A Gardening I Will Go, Part 1

Posted by liaso (Bay Area, United States) on 10 May 2008 in Plants & Nature.

Despite the fact that New Zealand is fully in fall, heading into winter, I still must go to the gardens. It's a compulsion that drove me to Sissinghurst before anything was in bloom, but was rewarded in Edinburgh. I've seen pictures of some of the gardens I've visited in the past few days in full spring bloom and they are gorgeous. But there is something also to be said for the greenhouse conservatories and the beautiful fall colors.

Today's picture is from my visit to Wintergarden in the Auckland Domain. (Bless Auckland for knowing there are crazy people like me who need gardens even in winter.) These lilies looked unreal. To the point when I first looked at the royal lilies, I thought they were sculptures. But no, they're real. So pretty.

I loved my time in Wintergarden. I loved the variety of the three houses: the cool house, the hot house, and the fern house. Just lovely. Not super crowded either. And just a hop, skip, and a jump from the duck pond.

Tomorrow's photo will be from the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.