A FAIRY GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 264, 7 November 1935, Page 5

A FAIRY GARDEN.

ANNUAL ROSE SHOW.

TOWN HALL TRANSFORMED.

RARE ORCHIDS AND IRISES. The glorious colours and the sweet fragrance of a spring flower garden have been transferred to the Town Hall for the rose show of the Auckland Horticultural Society, which opened to-day. In addition to over 2000 roses there are hundreds of irises and other brilliant blooms. The entire hall has been laid out as a formal English garden under the direction of the society's honorary architect and landscape gardener, Mr. H. L. Massey. The entrance to the hall is lined with rows of bamboos and in front is a trellis pergola over which rambler roses sprawl in gay profusion. Spreading palms and tall conifer trees in tubs shade the brick-paved pergola walk. Massed around are contrasting red and white azaleas and purple, blue and red cinerarias. Hundreds of magnificent roses embedded in the black soil of rock-bordered beds give the impression of a real garden. This display was arranged by the City Council under the direction of Mr. T. S. Aldridge, superintendent of parks, and Mr. G. F. Filmore, assistant superintendent. Most of the blooms came from the Domain gardens and the Parnell Park.

From the pergota one wanders on to a lawn of real turf in the centre of the hall. Along the rockery that surrounds the lawn grow hundreds of rare irises, ranging in colour from the deepest royal purple, through shades of mauve and heliotrope, to the palest of pastel creams. The blooms come from the Wychwood Nurseries, Rotorua, and their wealth of colour fittingly sets off the exhibition roses ranged on small tables round the hall.

Another display from the same nursery contains over a hundred varieties of irises. Among the latest novelties from America is a rare yellow bloom never before seen in New Zealand. As a contrast to the larger varieties, the tiny blue hybrids from the Rocky Mountains make a quaint border to the display. Other unusual varieties in the collection are little Japanese roof irises and exotic orchid-like blooms from Holland. Newly crossed varieties of broom in bright speckled reds and whites form an attractive background.

Described as the finest private collection of orchids in New Zealand, a selection of 70 rare varieties has been loaned by Mr. F. C. Mappin, of Mountain Road. They have been collected from all over the world, and thei.. queer shapes and vivid colours make them a centre of attraction.

The front of the stage has been decorated with flowers from the garden of Mrs. B. Wilson, Remuera. Irises, stocks and roses in mixed colours mingle as in a real garden. Behind them, banked up to the stage, are rows of feathery palms and fiery "red pokers." Another brilliant display was loaned by the Auckland Racing Club from its gardens at Ellerslie. Hundreds of potted calceolarias in rich shades of red and orange, banked up in the form of a pyramid, add another splash of colour to an already splendid spectacle. The show will be open this evening and to-morrow from 10 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.

The champion rose of the show was a magnificent rose pink "Una Wallace," exhibited by Bishop Anderson, to whom the championship award was made. The championships fpr the best pansy and the best viola in the show were awarded to Mr. R. H. F. Grace for a Golden King and a Clarice Boyle respectively.