"OTAHUNA"

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21289, 8 October 1934, Page 12

"OTAHUNA"

DAFFODILS AND TREES REALTY OF A PLANNED LANDSCAPE Whatever the Maori word may really mean, "Otahuna" fo Canterbury people means daffodils—not daffodils confined to flower beds in a corner of a suburban garden, but ,r daffodils spreading their colour in f bright masses across open fields, and daffodils in companies running up .. hillsides to the edges of plantations. , In spring pilgrimages to "Otahuna" ","—fhe Tai Tapu estate of Sir R. Heaton Rhodes—are regularly arranged by several organisations, and they reveal to town-dwellers how pleasant country surroundings may be made by careful planning. The approach to "Otahuna" round the hills gives a foretaste of the quiet beauty that is characteristic of the estate. The hills themselves at this time of the year have none "! the bold hardness which comes to theui when the sun bakes everything to the colour of the tussock. Their green is one with the new growth of the willows by the roadside and the calm light that lies • over the foothill pastures when a . still fine day comes after rain. Suddenly there are the masses of dark plantations breaking across the valley at "Otahuna," and throwing ..their flanks up the hillsides, and : among them is the brighter green ■•• Of the now growth of grass.

Battalions of Blooms

By the roadside appear the first •few daffodils, growing wild besiSe the hedges. But then the hedge ends, and there is a whole field of them, so many that the grass is only a dark background for their Tight. Yet the field is never reduced to the indignity of a mere .flower-bed- and when the flowers have had their season it returns to its own purpose as good pasture. Further back a hillside some acres m extent is alive-with the light of daffodils in. massed battalions, their ranks running back to the bright silver trunks of birches, with beyond them the still leafless oaks, and yet further back the sombre and dignified pines.

The daffodils are growing wild, but the blooms are not the blowsy and second-rate things expected of flowers growing untended. The heavy double bloom so common in many gardens is unknown at "Otahuna." There all the blooms are large and fine—great trumpet blooms, large centres, light centres, dark centres, pheasant's eye centres —all grow together, the successive masses of each kind remaining distinct. Any one of them would be the pride of the average city man's garden. In a corner by the house «.l. "Otahuna" are specially prepared and well cared for beds where the prize blooms are grown, but the uninitiated visitor can sec little difference between them and the countless blooms growing without attention among the grass.

The Colours of Trees Daffodils, are the reason for going to "Otahuna,'' but there flowers are only a part—and a small one—of the-beauty of the estate. Chiefly it is derived from the attention which has been given to designing the landscape. The plantations are placed for utility as breakwinds, but also with an eye for the beauty of the view. Trees have been used also as colour, for the commanding dark tones of pines are softened by planting English trees below thern, so- that to tb- green of the fields

succeeds the tender light of birch and oak leaves, with the pines as background. To break the continuous sweep of green fields small rows of. poplars are placed just where their colour is wanted to complete the harmony of tones. Everywhere there are unexpected vistas, each one framed with the nearby trees, and leading over open grassland to a distant mass of pines and their footstool birches, while the whole

;■ glows with the serene spring light. : To those accustomed to the un- ', relenting boldness of the hills and ;; the monotony of the outer plains » with their stark pine plantations, .j "Otahuna" appeals because it is so ; much more human. Its effect is ;■ that of- a new England, of places • ■ where men have loved the country .". they have lived in for generations . and have not thought the time ; wasted that they have spent in beautifying it. Above all "Otahuna"

.. shows how beautiful much of Can- ;. terbury may yet become.

TWO ORGANISATIONS GO • TO SEE DAFFODILS

Members of the Canterbury Horticultural Society and the Canterbury Justices, of the Peace Association, visited Sir R. Heaton Rhodes's estate, "Otahuna," at Tai Tapu on Saturday. Jn the past the two organisations have visited "Otahuna'' separately, but this year, by the courtesy of Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, it was decided to combine the visits. More than 150 private cars and a number of large buses conveyed the visitors, who were fortunate in having fine weather for the occasion.

The thousands of daffodils planted in open fields particularly attracted attention, and even though they were past their prime, they made splendid masses of colour. Apart from this, the beauty of the gardens, and the careful planning of the whole estate, with its many plantations, was remarked on. The arrangements for the visit were supervised by the secretary of the Horticultural Society 'Mr H. L. Darton).