THE GARDENS

Southland Times, Issue 19479, 31 March 1922, Page 6

THE GARDENS

BADLY DAMAGED BY WEATHER. THE WORK ON HAND. The Invercargill Municipal Gardens have had a terrible buffeting during the past three weeks, rain, hail and wind combining to ruin the beautiful blaze of colour that greeted the eye a month ago. During the present week a bed here and there has shown signs of a slow recovery, while the dahlias have stood up to the weather better than most of the flowers, but generally a sad condition of things prevails, the labour of many weeks having gone with little or nothing in some cases to show for it. As a means of gaining some idea of the conditions under which Mr Smith and his staff have at times to work a visit to the Gardens at the present time may be well worth while, but those who pay a visit with a recollection of what they had seen or heard a month ago are likely to be sadly disappointed, a fact which to a certain extent will be further impressed when the hothouse is visited. The building is being re-painted and the shifting about of its contents to make way for the painters does not help the display inside. Besides this the time is a sort of “between season”—the begonias and pelargoniums which have been the chief attraction for some time are now going off and the next batch of flowers to take their place—chrysanthemums, cinerarias, primulas and calceolarias —are just getting ready to replace them. In a week or two, however, a visit should be well worth while. The newly-painted interior also gives a refreshing appearance to the place. With the allocation of the different reserves for winter sports areas, the Gardens staff is busily preparing the way for footballers, golfers, and hockey players, and will have plenty to do for some little time to come.