Chatham's botanical garden

 

What was utterly beyond my expectations was that we would find a garden oasis on windswept, low-lying Chatham Island.  But a drive north parallel to Long Beach led us past Airport Road to a notice that said, "Admiral Gardens."

Back in the 1950s, Val and Lois Croon, married with four children under the age of five in Auckland, New Zealand, decided there was something more to life, and went to Chatham Island to see the land Lois had inherited from her mother, Molly, of Ngati Mutunga descent.  They loved it, so why not resettle?  So they built a small house -- which they called 'the little house in the prairie' - and started a long mission to turn the land into an amazing botanical garden.

Windbreaks were essential, and so that was the first job. Macrocrapas and other pines grew fast, and did an excellent job, creating a tranquil oasis, where surprisingly sub-tropical plants flourish.

Food is another essential, so raised plots flourish with vegetables -- silverbeet, corn, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflowers, cabbages, onions.  They grow a LOT of these, as the house extended into a cafe-restaurant, where groups of tourists are fed home-cooked meals.  There is a barbeque pit, an outside bar, and, of course, outdoor toilets and handwashing facilities.  The water is pure, coming from an aquafer in the limestone deep beneath.

But the flowers!  Perhaps because the soil is so peaty, or perhaps by magic, hydrangeas are an amazing brilliant wine color -- claret, cardinal.

 The Buddleia are equally brilliant in hue -- and grown deliberately, to attract butterflies.  The Admiral butterfly (Vanessa gonerilla), with its brilliant red cape, is a native of New Zealand, but there is a sub-species that is endemic to the Chatham Islands.  And, like all butterflies, Admirals love the so-called 'butterfly bush.'

There is an Admiral on this flower cluster, but I was not patient enough to wait for it to open its wings.

I was particularly fascinated by the French-style parterre, a kind of decorative hay field, which takes the eye gently from the gardens to the natural tussock and the sea.  Typically of the Croons, it is given a big jot of humor.  Not only are there scarecrows, but they have been given masks.

Want to know more?  There was great gardening coverage in New Zealand newspapers in December 2020.  And there are great reviews on Air Chatham's facebook page.

If you get to Chatham Island, make sure you visit these wonderful gardens.  It is guaranteed to be a highlight.  

It certainly was for us.