Public Rose Gardens of New Zealand – Part 2: South Island

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Following on from my last column which featured North Island gardens, it is now time to look at some of the gardens around the South Island.

Starting off at the top in sunny Blenheim is the Centennial Rose Garden in Pollard Park. In Nelson, the Samuels Rose Garden in the grounds of the historic Broadgreen House in Stoke is worth a visit.

To the garden city of Christchurch and the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. There are actually two rose gardens with one featuring modern roses close to the conservatory and one featuring heritage roses near the hospital. Also in Christchurch is Mona Vale in the suburb of Fendalton but it did sustain damage in the February 2011 earthquake.

 
Further south and Timaru is known for growing beautiful roses. The Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden in Caroline Bay contains old fashioned and David Austin roses from the collection of celebrated rosarian Trevor Griffiths. The Timaru Botanical Gardens also contains the Anderson Rose Garden with modern roses while a separate collection houses species roses, some of which are rare.

In Dunedin, there are the Botanical Gardens, the first of their kind in New Zealand. The extensive rose garden contains over 2000 plants of modern and heritage varieties. Also in Dunedin is the Northern Cemetery which contains over 1000 heritage varieties which are care for by members of Heritage Roses Otago.

Invercargill has Queens Park with the Henry Edginton Rose Garden with modern varieties and the Jesse Calder Rose Garden that features old fashioned varieties.

That completes a trip around some of the wonderful gardens of the South Island and from my last column, the North Island. I hope you were able to get out and enjoy some of them.

 
Now that for many the summer break is over with, you may have come home to your roses looking a little worse for wear and in need of some care. Don't panic, there are a few simple things you can do to get them looking their best again.

First, water them well. The recent rain around New Zealand would have helped. It is better to give them a good soaking once a week than a light water every few days.

Next, remove all the spent blooms as this will tidy things up and also encourage more flowers to be produced in the autumn. While the blooms in autumn aren't as big, they often have more vibrant colours.

Early February is also a good time to give your roses some more fertiliser – a general rose fertiliser will do the trick at recommended rates on the packet. Make sure the soil is moist when you apply as well.

Get any weeds under control and then mulch around your roses – there is a wide variety of materials available to suit anyone's tastes and budget.

You will notice I haven't mentioned spraying yet. I don't like to spray and never try and push it when writing columns. If you grow healthy varieties, practise good cultural techniques such as pruning, feeding and watering, then you should have roses that look good most of the time.
By Hayden Foulds