Garden Photo of the Day

Lynne’s Garden in New Zealand

Favorite blooms from the other side of the globe

By GPOD Contributor
garden bed with pink and purple flowers and foliage

We’re off to New Zealand today to visit Lynne Leslie’s garden. We’ve visited before (Lynne’s Garden in New Zealand), and it is always fun to see what she is growing.

Here are photos taken in late spring in my small-town garden in Wellington, New Zealand. I love perennials, vegetables, and shrubs, and I plant them close together to keep weeding to a minimum.

various colored snapdragonsEvery year I plant snapdragons (Antirrhinum, Zones 8–11 or as cool-season annuals) and stake them as they grow to protect them from the strong winds we get here on the hill. They flower from winter through to summer, when rust attacks them. I then replace them with other seasonal plants.

garden bed with pink and purple flowers and foliage
Planting evergreen plants under trees gives interest all year, and I tuck in colorful annuals depending on the season. Cinerarias (Pericallis × hybrida, Zones 9–11 or as annual) self-sow, along with primula, then the roses, hydrangea, dianthus, and other perennials come into their own for summer.

lots of different colored flowers at the edge of a garden bed
The roadside is a riot of easy-care color for dog walkers and motorists to enjoy: roses, gazania, dianthus, euphorbia, daisies, wallflowers, iris, etc.—all sun lovers.

close up of white clematis
I do love clematis and grow many varieties and colors through roses and shrubs, up metal frames and anywhere else I can fit one in. This is our New Zealand native, Clematis paniculata (Zones 4–8).

close up of light yellow peony
Peonies (Paeonia species and hybrids, Zones 4–8) are another favorite, but due to the fact that our winters in Wellington do not get cold enough for them to flourish, I help them along with ice cubes and potassium during winter. This lemon one is the first to flower and has huge blooms.

close up of bright pink cape primrose
Cape primroses (Streptocarpus, Zones 10–11 or as an annual or houseplant) do very well outside and also in pots in the gazebo. I watch them carefully, as snails are inclined to have a wonderful lunch if I let them.

 

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Comments

  1. paiya 11/24/2023

    Lovely garden. Lynne, you exemplify ardent gardening, putting ice cubes on paeony. Perfect blooms (?no slugs or beetles in NZ). Do you have indigenous plants as well?

  2. Oxdriftgardener 11/24/2023

    Beautiful! Very interesting to hear gardening techniques from the other corner of the world. I have to insulate my yellow peony in northwest Ontario with styrofoam in the winter and you add ice to yours . LOL.

  3. User avater
    simplesue 11/24/2023

    You have a beautifully designed and planted garden- so many great plant choices arranged well! Love your native New Zealand Clematis, and the evergreen plants you have in your border!

  4. btucker9675 11/24/2023

    What a beautiful garden - the native New Zealand Clematis is so very pretty. Thanks for sharing your kiwi garden with us!

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