SPRING IN THE GARDENS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3888, 18 September 1928, Page 11

SPRING IN THE GARDENS.

RIOT OF COLOUR AND BLOOM. EXTENSIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. New growth, new colour, new scents, new sounds, new life—Spring in the Botanic Gardens. How else describe it? Beauty, freshness, and splendour, these are the gifts that a lavish Nature has showered upon the Gardens. A phenomenally mild winter, favourable spring, and the timely conclusion of all seasonal operations and preparations have all combined to make the new season one of colourful perfection. It is futile to attempt a description of the myriad hues, the enchanting blending of tints, and the incomparable glory of the flowers of spring. Their name is legion, and their delicate colouring and matchless variety lend the spring of the year a loveliness never attained in the harvest or the fall. Daffodils, narcissi of every description, hyacinths, primroses, anemones, primulas, wallflowers, crocuses, tulips, and the numberless variations that can be had of each —these are the heralds of the newborn spring. The description could continue indefinitely. Grassy slopes, rich brown moulds, and rocky sidelings are all covered with bloom and colour. The deciduous trees and shrubs have lost their winter wretchedness. The willows bend green-laden boughs to the waters of the Leith, and the whole hillside overlooking the garden flats is a mass of fresh foliage, green pastures, and delicate colour. The narcissi have forced their way through the grass, and now, after their first timid glances round the new world, are blooming in greater profusion every day. The borders and plots on which so much care and labour have been spent in the winter months are now a credit to the staff, and the particular pride of the curator of the Gardens (Mr D. Tannock). Nature accomplishes wonderful things ' without man’s assistance, but with all her prodigality and lavishness there woull be little to attract if everything were not in readiness for the spring. It is at this time of the year more than any other that the genius of Mr Tannock can best be appreciated. His organisation and supervision of the labours of the large staff are entirely responsible for the Dunedin Botanic Gardens having no superiors in the Dominion. From corner to corner of his large domain it would be difficult indeed to find anything awry. The work of preparing for another year is a task that cannot be gauged by the layman, but it requires only a tour of the Gardens in the winter months to show what a last amount there is to be done. And if that visit is followed by another in the first weeks of spring the conviction deepens that to few men is given the power and the energy and the ability to accomplish the transformation that is necessary annually to get s everything shipshape for the seasons of growth and bloom. On every hand the visitoi has evidence of the foresight and care which have characterised this work. Those who know the Gardens well will notice many improvements, chief among which are the new paths on the higher levels and the improved accessibility to certain portions that were previously lost in the network of tracks. and avenues. A large number of new borders have been trenched and planted dut in the past few weeks, particularly on the top of the hill. These have been devoted to various spring blooms, and considerable additions have been made to the already remarkable collection of shrubs in this section of the reserve. Though there is at present a great profusion of flowers aud colour all over the Gardens, visitors for the next week or two will have the opportunity of making one of the most interesting studies the Gardens can supply. The season is just young enough for the closest observation to be made of Ihe amazing cycle of growth and blossoming, which is so much more apparent than in other seasons of the year. A never-failing source of pleasure and surprise to all who visit the Gardens lias always been the Winter Garden, but this winter the hothouses and herbariums have been even more interesting and delightful than ever before. The manner in which the hundreds of feet of benches are kept loaded with the choicest of exotie flowers and orchids of every description is cne of the most notable triumphs of the organisation here. At no time of the year need there ever be deserted benches. The erection of forcing and propagating houses as feeders to the main houses of the Winter Garden has now made it possible for Mr Tannock to keep a continuous supply of the most beautiful blooms on show. —-

At present the houses present a wonderful appearance. Seldom has there been a more colourful and generally perfect array of the delicate rich-toned cyclamen than that which now graces one of the houses. The collection of trots is marvellous and the blooms, are faultless. The white flowers have a snowy purity that is in attractive contrast to the deep wine-red and blood-red of the otLei s. Primulas hyppeastrums (hybrids or amaryllis) cinerarias, and all the wonderful collection of grotesquely named, but beautifully-fashioned orchids and exotics that one wishes could be brought out into the open and made to bloom there, or perhaps on the drawing room table—all these make up the contents of the “Winter Garden that has enchanted hundreds visitors in the past and will charm many more in the future, because seldom has there been a braver show.