Cheating with Confidence - in the Garden!

Cheating with Confidence - in the Garden!

Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular launches programme

“Cheating with Confidence” is just one of the garden workshops being run by a line up of guest speakers announced at the launch of the 10-day Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular running from October 28 to November 6.

Run by UK-based gardening guru Neil Ross, “cheating never felt so good” Ross says about his workshop which reveals how gardeners can turn their backs on conventional rules and make their day to day gardening so much easier.

Formerly known as the Taranaki Rhododendron and Garden Festival, the programme for this year’s garden spectacular features 49 gardens including six new gardens, as well as a line up of guest speakers, guided walks and talks, and wine and music events.

Gardens of Significance, National Significance and International Significance will be opening their gates to the public as well high quality rose gardens, inner city potager gardens, native flora gardens, historic and park-like gardens, English cottage and country gardens and those with an art and sculpture focus.

The new gardens are “Gravetye” in Hawera, “The Lake” and “Collins Garden” both in Opunake, the “Foreman Garden” in Lepperton, as well as “Ann and Vince’s Garden” and “Where The Wild Things Are” in New Plymouth.

Internationally renowned floral art demonstrator Heather Hammond will be bringing her show “A Floral Field of Dreams” to the stage of the TSB Theatre combining floral design, lighting and music into a spectacle not to be missed.

Meanwhile, among the local line up are talks from garden managers from Pukeiti, Tupare and Hollards, as well as Rhododendron expert Erica Jago and Jenny Oakley who will be running two workshops on hanging baskets.

And in keeping with the Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular name, international trompe l‘oeil artist John Pugh has been commissioned to create a spectacular mural for this year’s landscape design project.

Funded by the TSB Community Trust, Pugh is renowned for creating a 3D impression of photographic clarity giving the illusion of something that is not there. His blank canvas will be an inner-city New Plymouth wall bordering the Huatoki Plaza measuring approximately 18 metres long by 6 metres high.

Managed by the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, the Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular is now in its 24th year and last year attracted approximately 52,000 garden visits during the 10-day Festival.

A visitor survey revealed that 47%, almost half of all respondents were making their first visit to the festival and also showed the Festival received an overall satisfaction rating of 99% from visitors saying the festival was excellent, very good or good.

This year’s line up of gardens and events has something to inspire every garden lover, says the Garden Spectacular’s manager, Lisa Haskell.

“With only Taranaki’s best private and public gardens selected for the Festival, this year’s collection will enable visitors to enjoy a cross-section of gardens from coastal sub-tropical to sub alpine environments,” says Lisa.

Ends

www.gardenfestnz.co.nz

© Scoop Media