Relationships and collaborations are at the heart of the 38th Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival.
Festival manager Jessica Parker says 43 gardens will open, including five newcomers and two returning, plus more than 30 events.
“This year, we’ve added neighbours into the festival mix,” she says of the annual event, running from October 31 to November 9.
Two first-time entries, Te Rongohua and Tītoki, are side by side on Kinross Drive in New Plymouth, while at Bell Block, newcomer Villa Verde is opening next to long-time garden Riverlea.
For Steph and Brent Cockerill of Te Rongohua, the decision to open has meant both toil and delight.
“It’s thrown a lot of extra work our way, but the reaction we get from people when they find where we are is always a joy, because people don’t realise what we’ve got,” she says.
“We thought it would be a great idea with houses next to each other to support each other,” says Brent.
Janet and John King of Tītoki say encouragement and timing helped make their decision to join the festival.
“Steph and Brent approached us and said they were putting theirs in and would we do the same. We had had a couple of groups of people come through here last year and we got good feedback from them,” Janet says.
“Now John’s retired and he’s got the time to do a bit more so we just kind of thought well let’s give it a go and give something back to the community as well.”
Festival relationships go beyond the garden gates.
“We’re excited to collaborate once more with Sustainable Backyards and the Taranaki Arts Trail. It’s great to share resources and showcase each other’s events as part of one vibrant regional offering,” says Jessica.
A highlight collaboration is with the New Plymouth Floral Art Club, which is marking its 70th anniversary.
“We’re thrilled to be working with the Floral Art Club in their 70th year. To combine their history with ours shows the strength of long-lasting connections in our community – they’re the oldest floral art club in New Zealand and our garden festival has been running the longest,” she says.
Fresh events also add variety to the festival programme.
“We have a number of new events which are really unique and, I think, enhance the festival even more.”
Thanks to Mitre 10 Mega, the Two Raw Sisters will also serve up an inspiring talk and demonstration on their “intelligently lazy” approach to healthy eating, sharing the idea of food as medicine.
Other additions include the Urban Garden Tour of small city sections, Yoga in the Garden with Stacie Suter, and the Magic Mandala Trail with eco-artist Tigerlily Prattini.
The Mitre 10 Garden Speaker Series will cover the importance of pollinators, soil science, growing bananas, epiphytes, hanging baskets and propagating plants.
Jessica says the festival continues to thrive because of those doing the spade work.
“We are able to do the festival because of our amazing gardeners who work tirelessly and passionately to ensure that their gardens are the best they can be – and then they welcome visitors with warmth and enthusiasm.”