SOUTHLAND

For one dedicated forest gardener, a trip down memory lane is really also a trip to look for more plants.

- Tag along on this special plant hunting tour of the south.

Iwent also to help my brother pack up his house in preparation for his move south – a task that left me free, at times, to wander in search of warmthloving plants that might like to live in my big tunnelhouse. And wander I did. In fact, I cycled, on my stylish brother’s Raleigh Retroglide NX3 plumptyred, wide handle-barred, soft-seated bicycle, all around the town in search of exotica – and I found it!

Tetrapanax papyriferus, Brugmansia ‘Gold’, a banana (variety unknown), bird of paradise – ordinary, I know, for all living north of Christchurch, but hey, special to me. I found elephant ears by the generous clump, canna lilies (all sorts) galore, and – to my eternal delight and gratitude to the kind man who said, “Help yourself to anything you want” – more brugmansia, all colours and styles. Heaven!

I’ve made appointments too, to uplift wonderful plants that I didn’t even know existed.

When I was a mere strip of a lad, I lived and worked on D’Urville Island, off-shore from both Nelson and Wellington, exposed as heck in the Cook Strait, where I boarded with an Italian family, the Moletas, while I tried to teach reading and writing to their children, along with others on the island.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a fig growing there, one brought long ago, direct from the island of Stromboli. I didn’t take heed of it then (I was busy running a little school), but I noticed it when I advertised my intention to be in the Nelson area, plant-collecting. A kind, online plantperson suggested I talk with the people at the Willow Bank Heritage Village near Wakefield, who were advertising the special fig for sale. I did as I was advised and have arranged to drive out and buy that fig from my past. These are exciting times indeed!

As I write, I’m midway through my plant-focused holiday in and around the Tasman Bay. I’m calling in to nurseries, wherever I see them, taking stock of what they’ve got, buying sparingly (I still have to get these precious plants all the way down the island to Riverton) but what I have collected, most valuably of all, is friends!

Pete, of Motueka, saw me peering over his fence at the bird of paradise plants growing against the wall of his house, and welcomed me in, offering me carrots and onions that he’d grown in his wonderful garden, wise advice on how to live a good life and a clump of those plants that first caught my attention as I cycled past his house. Pete once lived on Stewart Island, so we had much to talk about.

Two other kindly plant-people, Judy and Michael, welcomed me into their Motueka garden and showered me with kindness and plants; the aforementioned brugmansia, plus other never-before-heard-of trees and vines. I said yes to them all.

My allotted space in the bound-for-Riverton container is full, I suppose, and I too am satiated with new plants, new people and the joy that connecting with plant lovers brings.

If I don’t find anything else, plant-wise, while I’m up here in the sunny north, I’ll be happy enough. But there are a couple of other “things” I’m still yearning for: sugarcane, for one, and giant bamboo. Both would struggle to grow down south, I’m sure, but with special provisions made – plastic overhead, shrouded with bubble wrap or burlap over the winter – I think it’s a go.

One must-do or rather, must-visit for me on my trip to the top of the South, was Nelson’s Isel Park. I’d spent a lot of time there as a young man, delighting in the ancient pines that grew – or rather, towered – there, so a return visit was essential. The afternoon was warm, sunny and relaxed. I drifted through the gardens, both happy to find that it was still there and not felled for a housing project and saddened to find some of my favourites gone. But that’s life, I guess.

Those giant conifers were inspirational for me as a young man, and have driven my actions ever since I sat enjoying their sage-like presence.

I collected many of the huge acorns that littered the paths as well. I have plans for oaks in the deep south; groves of them already exist in my imagination.

I’ve already responded to notice given of available acorns from the big oak on the Salisbury School grounds – those are growing well down south and look to be a feature of my village’s future. I’m keen to add the Isel Park oaks to those already growing within walking distance of my Riverton garden.

I know some of the plants I bring back might struggle, or even fail, but I feel very confident I’ll come out with treasures that otherwise wouldn’t have made it south had I not ventured north.

Being up in the bay of my boyhood has been a lot of fun. My arms and face have burned brown from the sun and I’ve enjoyed the blue skies and warmth of the top of the South. I’ll soon be back home, choosing suitable spots for my trophies to grow.

Recently, I left the sanctuary of my Riverton forest garden and went north to Motueka, Riwaka and Golden Bay in search of plants.