Your first tree reminded me of a memorable tree in our travels in the mid 1980s. Here you see the huge beauty in the Queen Charlotte Islands.

A courtyard also in Borghese Gardens.

A garden amidst the ruins of Pompeii.

Some private terraces in view of the Spanish Steps.

I took alot of "garden" shots. If something had even a remote horticultural theme I jumped on it-fountains included. What fun!

Sue

Katy - For smaller quantities of the same bulbs try John Scheepers - which is the sister company to VanEngelen. (in Bantam, CT!)

I'll go for a walk with you anytime and we can just grope as we go - saving the hugs for the truly magnificent. Then if we got lost it was because you let "the girl with NO sense of direction" blaze the trail!

Private garden outside of Auckland, which is on the northern end of the north island. Hmm do I hear someone from the nutmeg state eating their words for breakfast?

Even this public garden in Napier on the north island saw the importance of highlighting succulents in their bed design.

Back in Christchurch this is Protea nitidia from South Africa.

I loved the subtle variations of color and texture in the grouping of plants at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

eager to learn!
mindy

Leucadendron is an important shrub in the new Zealand garden as it is winter blooming. It is originally from South Africa and there are many different varieties and colors.

Coprosma a native New Zealand shrub is again an important presence in the winter garden. There are at least two varieties that I noted (red & pink). This fall I bought Coprosma ‘Rays Red’ from Avant Gardens that I am trying to winter over indoors. So far it seems to be settling in.

This English variegated ilex was by far and beyond the nicest specimen I have ever seen.

Ulmus globra camperdownii I love how this weeping tree twists and turns where the limbs begin (is that called the union?)

Thanks to some very brilliant tree and shrub people at a different site I now have an id on these wonderful textural shrubs. All three are winter blooming Leucadendron. I would love to have these blooming in my garden during the winter season. From left to right Leucadendron argenteum, Leucadendron laureolum, Leucospermum reflexum.

Close up of Leucospermum reflexum

This beauty has now been identified as Fagus sylvatica (European Beech)

Close Up of Fagus sylvatica (European Beech) It’s bark reminds me of seal skin.

Erica discolor – love the flower I will have to look this one up.

Fatsia japonica
1009

Dicksonia Antarctica - Tree Fern in front of fern house I will post MANY more tree ferns in their native forest as I traveled closer to Antarctica.

I wonder if there are any Leucadendron that are hardy anywhere colder than the Pacific northwest. I'd love to try one, anything that blooms in winter is worth a shot.

I just returned from a trip that included a few days in Chile and a few in Panama. My camera, unfortunately, stayed behind.

This photo was taken standing on top of the port hills (which are the remnants of two small conjoined volcanoes) looking to the south down into the small village of Lyttleton and Diamond harbor with the Banks peninsula and Pacific ocean in the distance.

Main Street down town Lyttleton note that housing in town is built on volcanic slope and lot sizes are considerably small.

Cool theater buiding in Lyttleton – I love old library and theater buildings

These homes are typical in style and size for non city homes throughout New Zealand

Getting close to Utopia
Today is gray, cold, and wet, but I left Christchurch and headed south into the Canterbury plains after one hour traveling on the main highway (two lane road) we entered the Ashburton District we drove for another half hour through farm country. Nothing but flat land broken up buy rows of confers planted as wind breaks the mile after mile of fields enclosed by green walls is very different. Some of the land is for sheep but quite a bit looked as though it is farmed. Every once in a while there will be a break in the developed land and there will be a stretch of bush which is low scrub of scotch broom that is in bloom now and grasses. Ashburton has a population of 14,500 and the down town about the size of Plymouth was thriving with shops and restaurants catering to the locals rather than tourists. The only tourist draw to this area is hot air ballooning and a small race track (horses I think). The homes that are not on a farm were cute small and again little or no yard in the downtown area. Ashburton is the big city for the Plains District and of course has an Agricultural feel but they do have an art museum and golf club. Of course there are sheep everywhere but there are also llama farms as well as deer (venison is often on the menu of all types of restaurants. It is a bit odd to see a herd of deer fenced in on a farm. Everywhere I go there are travel agencies on every corner as new Zealanders are big travelers I don’t think I have spoken to a single person who has not traveled to the states. There is a big Japanese population as Japan is relatively close by. While on a public bus an older man started singing a sea chantey about the northern lights of course everyone showed their appreciation with applause so he continued to serenade us for the rest of the ride. I couldn’t believe how many songs this elderly man knew I can barely remember the lyrics of a few Christmas carols. Stopped in Oamaru for lunch it was a nice seaside town with white stone buildings where I went into a tea room and had a mutton and pickle sandwich. Oamaru is the end of the plains and suddenly I entered rolling hill country with the southern alps to the west and an untouched shoreline to the east. The rolling hillside is primarily grassland with conifers spotted here and there and of course sheep. Everywhere you look in the south there is beauty far greater than I expected. Although it is a gray wet day in the fall (apples are still hanging on the trees) when we drove through the small town of Palmerston I easily could see creating a life here. There were a couple of homes for sale as well hmmm……I wish you were here Joe I think I have stumbled on our dream. Well this is just the beginning of the journey but I see little reason to continue on other than the need to eventually catch a plane back home to you. xoxoxkt

Mindy thanks for the kind words and enthusiasm.

Bug do you collect clematis?? Princess Di was still blooming until first hard frost 11/3.

Taiaroa Head - Otago Penninsula – Dunedin. This is an amazing area as it is home to Royal Albatross, Yellow Eyed Penguins, Blue Penguins, fur seals, sea lions, to name a few.

Where’s Waldo!! There are at least eight fur seals in this photo see if you can find them.

To see the extremely endangered yellow eyed penguins you are brought to a shelter on the beach at a great distance to view with binoculars and are kept hidden from the penguins. They nest on the bank.

Looking down on the city of Dunedin and across at the beginning of the Otago Penninsula

March of the Penguins
Well every mile forward into my adventure becomes more amazing after a six hour drive to Dunedin I arrived into a city of 120,000 it sits on the Pacific Ocean at the bottom of some steep rolling hills. Dunedin is a University town and was originally founded in 1860 during New Zealand’s gold rush era. This is such a beautiful place in some ways it reminds me of San Diego. I made my way out of the city and on the Otago peninsula I found a place called Natures Wonders that is a privately owned stretch of land and beach dedicated to protecting the endangered yellow eyed penguin. The endangered yellow eyed penguin (there are only eight hundred of them left in the world) is the only penguin that can not survive in captivity it becomes so terrified it dies within two hours of coming in contact with humans. Unlike other types of penguin’s the yellow eyed is very solitary they mate for life but do not like to be too near other yellow eyed penguins. When I arrived to Natures Wonders they handed me a rain slicker and directed me to a mud covered otv vehicle…off we went into the sheep covered hills and down the cliffs to the shore to watch the penguins from afar. They nest in the foothills and take turns waddling across the beach and into the ocean to feed. When they are done feeding their mate is so excited to see them return they leave the nest and waddle to the shoreline to greet them. They were soooooooo cute. Off of the same beach two days earlier three killer whales had been spotted. This is also the nesting place of the royal albatross which is a huge bird with a wing span of 4-6 feet. Again I am finding the people to be very generous of spirit and again I am in another city that has zero litter isn’t that amazing? The University is the most prestigious in New Zealand and is Dunedin’s largest employer followed by Cadbury Chocolate and then an appliance manufacturer. Joe perhaps this place is not only calling to me because of it’s in creditable natural beauty but the possibility of working at a chocolate factory as a taster of course. On the surface I think we would be very happy living anywhere between Oamaru and Dunedin but who knows what tomorrow will bring? Love kt

Those of us who live in a warmer end of z6 definitely could try to grow F.magellanica, which is reputedly hardy to -5/-10F (z7). Of course, if you'll be able to find it, since I never seen it for sale here. I got mine from GWer from PNW, but ForestFarm have several cultivars available.
It will behave as a dieback perennial, pretty much as a caryopteris, and if dies completely to the ground will resprout from the roots very late, say mid/late May. In such case it will be about 2x2' by July and will bloom from early August till frost. Shrub is heat and drought sensitive and absolutely resist transplanting (that is how I killed mine) unless in a very early spring while dormant.
They are mostly red/scarlet, but there is a lavender cultivar 'Mollinae'(sp?) and a pink one 'Sharpitor'.
I'll be looking to buy some of those next spring to plant among azaleas/rhododendrons for the summer color and possibly to grow in container.

F.procumbens is a very 'strange' plant, IMO.
When not in bloom you'll miss it completely.
When in an early stage of bloom you have to be pointed to it, otherwise you'll miss it as well.
The most interesting part is at the late stage of the bloom, when some flowers are still present, but seedpods already formed and start turning into plum color.
I don't grow it, but saw fairly old speciman grown in a huge urn in private garden in Florence, Italy.

BTW, the world largest assembled collection of fuschias is in....Sweden.

Entrance to the Dunedin Botanical Garden that is located in the heart of the city Zone 8.

Great combo of Cordyline and Dahlia in front of Rhododendron. Although considered to be in the same USDA zone Dunedin is closer to Antarctica than Christchurch and it’s climate closer mimics that of the Himalayans. The botanical garden is most revered for its Rhododendron dell.

Every turn more beautiful than the last

This shrub was not labeled but I am pretty certain it is a Barberry.

narcnh of Rohan

Protea scolymocephala

Protea aristata

Protea

Cedrus deodara ‘Mountain Beauty’ in center

Hey this is Palmerston a small village population 890 which is typical of the FEW small villages outside of the cities. The south island is made up of vast stretches (hour after hour, mile after mile) of sheep/venison farms. This photo really represents what the Otago region is all about it reminds me of Nova Scotia you can double click on the photo and work with the button for a close up view. It is about an hour north of Dunedin the area's big city.
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon touring around Dunedin trying to learn about the different areas, while getting a cup of tea I chatted with some locals all of whom are very proud of their city. A few things that I found out were New Zealand is called the country of the white cloud..in reference to the number of cloudy days. It does snow this far south but just like at home it is infrequent and usually melts before it hits the ground. In the 90’s New Zealand went through a slight recession and Dunedin was the only city that did not have a hard time because the University is the large employer and like plumbing there is always a need for Universities. Real estate prices are considerably higher than I thought they would be but I am yet to be discouraged. The city itself is very cool the botanical gardens were amazing they have a similar climate to the Himalayans where rhododendrons are native so the Botanical Garden has four thousand different rhodies from around the world all planted in a dell. In November when they are in bloom people come from all over the world some of the rhodies are even scented. Yes I know Morgan your making your trip plans now. Everything in New Zealand is backwards the sun sets in the east the south side of a house is the shady side, and they drive on the wrong side of the road. I traveled today to the southern alps to a town called Te Anau the alps look just like the Alps in Austria. All during the 4.5 hour trip all I saw was sheep and grass covered rolling hills there were two small villages along the way that were unremarkable. I arrived in the evening so I don’t have much to report other than my feeling that this area may be too remote for everyday living but the Otago region outside of Dunedin may be what we are looking for let me know what you think. I am going to Queenstown soon and have high hopes for that area.

Lake Manipouri with the Southern Alps in the back ground. The land sandwich between the Alps and the Tasman Sea is not only beautiful but botanically very unique.

Crossing Wilmot Pass on the Way to Doubtful Sound. Wilmot Pass has some of the most amazing moss. This photo has Silver Beech Trees in the fore ground (more on my love affair with the Beech later) and the Southern Alps in the background.

Looking down into Pearl Harbor Doubtful Sound which is actually not a Sound but a Fiord. "A fiord is a glaciated valley - typically narrow and steep-sided - that has been flooded by the sea after the glacier’s retreat. A sound, on the other hand, is a river valley flooded by the sea following a rise in sea levels or depression of the land, or a combination of both."

Water falls from mountain streams that are always high with rain water and pour down the mountain sides everywhere.

Silver Beech lowland native forest at altitude where forest ends and alpine forest takes over (brown colored area). The trees and other plants that grow in alpine forests are adapted to survive the cold. Trees growing in alpine areas will not often grow as tall as the same species would grow in a lowland forest because of the colder climate and wind. The alpine forest areas have diverse plants that I will share with you later.

Tree avalanches are a common occurrence with little other than a few cracks in the steep granite for the roots of a mature tree to hold it in place often a rain or snow storm will blow over a tree and then like a domino effect everything below the fallen tree goes too.

Almost immediately moss, lichens, and hardier shrubs start growing and lay the foundation for the forest’s regeneration by acting as a propagating bed for larger forest trees.

More photos would be great, but please, for the sake of those of us with dialup, start a new thread.

I love looking at your magnificent photos, but on a long thread like this I can't see the new posts until most of the earlier ones are loaded. And that takes a long, long time.

Thanks,
Claire

One more time thank you for sharing with us such a wonderful world of NZ.