Member of the Month – Helen Bain Where were you born and where did you spend most of your childhood? I was born in Balclutha but grew up in Owaka in the Catlins where my father owned the local garage. Where do you live now and with whom? I’ve lived in Christchurch since 1958 when … Read More
Sweet fruit & crunchy nuts matched with tangy aged cheddar & crisp celery Ingredients 200g ripe apricots (or apples) 4 stems of celery 100 g walnuts (or hazelnuts) 120 g aged cheddar cheese (cubed or crumbled) Extra virgin olive oil Salt & pepper Method Halve apricots and stone. Slice thinly and add to bowl. Slice … Read More
Michael Coulter’s Top Tasks April is a busy month in the garden with the start of Autumn and cooler nights mean that we must get ready for the coming Winter. The Summer annuals are at the end of their flowering season so they need to be removed and the ground worked over and rested before … Read More
In late February the CHS represented by President Elizabeth Peacock, Vice-President Alan Jolliffe and Honorary Life member Michael Coulter hosted a delegation from Suncheon, a city of approximately 300,000 in South Korea located in the Jeollanam region. The delegation led by Professor Jongsang Sung from the Department of Landscape Architecture at Seoul National University comprised … Read More
Congratulations to all our schools! The School’s Choice Award went to Bromley Primary School with “The Chatter of Seagulls” Bromley Primary School The Chatter of Seagulls GOLD AWARD The Cathedral Grammar School A Bee Friendly Garden SILVER AWARD St Albans Catholic School Scented Night Garden GOLD AWARD West Spreydon School Trash to Treasure GOLD AWARD Aidanfield … Read More
A colourful group of 23 enjoyed this January day trip to the beautiful Hinewai Reserve and Fisherman’s Bay Garden. At Hinewai, Hugh Wilson, botanist and manager gave a most interesting talk, and I shall never look at gorse as a curse again. Hugh says “The trick is that gorse is used to re-grow natives. You … Read More
The central ethos underpinning the CHS’s strategic direction is that of sharing our horticultural knowledge and the sheer joy of growing one’s own fruit, vegetables and flowers. Right now there’s a strong drive within Canterbury towards community-based, edible gardens and we are seeking opportunities to collaborate with such groups and maybe get involved in joint … Read More
A beautiful sunny morning greeted members on their walkabout to the award winning gardens from the CHS 2015 Summer Garden Awards in Northwood. Trees and shrubs were a foil for the flowers. Dominant in the borders was tuberous and fibrous begonias, several of the newer varieties of petunias plus marigolds and salvia to name a … Read More
This beauty is called C. ‘Fairy Blush’. It was bred by Mark Jury and is a seedling of the camellia species C. lutchuensis. Camellia ‘Fairy Blush’ is classed as a miniature camellia. The flowers are light apple blossom pink fading to a paler pink in the centre and wonderfully perfumed. These masses of flowers are … Read More
Michael Coulter’s Top Tasks We are now getting well through Summer and have had to put up with some challenges, hot and dry weather especially, which has effected how the garden has responded. In the vegetable garden regular deep watering has given me abundant crops of high quality produce but I have needed extra fertilisers … Read More