November 10 2005

A is for Ajuga Black Scallop. Yes, you read right, the Ajuga Black Scallop is a plant never before seen by the New Zealand public, to be on show at the Inplants Ltd exhibit in the Hort Galore Marquee.  

B is for Best in Show. This new initiative gives the New Zealand gardening public an opportunity to see the splendour of Ellerslie Flower Show in their own garden, with winning Best in Show plants and flowers available for purchase throughout the country after the Show has finished.

C is for Chelsea General Manager Bob Sweet, who is coming out to the Show as part of the Ellerslie Flower Show strategy to internationalise the Show and build links with other prestigious flower shows around the world.

And don’t forget the Cabbage Patch Kids at Ellerslie! Whether you have kids, or you’re just a big kid at heart, the Cabbage Patch Kids entertainment garden is just the ticket. Link past with present with these adorable dolls from yesteryear, snugly nestled into the vegetable where it all started – the cabbage!

D is for Design Director Karen Lowther. As Ellerslie Flower Show’s most awarded designer, Karen is ready to create design genius this year. Karen’s key roles are ensuring the layout of the marquees is aesthetically pleasing alongside mentoring designers and exhibitors in the Show.

And be sure not to miss the Design talent from New Zealand and overseas. Talented designers are working frantically to pull the fabulous Design Marquee together for the Show, with innovative and exciting designs to be showcased in the Marquee themed ‘Fantasy and Reality’.  This is a fantastic opportunity to witness young Kiwi design talent at it’s best.

E is for Exhibition Gardens. Inspired gardeners will showcase their work to the public at the Sunday magazine Exhibition Gardens. With everything from children’s garden parties to edible gardens, low allergy, low vision and sensory gardens, the Exhibition Gardens are a must-see spot to mark on your Show map!

F is for Flowers. Beauty is the keyword this year at the Show’s Twinings Floral Art Marquee, with an exhibit comprising innovative design, exciting colour combinations and unique plant materials.

And let’s not forget international Floral art guru Richard Go, who will take centre stage at The NZ Gardener Speaker Series.

G is for Giant Podophyllum. The Podophyllum is a Himalayan plant with a massive spread of flat, umbrella-shaped leaves that are patterned and veined, comparable to what you would see when looking through a kaleidoscope – don’t miss this one!

And also don’t miss the Gardeners Sanctuary, which will need to be seen to be believed! At 1500sqm, the endless beautiful flowers and plants on display will be heaven for gardening enthusiasts. The public will be able to view and take away new releases in flowers at the exhibit, as well as tried and true favourites in stunning colour palettes.

H is for Hort Galore. A totally new concept for 2005, Hort Galore is a vibrant hub for showcasing the best of New Zealand horticulture, providing the opportunity for participants to really show their stuff on the gardening stage, with combinations of fantastic foliage and design.

I is for Incredible Edibles. Tharfield Nursery Ltd are set to inspire the public to use incredible edibles® in their garden designs, bringing their gardens alive with fruit. There will also be a blueberry tree in full flower and covered with ripening fruit, coffee and tea plants, Pepino’s and Japanese Raisin Trees. This exhibit will really show the public how they can create the Wow! factor in their own gardens.

J is for Judge Jack Hobbs and his team. Jack is the Curator Manager of Auckland Botanic Gardens and President of the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture. He is   regularly involved as a judge at Ellerslie Flower Show.

K is for Kiwi Garden, Xanthe White’s feature garden. ‘The Kiwi Garden – From Cultivation to Inspiration’ will be housed in the Pacific Retail Finance Feature Marquee. The garden will represent how New Zealander’s relationships with gardening have developed as their lifestyles have changed over the years, with twenty thousand plants and over a thousand different varieties included in the exhibit!

L is for Lighting. Jenny Pullar, Lighting Director for the Show, is set to put the Show’s name in lights with her creative talents. The Show will be an opportunity for both exhibitors and the public to get a taste for the importance of lighting in gardens and how it can create a winning sense of ambience at home.   

And there is also the Low Allergy Garden. Explore the winning student designs from the Low Allergy Garden Secondary Schools Competition presented by the Ellerslie Flower Show in this marquee.  Breathe easy as you learn how to have a green thumb without the red nose!

M is for Money Tree. Pacific Retail Finance Limited (PRF) is planning to grow money on a tree in a spectacular fundraising initiative for the Child Cancer Foundation. The finance company has commissioned a three-metre high aluminium ‘Money Tree’ to take a prime position at the Show, with visitors being invited to make a cash donation to the Child Cancer Foundation with the money immediately attached to the tree, so everyone can watch it grow!

And then there’s Milestones – a photographic exhibition celebrating shared humanity to be situated in the Show’s Design Marquee.

N is for NZ Gardener Speaker Series. The Speaker Series will feature a programme of experts from both New Zealand and overseas, providing a forum to present the latest trends, handy ideas and useful solutions for novice and aficionados alike.

O is for Orchids. 64sqm of rare scented orchids from Singapore and South East Asia!

P is for Performers at the Manukau City Cultural Performance Garden, which will showcase an eclectic mix of native and subtropical plants from around the Pacific basin and be bought to life with a variety of local performers to suit every niche, from Cook Islands performers to opera singers, Indian drummers to hip hop artists and a Kapa Haka children’s group.

Q is for Quintessentially New Zealand. The biggest, brightest and most beautiful Garden Show in the Southern hemisphere!

R is for Rare Varieties. Check out the latest and greatest in plants at the Show’s Hort Galore Marquee, from exotic colour combinations to ethereal plants and lustrous natives in their natural environment.

And don’t miss the discussion on Recycling from Andrew O’Sullivan in the NZ Gardener Speaker Series, with his talk ‘Beyond recycling – re-use is the next big thing’.

S is for SensibiliTea. To be lead-designed by Wellington’s deafblind landscape gardener Merv Cox, the Twinings SensibiliTea VIP Garden will be a scented and tactile delight for sighted and vision-impaired people alike. The garden will feature a range of plants and flowers that vision-impaired people will be able to distinguish by scent, shape and texture, as well as sculptures, various pavings and “accessible” signage in Braille and audio.

And of course S is for Soifua – one of the performance highlights at the Manukau City Cultural Performance Garden. One of New Zealand’s newest and hottest cultural-tourism entertainers, Soifua specialises in professional presentations of Polynesian culture in the form of visual arts, performing arts, music and song.

T is for the Tower Garden and the Turf-work going into it! With Tower’s support an array of plants will be transformed into a diverse 'living sculpture’, to be represented in the work of New Zealand landscape designer Nigel Cameron and the amazing turf-work he is creating for the Tower garden.

U is for Umbrellas – you’d be mad not to bring one! Rain or shine, you’ll want to protect yourself from or the other. 

V is for Veges galore at the Auckland Vegetable Growers and Landscapes Ltd exhibit in the Hort Galore Marquee. The exhibit is characterised by a walk-through menu featuring edible displays and names associated with edible delights such as the Monsteria Fruit Salad Vine and fantastic local produce. There will also be a fabulous foliage-inspired menu, with the main dishes including a pig on a spit made entirely from peanuts, lit from beneath with lights shining through red capsicums placed under its belly.

W is for Weddings at the Twinings Floral Art Marquee – with a Contemporary Weddings theme, the exhibit will include beautiful flowers, a magnificent wedding cake from Waitakere City Cake Decorators Club, live music and string instrument performances!

And don’t miss the War of the Worlds exhibit in the Hort Galore Marquee. The exhibit pays homage to the original concepts of The War of the Worlds, with unearthly fog, mystical music and a three-metre tall spaceship taking centre stage, along with the introduction of ten new plant types never before seen by the New Zealand gardening public.

X is for Xanthe White. Winner of the Peoples Choice Award at the 2004 Ellerslie Flower Show, Xanthe knows a thing or two about gardens! The cutting-edge designer says the Feature Marquee at this year’s Show will have something for everyone, with a range of garden styles from minimal and low maintenance, to intricate and sophisticated.

Y is for Young Horticulturalist of the Year. The grand final is to be staged at Ellerslie Flower Show with finalists from all over New Zealand who are set to be the future stars of New Zealand’s huge horticultural industry.

Z is for LanZpec – The Party Garden. As the largest exhibition garden ever, The Lanzpec Party Garden will be an entertainers dream. With a deck floating on water, home theatre, and fire places surrounded by lush planting and sweeping lawns, this is an awe-inspiring exhibit.

Peter Cox, Ellerslie Flower Show General Manager says the Show is regarded as one of the world’s greatest flower shows.

“There is so much to see at the Show this year, visitors will be treated to an amazing array of sights, sounds, tastes and smells,” he says. 

The Ellerslie Flower Show 2005 promises to be Like Never Before, with innovation, inspiration and floral delights to warm even the coldest gardening heart! The Show will spring into bloom from 16–20 November. Tickets can be purchased at any Ticketek outlet, by contacting 09 307 5000 (or your local Ticketek number) or via the website www.ticketek.co.nz