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HOUSEPLANT HEROES

- Winners, honourable mentions and their amazing collections.

STORY: JO MCCARROLL

Alan Mckenzie has loved gardening and “anything plant-related” for as much of his 72 years of life as he can remember, so when some renovations at his Whangārei home left a bit of spare covered space with a brick wall on one side and a concrete floor, he thought it would make an ideal conservatory.

“It would have cost a bit much to make it a proper room,” he says. “At least that’s how I sold the idea to my wife.”

He had a few indoor plants in the house at the time – Ficus benjamina and an umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) – so moved them into the newly created covered space. “I think the wife was quite glad to be rid of them.”

He had enjoyed working with stones in his outdoor garden, so the retired courier shifted a few of them in too, to create an indoor fishpond and waterfall.

And gradually, over several years, he has filled the space with a huge range of indoor plants, including blushing bromeliads (Neoregelia carolinae), ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata), donkey’s tail (Sedum morganianum), crotons (Codiaeum variegatum), maidenhair ferns (Adiantum spp.) and more.

“I refer to my conservatory as my men’s shed,” he says. “It is a place I can escape to. I talk to my plants and they don’t answer back. It is a place of peace and relaxation. I often have my morning or afternoon coffee sitting in my conservatory appreciating the beauty of my plants. It truly is my happy place.”

Alan admits he spends many hours each week tending to his indoor plant collection.

“A wet day excites me as I know I can spend all day pottering in my private oasis.”

Since he retired he has been propagating plants for sale to help with the budget – it provides him with the vital funds he needs to take his wife out for coffee, he says. “Money isn’t plentiful in retirement so every little bit helps.”

But what started out as a few houseplants has now become much more.

“It brings me so much joy,” he says. “But it brings others joy too. Over the years, my grandchildren have enjoyed visiting the special fairy door I built for them and looking at ‘Granddad’s amazing plants’. And now my great-grandchild comes too.”

“People say why’d you need a plant room? And I say I have a wife, two daughters, three granddaughters, one great granddaughter, 12 girl chooks and a female cat.”

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2022-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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