"Feijoa trees are popular for an ornamental driveway". New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, 15 April 1952. Rendell's Photo Service photo. #gardenhistory

Alfred Buxton's Gardens A directory of the gardens created by Alfred Buxton

A direct link to the Alfred Buxton website:

alfredbuxton.com

A Directory of Alfred Buxton Gardens Clare Gleeson (author of The Fairer Side of Buxton: Alfred Buxton’s Gardens and the Women Who Loved Them, The Cuba Press) Alfred Buxton created gardens throughout much of New Zealand, as far south …

In Clare Gleeson's 'The Fairer Side of Buxton: Alfred Buxton’s Gardens & the Women who Loved Them', she compiled a spreadsheet of all the known Buxton gardens... but she has since discovered more! Here she discusses her new website. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/04/13/a...

Welcome to Miramar, Wellington’s Pohutukawa Suburb by Mike Lloyd Republished from ‘The Local Arboretum: Noticeable Trees and their Stories’ Source: ‘Wellington from the air, 1930‘, F. Douglas Mill Collection, Auckland Libraries Heritage…

"In 1930 the Miramar Peninsula did not have the established tree life we would associate with an old castle on the Italian coast".

Mike Lloyd writes about Mirimar, Wellington's Pohutukawa suburb. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/04/12/w...

Welcome to Miramar, Wellington’s Pohutukawa Suburb by Mike Lloyd Republished from ‘The Local Arboretum: Noticeable Trees and their Stories’ Source: ‘Wellington from the air, 1930‘, F. Douglas Mill Collection, Auckland Libraries Heritage…

"In 1930 the Miramar Peninsula did not have the established tree life we would associate with an old castle on the Italian coast".

Mike Lloyd writes about Mirimar, Wellington's Pohutukawa suburb. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/04/12/w...

Special Q&A screening of The Time Traveller's Guide to Hamilton Gardens at the Lido Cinema, Hamilton.

www.lidohamilton.com/movie/the-ti...

"The fountains playing over the foot of the Sir John Logan Campbell statue in Cornwall Park. The jets are to be turned on for two hours every Sunday afternoon during the summer". NZ Herald, 8 March 1932. #gardenhistory

Upcoming Hamilton Talk: Jane Deans, Rebel Gardener: Power and Politics and the Making of a Nineteenth-Century Colonial Garden Riccarton House, 2019, with garden. Photo by Sgerbic. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The Garden History Research Foundation invi…

Upcoming Hamilton talk: "Jane Deans, Rebel Gardener: Power and Politics and the Making of a Nineteenth-Century Colonial Garden". #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/03/04/u...

Upcoming Hamilton Talk: Jane Deans, Rebel Gardener: Power and Politics and the Making of a Nineteenth-Century Colonial Garden Riccarton House, 2019, with garden. Photo by Sgerbic. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The Garden History Research Foundation invi…

Upcoming Hamilton talk: "Jane Deans, Rebel Gardener: Power and Politics and the Making of a Nineteenth-Century Colonial Garden". #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/03/04/u...

The daffodils that became a taonga Daffodils that travelled with a missionary woman from England to South Taranaki 180 years ago, will soon bloom at Waitangi.

"Daffodils that travelled with a missionary woman from England to South Taranaki 180 years ago, will soon bloom at Waitangi".

www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

A BIG crowd in last night for our Medieval Cloister gardens talk + sneak-peek tour. I won't post any photos of the unfinished garden quite yet so as not to spoil any of the surprise. A massive thanks to Hamilton Gardens staff for all of your work last night - it was great working with you on this!

Cider's forgotten, ancient history Dr Trevor Fitzjohn is the owner of Teepee Cider, a boutique, traditional method cider orchard and producer in the Wairarapa. A retired history-lover with a personal library of over 1,000 rare books, h...

"A retired history-lover with a personal library of over 1,000 rare books, his apple varieties and techniques harken back to the golden age of cidermaking in England in the 17th and 18th centuries". #gardenhistory #wairarapa

www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

An upcoming talk at Dunedin Botanic Garden on their Peter Pan statue, which looks interesting! #gardenhistory

Colourful cover of 1950 guide book The Romance of Kew: Where Flowers always bloom. Interior of Palm House with red hibiscus and snowy scene outside.

Open-the-flap of cover of guide, The Romance of Kew, reveals summer scene of the pagoda.

Charming open-the-flap cover of 1950 guide to Kew.
The wintery scene in the Palm House transforms to summer and a view of the Pagoda when the door opens. Truly, a garden for all seasons!

"Finishing touches being placed on the carved figure of a swan which will surmount one of the pylons at the new [Auckland] Domain gateway". New Zealand Herald, 18 March 1936, P10. #gardenhistory

Talk and Tour: “The Medieval Cloister Garden: A Vision of Paradise” talk, and Guided, Behind-the Scenes-Tour of Hamilton Gardens’ Medieval Garden Brought to you by Garden History Research Foundation: Event 1: The inaugural Marilyn Yeoman Memorial Talk, 2026: “The Medieval Cloister Garden: A Vision of Paradise” A talk by internati…

The GHRF presents:

The Marilyn Yeoman Memorial Talk 2026: “The Medieval Cloister Garden: A Vision of Paradise“, by Annette Giesecke.

Followed by:

An exclusive tour of the Medieval Garden by Hamilton Gardens Director Lucy Ryan.

Details below:

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2026/01/12/t...

Oh, I never knew there was an alt text button until now! Been a few years since I've been there. I remember the POW ball. Need to go back when I'm in Wellington next.

In the museum at the Basin?

Most of NZ’s flowering plants grow nowhere else – and Christmas falls in peak blooming season New Zealand has 2,200 native flowering plants and 85% of them grow nowhere else, including some spectacular displays that open just in time for the festive season.

"plants associated with Xmas in the Nthn Hem–holly, ivy, mistletoe–are celebrated for their evergreen leaves in winter or their fruits. But in the Sthn Hem, Xmas falls in peak flowering season, a time of rebirth and reproduction more akin to the northern Easter".

theconversation.com/most-of-nzs-...

Oh, ‘Chute! Santa’s near miss with the Auckland Wintergarden Glasshouses By Ian Duggan Construction of the Wintergarden glasshouses in Auckland Domain was initiated during World War I. The Temperate (or Cool) House was erected first, between 1916 and 1921, for the year-…

Our 2022 Xmas blog: The Auckland Wintergarden glasshouses came under threat in 1937, though not from some wartime enemy. Instead it was from Santa Claus, parachuting in to the Domain. Oh, ‘Chute! We look at Santa’s near miss... #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2022/12/20/o...

Mistletoe: the Christmas Parasite in New Zealand by Ian Duggan, Te Aka Mātuatua – School of Science, The University of Waikato The mistletoe species most associated with Christmas globally is Viscum album – the so-called European mistletoe – whic…

“Although English Mistletoe may not have been seen by New Zealanders hanging from lamps and ceilings during the festive season, few have not heard about it”... We take a look at the history of European mistletoe in New Zealand. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/12/22/m...

Mistletoe: the Christmas Parasite in New Zealand by Ian Duggan, Te Aka Mātuatua – School of Science, The University of Waikato The mistletoe species most associated with Christmas globally is Viscum album – the so-called European mistletoe – whic…

“Although English Mistletoe may not have been seen by New Zealanders hanging from lamps and ceilings during the festive season, few have not heard about it”... We take a look at the history of European mistletoe in New Zealand. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/12/22/m...

Gone gnome: The mysterious history of Aotearoa’s stolen statues Even gnomes aren't safe in this cruel, cruel world.

The mysterious history of Aotearoa’s stolen statues, via The Spinoff #gardenhistory.

thespinoff.co.nz/society/15-1...

Gone gnome: The mysterious history of Aotearoa’s stolen statues Even gnomes aren't safe in this cruel, cruel world.

The mysterious history of Aotearoa’s stolen statues, via The Spinoff #gardenhistory.

thespinoff.co.nz/society/15-1...

"THE HOSE MAKES AN EARLY APPEARANCE. — Owing to the prolonged dry spell the gardeners at Albert Park find it necessary to water the seedlings". Auckland Star, 26 Aug 1932, P8.

Alice’s Looking Glass Garden by Peter Sergel The imaginary gardens described by Lewis Carrol include elements of old gardens, reflect the changing culture of the Enlightenment and, like all good art, they can perhaps challenge…

ICYMI: "The imaginary gardens described by Lewis Carroll include elements of old gardens, reflect the changing culture of the Enlightenment and, like all good art, they can perhaps challenge our perception of the world". #aliceinwonderland

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/10/03/a...

Alice’s Looking Glass Garden by Peter Sergel The imaginary gardens described by Lewis Carrol include elements of old gardens, reflect the changing culture of the Enlightenment and, like all good art, they can perhaps challenge…

New blog: "The imaginary gardens described by Lewis Carroll include elements of old gardens, reflect the changing culture of the Enlightenment and, like all good art, they can perhaps challenge our perception of the world". #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/10/03/a...

Hamilton’s Garden Place Sundial By Lindsay Amner The sundial in Hamilton’s Garden Place has been an iconic fixture in the centre of the city since 1953.  Generations of children have played on it, various vandals have bashed…

The sundial in Hamilton’s Garden Place: "Generations of children have played on it, various vandals have bashed it, and thousands of people have gazed at its various dials without the slightest understanding of how it works".
#gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/09/25/h...

ICYMI: Part three or our look at ships figureheads as garden ornaments in the early 20th Century.

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/09/14/s...

Ship Figureheads as Statuary in New Zealand Gardens, Part 3: the America, the Helen Denny, and others Ian Duggan A number of newspaper reports were published in the early 20th Century on the figureheads of ships featuring as items of statuary in New Zealand gardens. In previous blogs we examined th…

A number of figureheads from ships ended up as garden statuary in New Zealand in the early 20th Century. Here, in Part 3, we finish off our look at these items, including the stories of the America, Helen Denny, and others. #gardenhistory

gardenhistoryresearchfoundation.com/2025/09/14/s...