Leaving Barbara, we headed south to a unique garden,
belonging to Clive and Nikky Higgie near Wanganui. Clive runs a
large sheep farm, but he has a deep passion for plants, of everykind,
and has devoted a large area of the farm to his collection even
planting unusual tree specimens across the fields, protected from
nibbling sheep by oil drums around their bases!
Clive exchanges and obtains seeds and plants from
all over world and his collection forms a veritable botanic garden.
Around the house are many palms, including a lovely Jubaea, just
commencing its phase of upward trunk growth. He has also constructed
a large, walk through glasshouse, full of gems, needing extra warmth
and shelter from the winter wet. It includes many of the unusual
plants from Madagascar.
The most spectacular area however is a field, resembling
a steep sided amphitheatre, with a mini lake at its base. One half
of this faces the sun and is hot and dry, the other in contrast,
shadier and a little cooler.
Tracks wind there way along the slopes, amongst
one of the largest collections of xerophytic plants I have ever
seen... but don't slip or you could end up impaled on a Yucca or
a giant Cereus!!
Puya, Dasylirion, Agave, Aloe, spectacular red flowering Erythrina
and much, much more are here, all labelled and carefully researched
to confirm there identification.
The opposite side is home to palms, some such as
Livistona and Washingtonia planted in large numbers, many bamboos
and shrubs of all kinds. I was especially taken by a giant lobelia,
which had carried a huge flower spike, though Clive hasn't arranged,(yet!),
the Gorillas that would normally feed upon it in its native home
high in the mountains of Africa.
Interesting too, a plant of the rare palm Juania
Australis, which I saw for the first time. Growing in quite a dry
spot, in full sun, an attractive plant with silvery undersides to
its fronds. Nearby, a species of Chusquea bamboo with spiky, stiff
leaflets, this plant originating from the seasonally dry habitat
shared with the more familiar Chilean Wine palm, Jubaea.
It was a real privilege to visit this remarkable
garden, that is tended solely by Clive, Nikky and their children
to a very high standard.
Treasures of North Island: A Gardener's Paradise
