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Page 2
New Zealand native plants were very trendy at Ellerslie this year. The deep green Chatham Island forget me nots were a feature in more than one of the outdoor exhibits, and ornamental grasses in all sorts of colours seemed to strike favour with the judges. My informal survey of the gold medal winning gardens revealed plenty of river stones, lush native foliage and sculptures. The garden art was a real highlight. These silver masked fellows, in Jan Latham's "Silver Fern Bar and Cafe" seemed to stop people dead in their tracks. (As did the rest of this garden, which won gold.)
The nearest tent happened to be selling garden furniture, so the seating was top-notch. Which is just as well, because we were still there an hour and a half later. It poured like it hasn't poured in Auckland all year. The skies simply got darker and darker as the ground got wetter and wetter. We joked with fellow show-goers and pretended to be awfully good-natured about the weather. I admired all the potted calla lilies people were lugging around with them. (The guy selling these gorgeous blooms must have made a fortune, it seemed every second show-goer was carrying one.) Soon we took to scoffing at those braving the bad weather, with their pre-packed raincoats and umbrellas. We prayed for a break in the weather, so we could complete the short dash to the food and wine tent, less than 50 metres away. Blue skies never did return to Ellerslie. Instead the day, and the entire Show week, turned into a right stinker. The city was lashed by a violent storm which sank boats, ripped rooves off homes and uprooted trees. After gale-force winds wreaked havoc on the outdoor gardens and did their best to demolish the Grand Marquee, Ellerslie organisers conceded defeat. The show was called off a day early. So heed my warning Mother Nature. Don't drop even a hint of drizzle in this direction when the 1999 show rolls around. Or what the US did to Iraq will seem like a Sunday picnic, compared to the wrath of this scorned gardener!
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