area fenced with stone walls and the vegetables and soft fruits respond with excellent crops.
Melons rest on old tiles which not only keeps the fruit off the soil and minimises the chance of the underside rotting, but also speeds ripening.
The tiles soak up warmth during the day and release it at night, effectively acting as hot water bottles.
Tomatoes line one wall and here, as in much of the garden, the emphasis is on heritage varieties, such as the striped Tigerella that matures quickly, looks good and tastes great.
Great taste and good looks are important to Otahuna head chef Jimmy McIntyre, as is being able to use less-usual vegetables, such as salsify and curly kale, in his menus.
He picks produce daily for the lodge restaurant.
Most days he can be seen, often escorting a knot of guests, checking the progress of vegetables, the best of which will be part of that evening's sumptuous five-course dinner.
To visit Otahuna is a rare treat and one that any visitor to the Ellerslie Flower Show should consider.
In Canterbury, Gillian Vine was hosted by Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism, www.christchurch.org.nz. She stayed at Otahuna Lodge.
