A bush garden of rhododendrons

Press, 1 December 1988, Page 10

A bush garden of rhododendrons

Thelma Strongman

People and their gardens

Over 25 years ago, when Anne Pinney discovered a house and garden for sale in Peel Forest, she knew immediately that she must live there. Her husbhnd, the late Robert Pinney, author and local historian, did not feel ready to retire, but when he saw the house and its environment, he changed his mind. The house is situated in natural bush, on a rise about about 400 m above sea level. Facing north and east, it lies at the foot of little Mt Peel. The soil is acid and the situation is just right for the culture of many types of rhododendrons. Anne Pinney usually has no need to water or to feed her plants which grow informally, merging their roots with those of five-finger, whiteywood, fuchsia and fern. A stately white pine marks the lowest limits of the 3-hectare garden, but pride of place goes to an ancient totara, which when measured over 20 years ago, produced a girth of nearly 9m. Sadly, its crown was blown out many years ago, but the tree has great character. Still mighty, it forms a refuge for a large assortment of flora and fauna. On special days, the children of several families are treated to a decoration of balloons tied to wispy twigs at the base of the trunk and little presents can be found in hiding holes in its ancient roots. The rhododendrons receive between 1140 m to 1270 m of rain a year. Owing to the steepness of the bush, excess water drains away rapidly, so they do not suffer from wet feet. The conditions are so conducive to the growth of rhododendrons that some of the plants have seeded themselves, particularly in a decaying mossy-topped treestump. It will be some years, however, before the seedlings will be mature enough to flower, but they are eagerly awaited as the nearby putative par-

ents are of particularly fine quality. Mrs Pinney has been an enthusiastic member of the New Zealand Rhododendron Council for many years and has travelled widely to see notable collections of the plants. When the Pinneys were in London, they saw a plant of the hybrid “Roza Stevenson” before it had been named and registered. A plant of this now thrives in the Peel Forest garden, its first flowering probably occurring in the next spring or two.

The rhododendrons grow rapidly in the garden. They are all logged in the garden journal in which Anne Pinney records their planting and flowering times. A sizeable Rhododendron fargesii, obtained from the famous Scottish grower, Peter Cox, was only 4cm tall when it was planted in 1979. This year, it produced many trusses of beautiful bell-shaped mauve-pink flowers, and there are several other choice hybrids in the garden awaiting their first flowering. Close to the house is “Mars,” an old hybrid with rich crimson flowers. Although this seems to be doing well in an open sunny position, Anne Pinney usually prefers to plant mid-to-late flowering plants with dark blooms in a shady position. The dark colours absorb the heat radiated from the sun and tend to be damaged sooner than those of lighter coloured

varieties. Near "mars” is a beautiful native Clematis paniculata, which drapes itself airily round the stump of an old pepper tree. Further on, making a tunnel through the bush, are tall varieties of “Ham Exbury” azaleas, which about 25 years ago, were bought for one shilling each. In this area is a large plant of the beautifully sculptural R. yakushimanum, “Rex” with furry suede-like indumentum on the undersides of the leaves and “Lem’s Cameo,” an American variety which flowers beautifully, but which Anne Pinney finds a little “too gaudy” for her taste. Nearby, the species R. lindleyi threads its way through a mahoe tree and R. frangrantissimurn closely associates itself with “Bow Bells.” Two English, hybrids, “Alison Johnstone” and “Trewithen Orange,” which arose in the same garden in Cornwall, are companionably planted side by side at Peel Forest. Beneath the rhododendrons, there are masses of interesting groundcovers. Day lilies, forget-me-nots,

hostas, trilliums and tall Himalayan lilies. In addition, many meconopsis have been raised from seed and planted out beneath the rhododendrons. These now ripen and seed themselves throughout the garden. Anne Pinney finds that she really enjoys the rich intricate whorl of foliage which they produce. Although conditions are nearly perfect for growing rhododendrons, and other Himalayan plants, gardening in Peel Forest is not entirely without problems. Fierce windgusts sometimes hurtle down the mountain, ripping out plants by the roots and severe frosts occasionally attack the tender varieties. In drought years, it is not possible to water thirsty plants, and the bush continually attempts to recover lost ground, capturing essential light from the rhododendrons. It is early spring which gives Anne Pinney most pleasure from her garden. She particularly enjoys the stark forms of the foliage and the hesitant blooms of the first rhododendrons which are accompanied by a carpet of snowdrops that have multiplied throughout the entire garden.