When I was an Auckland gardener, I was a spendthrift gardener. Which is another name for a show-off, control-freak sort of gardener.
Now, I just let annuals and perennials from the so-called "tended" (not very) beds which border the drive, and anywhere else that takes their fancy, self-seed where they decide they want to live.
Just now, we have masses of aquilegias running wild. In gardening lingo they are sports. They are wildly promiscuous and will hook up with any nearby charmer, resulting in surprising offspring. I now have a collection of varieties, some of which I have spent years, and many dollars and much cursing, attempting to grow from seed. There is William Guinness, which is almost black with a white frill and presumably named after that most Irish of gargles, a Nora Barlow with little pink rosettes (bred by botanist Nora Barlow, a granddaughter of Charles Darwin) and a white Barlow, with a flower-like tiny Edwardian ruff.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 02-08, 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 02-08, 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Spilt milk
Excess dietary calcium goes into toilets, not bones.
To the Max
The testosterone and torments of late adolescence are centre stage in this novel about finding your place in life.
A chemical killer
A new book outlines the life of a woman who may well have been New Zealand’s most prolific poisoner. What was it that led police to exhume the body of her husband from its watery grave?
Creating the WOW factor
Meg Williams, in charge of the biggest festival involving a bunch of people wearing wacky outfits, admits she's not very flamboyant in her own dressing.
Leaving it all on the park
After cancer treatment, Graeme Downes takes stock of a musical life leading The Verlaines and lecturing future generations of songwriters.
Wrong message
A UK journalist who came here to talk about Rwanda’s authoritarian regime found herself the victim of a social media hate campaign.
Busting a gut
IBD is escalating, seemingly thanks to the Western lifestyle, and New Zealand has one of the highest rates in the world.
The point of Peters
There's been much to admire about the NZ First leader's politics over the years, but where has it got him?
Don't call us ...
Finland's ingenuity galvanised the rapid global uptake of cellphones, so it's paradoxical the country's latest claim to fame should be the elevation of no-speakies to a new commercial opportunity.
He is here
In the week my brother died, there was a storm in the universe.