GREEN MAGIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22712, 26 October 1935, Page 9

GREEN MAGIC

OAMARU PUBLIC GARDENS By G. L. T. The whole of North Otago is justifiably proud of this sanctuary of Nature which season by season draws many worshippers of the beauty of form and colour to its precincts. By the time October is drawing to a close ,the deciduous trees have awakened from their annual slumber and appear like figures in a pageant on the stage of Spring. When in temporary exile in Italy Browning sang, i Oh, to be In England now that April’s there. And whoever wakes In England sees, some morning, unaware. That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf. In this other England of the southern seas October is the counterpart of the I April so beloved by lovers of the beauty of the English countryside. Lying in a sheltered glen these gardens early begin to stir at the clarion call of the spring and each week fresh beauty j is unfolded, the first display beginning on the ground floor when the procession | of t.he bulbs holds the eye in a feast lof colour. From September walls and curtains of green reappear to complete the setting and to enhance the rich mosaic of beds and borders of colour. At present the gardens are approaching the full tide of beauty and activity and present many scenes of interest and charm. Beginning at the entrance gates we soon become aware that Spring is well advanced, for there is wafted on the air sweet incense from a bed of hundreds of wallflowers that make a brilliant display and prepare for us a welcome to Nature’s showground. Not to be outdone by these ever popular annuals, beds of anemones open their brilliant petals to the sunshine proclaiming that the carpet of Spring ranges the whole gamut of the colour scale. Beginning with an introduction confined to a twotoned harmony in green and gold the Spring advances to a magnificent finale in a galaxy of colour. A plaza-like effect is created by the placing of tulip beds in the angles of paths which radiate from the fountain situated near the entrance. Carpeted with blue forget-me-not and lifting tall, slender stems, these tulip plots remind us of a miniature plantation canopied o’er with inverted domes of gorgeous hues. On the spacious lawn, smooth as a billiard table, cypresses, firs, and spruces stand like lofty pyramids, the firs and spruces making an attractive sight with the delicate pale green tips of the new growth of needles forming a selvedge along the sides of the trees.

On our way to the artificial pond in the centre of the gardens we notice a fluffy pile on the lawns and paths, the white down from the bursting catkins of the giant silver poplars which now appear to be trees of tinsel as the young leaves with their silver-grey undersides tremble in the slightest movement of the air. A little further on, the ground is carpeted with the wafer-like seed wings of elms, which are masses of pale green loveliness with bunches of these round wafers on every branch. The prodigality of Nature is well exemplified in the prolific and even wasteful production of flowers, catkins and seeds of the deciduous trees. Reaching the pond which for some months mirrored the bare outlines of stems and branches, we find that a marvellous transformation has taken place, for weeping willows, sycamores and limes bear eloquent testimony to the work of green magic, creating wonderful pictures for artists and photographers. On the wide, sweeping lawn round the band rotunda an avenue of silver birches adds a fairyland touch to this area of the gardens. In England this graceful tree is known as the Lady of the Woods, and surely it denotes the essence of feminine daintiness in silver satin bark and tiny leaves of new-born green. With branches tapering to the slenderest of lines, the leaves appear to be floating in the air, held together by invisible threads fine as filigree. Their leaves hardly yet smoothed and ironed out by sun and wind, the birches present pictures of airy gracefulness. Some years ago, on his return from his first Antarctic expedition, Admiral Byrd paid a

visit to Oamaru and was received in this section of the gardens. During the course of his address he made reference to the beauty of the setting, which was particularly pleasing and soothing to the eye after months spent in the white monotony of the polar region. October is blossom time and the far end of the gardens has to offer an avenue of young flowering cherries which just now are foamy masses of pirik and white petals. In a few years’ time this avenue following the grassy slopes of the creek will become a scene of ravishing beauty. In this same area the glory of the azaleas is just beginning to assert itself in soft, warm shades of apricot, lemon and pink, the shrubs being rounded off with borders of multi-coloured polyanthus. The work of green magic goes on in every corner of the gardens, each species of tree announcing its resurrection at the appointed time and revealing the wonderful and varied plan of Nature in creating bud, leaf and blossom. Accordingly we notice that the plane, beech, ash and oak are tardier than the willows and poplars by several w’eeks; some of the deciduous display catkins before the leaves, others produce' both at the same time, while yet others burst into flower, the time of awakening of leaf and flower varying in different species. Close and constant observation of the introduced English trees reveals a wealth of information such as is not commonly found in text books and considerably deepens one’s appreciation of the wonders of plant life. A fascinating part of this green wonderland is provided by the grove of horse chestnuts which is set in a trough or lawn with the creek running by. A few weeks ago the only sign of life evident in these majestic trees was that afforded by the stout swelling buds, which are the most fascinating to study in respect of the deciduous trees. Here a most amazing transformation has taken place, for there have now emerged from the 1(1 swaddling scales round each fat bud five to seven leaves, together with a thick stem bearing a densely clustered flower stalk. The potential beauty and material packed in one of these buds are nothing short of miraculous, as is the manner in which the buds are proof against the cold and wet. On first escaping from their manifold wrappings, the leaves, which are arranged in palmate form, hang limply, but they soon attain full size and rigidity, the chestnuts becoming covered in a velvety drapery ornamented with hundreds of white pyramids like candles on a Christmas tree.

We have completed the circuit of the gardens, but we have by no means exhausted its charms, for we can say of Nature as Shakespeare wrote of Cleopatra : Age cannot wither her, nor, custom stale Her Infinite variety.