Kawakawa making a splash
Kawakawa is one of the most beloved NZ plants for rongoa - the leaves, fruits and roots all have powerful medicinal properties. Piper excelsum "Variegatum" is a kawakawa with a difference.
Home & Garden
Your garden: May 13
Your garden: May 13
As winter comes closer, the opportunities for growing vegetables are reduced, but garlic and shallots should go in from now until early spring.
Smooth moves
Smooth moves
Gillian Vine learns a little about creating the perfect bowling green.
World-first recreation of ancient Egyptian garden opens
World-first recreation of ancient Egyptian garden opens
A world-first recreation of a 4000-year-old garden has been opened in Hamilton on Monday.
Checking in on the corpse plant
Checking in on the corpse plant
In early 2018, the curtain rose to reveal the Botanic Garden’s impressive corpse plant, which saw thousands of people flocking to experience the sight and smell of this exotic plant.
Your garden: May 6
Your garden: May 6
Lettuces are thought of as a summer vegetable, but the seed of some hardy types, such as the old French variety Merveille des Quatre Saisons, can be sown under cloches or under glass to make slow growth until longer days and more sunshine return.
Saving energy this winter
Saving energy this winter
With rising food and fuel costs hitting Kiwis in the back pocket, many are looking for ways to save money in their weekly budget.
Special care ensures a ripe old age
Special care ensures a ripe old age
When your average lifespan is 150 to 200 years or more, then it’s probably all right to be referred to as a juvenile when you’re nearly 40.
Your garden: April 29
Your garden: April 29
This is a good time to look at starting a herb patch or rejuvenating an existing one.
Bulbs bring beauty, delight
Bulbs bring beauty, delight
Gillian Vine looks at lilies.
Life’s been golden in grand dame
Life’s been golden in grand dame
Built with gold money, this impressive Dunedin home was once painted pink and divided into flats. Happily, it was restored to its former glory. Kim Dungey reports.
The fascinating phenomenon of fasciation
The fascinating phenomenon of fasciation
Every now and then a plant can suddenly appear to be growing in a very strange way.
Your garden: April 22
Your garden: April 22
Traditionally, broad beans are sown from March until mid-May, to stand through the winter and bear crops in early summer.
Time to get growing
Time to get growing
Gillian Vine suggests some ways of coping with rising vegetable costs.
Top homes named in awards
Top homes named in awards
Two Wakatipu homes claimed the top honours in Home magazine’s 2022 Home of the Year Awards, now in their 27th year, announced in Auckland last night.
Some roses can thrive in part shade
Some roses can thrive in part shade
Most roses thrive in a sunny location. However, some will grow surprisingly well in shaded areas, writes Linda Hellyer.
Your garden: April 8
Your garden: April 8
Think ahead to next spring and improve the quality of heavy, clay-based soil by digging it roughly, so different levels are exposed to winter frosts, winds, rain and sun.
Appreciating the bold beauty of foliage
Appreciating the bold beauty of foliage
The bold beauty of sculptured leaves, vividly veined, blotched or margined, can provide the greatest contribution to effective planting in any well-designed garden.
Your garden: April 1
Your garden: April 1
Depending on their position and soil types, not all gardens can be cultivated intensively from now on.
Heritage kitchens
Heritage kitchens
In these uncertain times, our homes are more important to us than ever. In this extract from Heritage Style, Selina Lake celebrates the new nostalgic mood and shows how to create inviting kitchens.
