Playing favourites
Spring is nature’s prime time for procreation - the flowers are out in droves, soliciting attention from pollinators with their colours and scents. So many flowers, it’s impossible to name favourites. But we asked a couple of flower loving horticulturists to share some of the spring treasures they wouldn’t want to be without in their own gardens.
Kate Hillier has lived most of her gardening life in Auckland but spent her childhood in England and is a fourth-generation member of one of the UK’s leading plant nurseries. She has been around flower shows for as long as she can remember and from the moment she arrived here as a young adult she, has been immersed in the New Zealand gardening industry.
Sally Brown of Dunedin’s Blueskin Nurseries works with plants and gardens every day. An award-winning landscape architect, Sally’s trade is her passion but her favourite garden is her own. Designed around the colour wheel, it is jam-packed full of flowering shrubs, perennials and bulbs. Sally carefully selects her plants so there is something in bloom at any time of year. She also has an eye for beautiful vases, and with a garden like hers there is never any shortage of flowers to fill them.
Kate’s top 10:
| 1 | A childhood favourite, I’ve always loved Dicentra spectabilis, I always thought it was perfectly named - “Bleeding Heart”. I love the shape and distinctiveness of the flowers but also like the texture of the plant growth. |
| 2 | I have recently returned to enjoying variegated foliage (though it took a while!), and a personal favourite is Pieris ‘Flaming Silver’. Again, I love the Lily of the Valley shaped flowers plus the added benefit of colour in the new foliage. |
| 3 | You can't beat a Brunsfelsia (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) I love the fact that the flowers change colour over their life period, so you have the fascination of three different colours on the plant at the same time, shades of pale lilac to bright purple. |
| 4 | At the flower show last year I was reintroduced to heritage roses, by our Gold Medal winners the Heritage Rose Society, a key rose in their exhibit and a new old favourite for me is Rose Fantin Latour. |
| 5 | A very recent introduction to my garden at home is a Vireya Rhododendron. It gives a flash of colour that just keeps going and going. Tropic Glow is a favourite. |
| 6 | It’s easy to forget flowering climbers in this selection, but I can’t hide my love of Pyrostegia venusta (flame vine). For me it is a real herald of spring, I love the vibrant orange colour. It has always cheered me up when often the weather is still a bit gloomy and damp. |
| 7 | Camelia ‘Quintessence’ is a lovely low growing camellia with a weeping form and simple white flowers with a hint of pink. I love to see them hanging over the edge of walls etc. |
| 8 | A longtime favourite of mine has been Geranium ‘Johnsons Blue’, so I wasn’t 100% certain when I planted Geranium ‘Rozanne’, however I’ve been thrilled with this variety. It has compact growth and is constantly flowering and the flowers are such a stunning shade of lilac-blue. |
| 9 | Ixora coccinea, luckily I don’t get a frost in my West Auckland garden, so this Ixora has coped admirably. Again, a blast of orange red flowers against a background foliage deep green, with a lovely fresh light green sheen to new foliage. |
| 10 | In 2017 the flower show was delighted to introduce Proven Winners Bubblegum Petunias as a fund raiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation. This introduction culminated in donations from the sale of these plants going to the very worthwhile charity. This stunning petunia featured significantly at last year’s show. It flowers forever and I particularly enjoy the different shades planted together. |
Sally's top 10:
| 1 | Forsythia intermedia - I wouldn’t be without its cheerful haze of bright clear yellow flowers, which arrive before the leaves in early spring. It looks amazing in a vase just by itself. |
| 2 | Purest white with dark green leaves, Iberis sempervirens (candy tuft) is a stunning little ground cover perennial. It makes an excellent border to roses or taller perennials and is thrives in a pot too. The variety ‘Purity’ is absolutely outstanding. |
| 3 | Who doesn’t love lily of the valley, (Convallaria majalis)? This charming wee woodland flower has a wonderful fragrance. Its thicket of lush green leaves is a great ground cover in shades spaces, and it loves a good winter chill. The better the chill, the more flowers its gets. |
| 4 | I’ve always had a passion for tulips. I plant more every year, sometimes leaving it wickedly late when we are busy in the garden centre, but lucky for me they love the cold Dunedin winter and they last well in my garden. |
| 5 | Alliums are among my favourite spring flowering bulbs. Their perfect globes on long stalks add huge character to my garden in mid spring and early summer. I especially love Allium Globemaster, which does well for me but there are lots of varieties, from tiny balls to some the size of basket balls. |
| 6 | As an easy-care deciduous shrub, Viburnum opulus sterile (snowball tree) is one of the most spectacular for spring drama. The flower buds start the show with a hint of lime green then erupt into masses of gorgeous creamy white balls. |
| 7 | Lilacs (Syringa) remind me of my childhood. They look and smell heavenly with masses of tiny flowers packed into grape sized bunches. These old-world shrubs are bare in winter but they more than make up for that every spring when they cover themselves in glory. |
| 8 | Astrantia major alba - these little stars grow anywhere in my garden. They have lovely long stems topped with delicate woodland flowers which are actually tiny florets surrounded by specialised leaves in perfect circular formation. Fluffy seedbeds follow. Astrantias are great for planting in for semi-shade. |
| 9 | Paeonies - full, frilly and simply outstanding! The ability to grow these iconic vase flowers is one of the richest rewards for enduring a cold winter. |
| 10 | David Austin Roses - I can’t get enough of them! I was lucky enough to visit the David Austin Nursery in England a couple of years ago, and their gardens fueled my passion for these fantastic old world looking but modern day, super free-flowering roses. |
1-Aug-2018
Kate Hillier
Sally Brown in her award-winning 2014 Ellerslie Flower Show garden "Passion"
Dicentra spectabilis
Camellia Quintessence
Geranium Johnson's Blue
Candy tuft Iberis sempervirens
A vase of flowers with two of Sally's favourites - Snowball tree and lilac
Astrantia major alba
In the Garden
