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wild & wonderful

In this romantic tumbling garden north of Auckland, the creative and free-spirited gardener does not hold back.

STORY: NICKY PELLEGRINO • PHOTOS: SALLY TAGG

Some people spend far more time toiling in their gardens than they do relaxing in it, but Ishtar Presnell isn’t among them. She is happiest sitting surrounded by flowers in the romantic bower she has created, and is willing to trade perfection for enough time and freedom to enjoy it.

Ishtar is an artistic and colourful character, a belly dancer and a creator of fabulous costumes. “I like a wild garden with everything tumbling and falling; it feels closer to nature than a groomed and manicured one,” she explains. “It drives my husband Mark mad because he’s German and loves structure and order.”

Although Ishtar spent much of her younger life in Fiji, tropical gardens aren’t her real passion. Instead, she felt a connection to the romantic cottage gardens she saw while visiting Europe. “I love roses and flowers with herbs rambling between them and a few veges interspersed.”

When the couple bought their home in Whangaparāoa, north of Auckland, nearly eight years ago, the garden was mostly lawn and tropical plantings. So out came the huge Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) and the pebble garden filled with bromeliads. Once the digger had finished, Ishtar set about planting the sort of dreamy and undisciplined garden that does make her heart sing.

“It’s been trial and error,” she admits. “As with everything I do in life, I improvise. I’ll pop a plant here or there, and if it doesn’t work then I’ll dig it up and put it somewhere else. I don’t have lots of time to garden because I still dance, and love sewing and crafts, and I’ve got grandchildren, so in the time I do have, mostly I just want to sit here. I’m a person who likes to play. I look for enjoyment and fun in life, and if it’s not fun then I don’t want to do it.”

Ishtar has a tolerant attitude to weeds. Along with the meandering peppermint, lemon balm and borage, she considers them a useful green mulch that stops the sun drying out the soil over summer. “Then in winter when everything’s dead you can rip it all out easily,” she says.

Since she likes to encourage bees to visit her garden, Ishtar won’t use pest sprays, not even on her roses. Instead, she pulls off any diseased leaves she comes across whilst wandering around deadheading or watering. If a plant suffers badly and dies, then she is prepared to replace it.

Roses are essential and prolific in Ishtar’s romantic garden, and they bloom from spring to autumn provided they are fed regularly and watered well. “I love vintage roses such as ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ which dates back to the 1800s, has a gorgeous scent and keeps on flowering.” ‘Crimson Glory’ and ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ are also big

Although Ishtar Presnell spent much of her younger life in Fiji, tropical gardens aren’t her real passion. Instead, she felt a connection to the romantic cottage gardens she saw while visiting Europe.

climbers and seem to produce blooms from spring to autumn here. “A smaller climber that does well is ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’, although that one likes to have its feet in a cooler, moist part of the garden, as well as plenty of sun. And smaller bush roses that flower heavily here are ‘Wisley’ and ‘Young Lycidas’.” A colour palette of mainly pink, red and burgundy creates a romantic atmosphere for Ishtar. She isn’t a fan of yellow, but makes an exception for her ‘Graham Thomas’ rose which rewards her with vigorous growth and striking flowers. Her advice for anyone looking for an extremely hardy rose is to choose ‘Seafoam’, which has a profusion of pretty white blooms with a hint of pink.

“Sometimes you have to grow a flower to decide to really love it,” says Ishtar, who never really enjoyed dahlias until this year when she planted a couple, and now plans to add a few more for next summer. “The garden is constantly changing and I keep putting in new things.”

This is a coastal property, with wide sea views, so it can get windy. The soil is heavy clay and the ground continues to shift and sink where the palm used to be. Especially challenging is the area around the vintage gazebo, once the site of the pebble garden, which has a base of rock-hard clay. Here, Ishtar relies on hardy plants that will survive the shallow layer of topsoil. Pittosporums are doing well but the feverfew is the star. “It’s such a tough little plant and grows well from cuttings in places where it is impossible to grow anything else,” she says. “That area is very low maintenance now. I do almost nothing, just a little trimming back and pulling a few things out, a maximum of four times a year.”

Feverfew grows vigorously around Ishtar’s vintage gazebo. She cuts it back now and then, and allows it to self-seed, and it rewards her with abundant flowers. The palms, however, are not allowed to self-seed. Ishtar says they pop up everywhere and she is constantly pulling them out.

Ishtar makes teas from her herbs and medicinal plants, and often serves them at the Mad Hatter-themed tea parties she loves to throw for her friends. Everyone comes dressed in wild and wonderful costumes, Ishtar decorates the garden and brings out her vintage china collection, and the theme is enhanced with a sculpture she created out of old teapots. “Some people like to go out to dinner, but my friends are dancers and entertainers and we prefer to dress up and have parties.”

Recently, Ishtar has been battling health problems that have left her very low on energy, and more than ever she has been grateful for her shabby chic garden scented with roses, jasmine and ‘Cherry Pie’ heliotrope. She has whiled away many happy hours watching the bumblebees on the borage flowers and the monarchs on the ageratum. “I’d come out in the morning to have my breakfast and will still be sitting here at 11am. I like to look at beauty. It’s uplifting for the soul.”

There is structure amidst the tangle of flowers, supplied by trellises, statues, distressed furniture, the charming old gazebo that Ishtar found on Trade Me, a stone birdbath she likes to fill with petals and the quirky signs she painted for her Mad Hatter parties.

“I’ll walk round my garden and take lots of photos and that makes me happy,” says Ishtar. “We have thousands

Ishtar makes teas from her herbs and medicinal plants, and often serves them at the Mad Hatter-themed tea parties she loves to throw for her friends.

of photos of the garden every year. So, in winter when the garden is bare and I’m suffering from withdrawal, I look at all my photos from last spring and it lifts my spirits.”

When flowers are abundant, Ishtar picks and dries them in the hot water cupboard, creating flower arrangements or using the petals for potpourri.

“Not every rose will hold its colour so you need to experiment,” she says. “But when they do go brown it’s almost a vintage tea-stained look which I like.

“I went through a stage of making floral wreaths for friends – everyone got one. Now I put potpourri into presents as I’m wrapping them, or I’ll scent a card by leaving it in an old suitcase full of potpourri, which is what the Victorians used to do.”

When time or energy is limited, most of the work Ishtar does in her garden is focused on feeding and watering plants. She might spend two or three hours out there with her hose, or make up a “tea” from seaweed fertiliser, and she also uses pea straw mulch to help keep roots moist and increase the nutrient content of the soil.

“I admire amazing landscaped gardens but you have to choose something that works with your lifestyle,” says Ishtar. “So, I leave my garden to just tumble and it feels happy. It’s old-fashioned in lots of ways… nostalgic.

“I got my love of flowers from my Mum and I think she would approve.”

“I admire landscaped gardens but you have to choose something that works with your lifestyle. So I leave my garden to just tumble and it feels happy.”

LEVIN

en-nz

2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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