PUBLIC GARDENS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27212, 15 October 1949, Page 4

PUBLIC GARDENS

, ATTRACTIVE APPEARANCE MANY BEAUTY SPOTS The entrance to the Oamaru Public Gardens has been so planted in recent years that the display of flowering cherries can be seen to advantage long before the gates are reached. A Daily Times reporter paid a visit to the Gardens yesterday morning and spent an hour with the curator, Mr John Tait. in visiting the many beauty spots. As the visitor enters the main gates a wealth of flowering apples and cherries of various varieties meets the eye. These are making a bright display and are shown to full advantage by a background of larger trees. Just inside the main gate a fine bed of polyanthus attracts attention, while at the Craig fountain beds of tulips of variegated colours are bursting into bloom and will be at their best within a few days. A little further on a bed of hyacinths of mixed colours is at its best, although a little' late in the season. In this area magnolias, with a background of the colourful Japanese maple, present an attractive appearance. The view leading up the main path in front of the curator’s residence towards the duck pond, with its thousands of tulips, estimated at 10,000, spacious lawns, and rose gardens, makes a delightful scene. The horizontal elm, a heritage 9 from previous generations, situated near the residence, is one of the attractions of the Gardens. At present the seed pods are making a magnificent display. In close proximity is a unique yellow rose which was imported from the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. Crossing the spacious band rotundh lawn, one comes upon the flowering cherry avenue, almost too lovely for discretion. Nearby is the rhodadendron dell with the azaleas and magnolias all coming into their fullest glory. Wonderland has been tidied up and a contrast of Japanese maples and larger trees makes a picturesque setting for an exquisite piece of statutary—one of. the greatest assets of the Gardens. A visit to the greenhouse showed it to be at its zenith with its cinerarias, cyclamen, primulas and geraniums, while two delicate hippeastrums are a delight to the eye. These are only a few of the many beauty spots in the Gardens and a visit this week-end by residents would be well repaid. Visitors during the last week were loud in their praises, and one party from Christchurch remarked that in their opinion the Gardens were the •finest in New Zealand.