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The essential A to Z
Ellerslie guide
A – is for All Black halfback
Andy Ellis and his mate Danny Kamo from John Marsh Landscape
Architects who are back in 2010 with “a serious garden”.
There is no backyard cricket, beers or barbecue this year;
the pair are making a statement about our impact on the environment
and promoting sustainable design practices.
B – is for Bush Telly, the 2009
Ellerslie International Flower Show Supreme Award winner who
has headed to the hills to create this year’s exhibit
in the Starlight Marquee. It features a musterer’s hut
set against a backdrop of Mount Cass and the rugged North
Canterbury back country.
C – is for multi gold medal winning
Chelsea Flower Show designer Chris Beardshaw who is one of
two international designers at this year’s Show. His
show-stopping English garden on the shores of Victoria Lake
is the Show’s largest. With almost 10,000 plants, including
4500 annuals and 3000 herbaceous plants, it will be a feast
for the senses.
D – is for Designer advice at
the NZ Gardener Speaker Series. Hear expert speakers talk
about International Design, What’s Hot? in Australian
gardens, Stylist Kiwi Gardens, how to Grow Organic, the Kiwi
Kitchen Garden, Wicked Worm Farms, Keeping Chooks and Gourmet
Gardening. The series begins at 11am each day.
E – is for the new Emerging Design
category and the five tertiary students from throughout New
Zealand competing to win the title of the Ellerslie International
Flower Show Student Designer of the Year presented by Yates.
Each has designed and built a small courtyard garden for a
townhouse using sustainable home and garden practices.
F – is for the Floral Art Marquee
where a record number of talented floral designers have this
year captured A Moment in Time with their colourful, artistic
exhibits which challenge the imagination.
G – is for Green and the strong
emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly design coming
through in the many exhibits this year, from last year’s
Gold award-winning designer Carl Pickens’ Peace by Piece
garden to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens’ Pictures
of Life and Death garden in the Starlight Marquee that looks
at how nature reuses and recycles.
H – is for Hort Galore Marquee
where the grassroots of the Ellerslie International Flower
Show – garden clubs and societies – showcase their
rare, interesting and special plants. This is a must visit
for everyone to the Show.
I – is for Incredible Edibles,
the garden with 500-plus edible plants, including banana trees,
lemongrass, tamarillos, feijoas and sugar cane, which will
be gifted after the Show to Cholmondeley, Canterbury’s
family support facility. The productive garden is designed
with plenty of appeal for children.
J – is for the convenor of Judges
Robert Hillier from England, who has impeccable credentials
for the job. He has been a Royal Horticultural Society Judge
and Chairman of the Show Committee for the last decade and
his nursery, Hillier Nurseries Ltd, has won a record-breaking
64 consecutive Gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show.
K – is for Koji Ninomiya, the
award-winning Japanese designer who has judged at the Ellerslie
International Flower Show for the last decade and returns
in 2010 to design Ellerslie’s first Japanese garden.
The garden will fuse traditional Japanese-style design with
contemporary influences.
L – is for Landscaping New Zealand
and The Great North and South Landscape Build-off which puts
some of the country’s best landscapers through their
paces, competing to build a mirror image garden with the emphasis
on using “local materials for local projects”. A
garden of two halves, separated by the Cook Strait (a water
feature), it showcases the value of design, garden management
and good environmental landscaping practice.
M – is for Medals, the gold, silver
and bronze medals awarded to the gardens which display innovation,
excellence in design and set the trends for garden design
in 2011. These medals and the coveted Supreme Awards are widely
recognised in the design and horticultural community.
N – is for National Flower Bed
Competition, being hotly contested in 2010 by a record number
of New Zealand cities and districts competing for the title
of best flower bed and looking to wrestle the hat trick away
from Christchurch, New Zealand’s Garden City.
O – is for Ornaments for the
house and garden found in the Country Living Marquees and
in the Ellerslie Sculpture Garden. The Country Living Marquee
is Ellerslie’s little slice of retail heaven – gifts
with a garden-related theme – while in the Sculpture
Garden works of art for the garden by 21 New Zealand artists
are exhibited in and around Lake Albert.
o Ellerslie International Flower Show is New Zealand’s
premier week-long Garden Party in Christchurch’s North
Hagley Park from 10 to 14 March 2010. The Show celebrates
Christchurch’s Garden City heritage and the best of national
and international garden design. Check out the website for
further information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz
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