25th Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular Packed with Events

Media Release 19 October 2012

25th Annual Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular packed with events

Taranaki gardens will come alive to the sights and sounds of blues legend Midge Marsden, TV stars Lynda Hallinan and Tony Murrell, and spring fashion parades in just some of the event’s line up in the annual Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular.

To celebrate its 25th year as a garden festival, every day of the 10-day Festival running from October 26 to November 4 will have events planned for garden loving visitors coming to see the 51 private and public gardens open for the Festival.

In the Newstalk ZB Garden Speaker series, six local experts talk about everything from the wonders of the clivia flowering plant to attracting native birds into your garden as well as creating colourful hanging baskets.

“Frocks on Bikes” invites women to join the international movement by wearing their favourite frock, jumping on their bike and pedalling with similar “frocktober” lovers to Wintringham Garden for bubbles, nibbles and the smooth sounds of jazz singer Barbara Crow.

The “Secret Dining” event in a private “guesterant” has already sold out so visitors are urged to go online and secure their place at an event of their choice says Festival Manager, Lisa Ekdahl.

“It’s all about fun in the Spring sun this year as we celebrate our 25th anniversary,” says Ms. Ekdahl.

“A really special free attraction open every day and evening during the Festival will be the Peranakan Lights display in Pukekura Park. This fusion of South East Asian cultures is a magical must see particularly in the evening.”

The Lights are spectacular illuminated shapes of flowers, spheres and cones featuring designs by the artistically renowned Peranakan culture of South East Asia. It will be the first time more than 50 of the Peranakan Lights are exhibited in Australasia and the second showing world-wide after first wowing crowds at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix earlier in the year.

Created from a collaboration between Singaporean artist Sarah Martin and Italian artist Paolo Maimone, the Lights are inflated, illuminated shapes screen printed with designs of traditional Peranakan art - renowned for its rich and opulent designs in ceramics, embroidery, screen-printing and architecture.

The Peranakan Lights is this year’s unique Landscape Design Project supported with funding from the TSB Community Trust and power generation company Agrekko.

The Lights will be installed in New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park in the area known as the Brooklands Lawn.

But the main attraction is the 51 spectacular gardens including 11 Gardens of Significance as rated by the New Zealand Gardens Trust.

Ranging from the sub-tropical to the sub-alpine, and from the ornamental to the oriental, the gardens are spread right around Taranaki with the greatest garden of them all at this heart, Mt Taranaki and the Egmont National Park.

While each private garden is hosted by the owner themselves – a number of the public gardens have scheduled guided walks to learn about their unique history and diversity of flora.

For more information, visit www.gardenfestnz.co.nz or enquiries@gardenfestnz.co.nz or call 00 64 06 759 8412, or pick up a Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular programme from Taranaki garden centres and i-sites. Following is a detailed list of guest speakers and events.

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Lynda Hallinan

Back to the Land: A year of country gardening

Join the entertaining editor-at-large of New Zealand Gardener magazine for a journey through the seasons as she opens her garden diary to reveal her best practical tips, flop and top crops and favourite recipes for home-grown fruit and veges.

Whether you own a lifestyle block or a city plot, Lynda has down-to-earth advice for living off the land - from pickling and preserving to home brewing, foraging, sowing seeds, keeping chooks and crop rotation. Lynda will also have autographed copies of her new book for sale at the festival. (Please note: Lynda’s book is not available until September 2012.)
EVENT 1
DATE/TIME Sat 27 Oct, 10am
VENUE Sanderson Garden,1961 Surf Highway 45, Manaia
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)
EVENT 2
DATE/TIME Sat 27 Oct, 2pm
VENUE Waiongana, 74 Kairau Rd West, Waitara
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)
Tony Murrell

Garden Management

Tony has extensive experience in commercial and residential projects with over 20 years in the industry. Working internationally and New Zealand wide, he regularly travels overseas and is inspired by world trends and traditional methods. He’s a firm believer in sound, practical advice to help you achieve the very best results for your property.

Learn insightful information about sustainable gardening, plant planning, seasonal meetings, on-going care and fortification of plants.

Ben Bell has taught Tony how to develop a really successful Hungry Bin worm farm, and he has one to giveaway at each event, with tips on how to get a worm farm started.

Tony says “We all have gardens that we just love and often miss and we cannot see opportunities to further develop our sites for some real achievable long term gains. How to be a more sustainable gardener is not as difficult as you might think”.

‘A well informed gardener is a successful gardener’, so bring a list of your curly questions and be in to win fabulous garden prizes from our great mates at Tui Garden products.
EVENT 1
DATE/TIME Sat 3 Nov, 10am
VENUE Nikau Grove, 65F Govett Ave, New Plymouth
BOOKING Festival Office, Cnr Brougham & Powderham Sts, New Plymouth, 06 759 8412 FREE 06 759 8412 Bookings essential. Limited numbers
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($8pp)
EVENT 2
DATE/TIME Sun 4 Nov, 11am
VENUE Puketarata, 14 Ngawhini Rd, Hawera
BOOKING

Festival Office, Cnr Brougham & Powderham Sts, New Plymouth, 06 759 8412 FREE 06 759 8412 Bookings essential. Limited numbers
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($8pp)
Spring fashion in the Garden

La mode de printemps dans le jardin

‘Inspiring confidence, contentment and self-assurance in an atmosphere of beauty and style’

If fashion interests you then this is an event not to miss! In conjunction with et vous and in celebration of our 25th anniversary, join us to view this Summer’s latest looks on the catwalk in a superb garden setting at Te Kukumara.

Et vous is a unique fashion and design store combining New Zealand’s celebrated fashion designers. Featuring labels such as Trelise Cooper, Euphoria and Moss with a selection of international fashion labels including Day, Cannisse and Maison Scotch combined with exclusive European footwear by Trippen and Ixos.

Celebrate the coming season with a glass of bubbles upon arrival, coupled with a stunning goodie bag prepared especially for you. Sit back and enjoy this new festival event while gaining a sneak preview of the latest Spring/Summer styles.
DATE/TIME Sun 28 Oct, 2 - 4pm
VENUE Te Kukumara, 10 Mountain Rd, New Plymouth
BOOKING Festival Office, Cnr Brougham & Powderham Sts, New Plymouth, 06 759 8412 06 759 8412
Bookings essential. Limited numbers
ADMISSION $30pp includes garden entry fee ($8pp), Spring fashion preview, a glass of bubbly, a goodie bag.

Garden Speaker Series

Hedges & Edges
Alternative Options & Problem Solving with Ann and Vince

Ann and Vince, owners of Big Jims Garden Centre are constantly asked for ideas and alternatives for hedging. Currently the blight affecting Buxus Sempervirens is causing many to look for alternatives.

In their garden they have planted several hedges all serving different purposes from shelter to decorative. Join Ann and Vince in their garden and be inspired to try some different ideas.
DATE/TIME Fri 26 Oct, 1.30pm
VENUE Ann & Vince’s Garden, 367 Corbett Rd,
New Plymouth
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)
________________________________________

Creating Hanging Baskets

A creative workshop with Jenny Oakley

Jenny spent the English spring of 2000 touring English Garden Centres demonstrating ‘Hanging Baskets and Container Gardening’ with Ann Nicholas- previously part of the ‘Two Ann’s team’.

Jenny has a Bachelor of Horticulture in Amenity Horticulture from Massey. She managed Hollard’s Garden while it was under the QE2 National Trust umbrella and has accomplished a good deal of commercial garden design and maintenance over many years.

She has been involved in beautification projects locally in Manaia and assisted the beautification team at Ellerslie in the early years. Jenny and Guy’s garden became a Garden of National Significance in 2005.

Jenny will inspire you with her workshop and you’ll gain plenty of helpful tips to try at home.
DATE/TIME Sat 27 Oct & Sat 3 Nov, 2pm
VENUE Oakley Garden, 79 Lower Normanby Rd, Manaia
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)
________________________________________

Cliva - The Perfect Shade Plant with Tony Barnes

Local gardener, nurseryman, and plantsman Tony Barnes is smitten by the clivia. He has collected all six species and seen them growing in their natural habitat in South Africa. Tony has written articles about them for several gardening magazines, spoken about them at an International Clivia Conference in South Africa, and also to the Association of Clivia Growers in Chanchun, China.

Clivia really are aristocrats of the gardening world. They have it all – glossy broad evergreen leaves, shade tolerance, drought tolerance, pest and disease resistance and long lasting flowers at a time when not much else is flowering. They are very long lived and a delightful range of colours from creamy yellow through apricot pastel and peach shades, to scarlet orange red.

Learn about the different species and new hybrids, how to grow and propagate your own, hybridise them and other interesting aspects of their culture and history. Opportunity to buy seeds and plants that are never offered in garden centres.
DATE/TIME Mon 29 Oct, 2pm
VENUE Ngamamaku, 1521 Surf Highway, Oakura
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($8)
________________________________________

Container Gardening Inside and Out

A workshop with Donna Christiansen and Judi Lee

Join Donna and Judi who are qualified horticulturalists from the Fernery and Display Houses at Pukekura Park and are experts in this field; to learn some container gardening tips for the creation and care of container plants.

The Display Houses contain a variety of thousands of potted plants that are skilfully grown, displayed and maintained within the glass house complex. They will demonstrate the growing, general maintenance and control of pests and diseases.
DATE/TIME Tues 30 Oct, 11am – 12noon
VENUE Fernery and Display Houses, Pukekura Park
BOOKING Festival Office, Cnr Brougham &
Powderham Sts, New Plymouth, 06 759 8412
Bookings essential. Limited numbers
ADMISSION Free event
________________________________________

Attracting Birds into your Garden

With Glyn Church

Glyn Church has loved birds all his life and while he’s spent a lifetime with plants, the birds have always been in the picture.

Now you have a chance to hear Glyn speak about the right plants to attract birds, both native and exotic into to your garden.
DATE/TIME Wed 31 Oct, 2pm
VENUE Church Gardens, 1403 Surf Highway, Oakura
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($8)
________________________________________

Wildflowers, Bees and their Beneficial Friends

With Geoff Brunsden

Geoff Brunsden is recognised as New Zealand’s leading exotic wildflower expert. For over 25 years Geoff and his wife Liz have worked to promote the concept of landscaping with wildflowers.

They are deeply involved with the National Beekeepers Association in the use of wildflowers to help inhibit the decline of the honey bee and their beneficial friends. Bees are a critical link in pollinating flowers including food crops. Globally they are in an alarming decline. Learn from national exotic wildflower expert how you can help rescue this situation.

Achievements include beautification of the Auckland motorway network and a published series book on ‘Wildflowers of New Zealand’.
EVENT 1
DATE/TIME Thurs 1 Nov, 2pm
VENUE Armstrong Garden, 87 Princess St, Waitara
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)
EVENT 2
DATE/TIME Fri 2 Nov, 11am
VENUE Campbell Garden, 692 Patiki Rd, Opunake
ADMISSION Free event, usual garden fee applies ($4)

ENDS

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