Heather Kitson finds gardening rewarding. Photo / Supplied
Heather Kitson doesn't consider herself as serious a gardener as some, but she does love it.
"I enjoy it. I've just got a country garden and I just grow what I like."
The Takapau resident had heard about the Norsewood Flower Show and decided to "give it a go".
The show, on this weekend, was started more than 10 years ago after the Women's Institute stopped running theirs.
"I'd heard a lot about it," she said. "I was actually working in Norsewood when I first entered in 2018.
"Somebody said to me, 'You've got so many things in your garden' and I thought I'd give it a go, just to support it. It was lovely."
Kitson said she'd won something each year.
"That probably spurred me on to keep going."
She loved the community spirit of the event and being able to catch up with people she hadn't seen for a while.
"There are ladies and men with amazing gardens and just seeing what they grow and how they grow them. It is a wonderful community spirit with the community getting together."
There were 17 categories people could enter and judging would take place on Friday morning, with prizes given out in the afternoon.
Categories included shrubs, perennials, different varieties of roses as well as other flowers.
There was also a children's section.
The show was once again being held at the VTS room at Norsewood and Districts school.
Kitson said it had originally been held at the Hovding Hall, but when that was closed, it was decided to hold it at the school, with the first one last year.
She said it added another dimension to it.
"Everybody said what a wonderful venue it was. It was light and bright and I think that really helped too.
"It just lifted everybody's spirits, I think."
Kitson felt flowers and shrubs were "uplifting to the soul".
"They just make you feel good, seeing pretty things. Well, that's how I feel anyway."
She said it had been rough, with Covid-19 and lockdowns and everything else going on last year, so it was good timing.
This year was probably one of the wettest on record with high rainfall measured across the region.
Kitson said they'd had a lot of rain, but her garden had loved it.
"We have very free draining soil here. It's done okay."
Some flowers, however, seemed to be affected by the odd weather patterns.
Kitson said she had a rose which flowered again in winter, which was "a bit weird".
She said her spring bulbs hadn't liked the lack of sunshine, so her daffodils didn't do as well as expected.
"I had some things that did flower at strange times. Because we didn't have a cold winter. We had really warm days, interspersed with what should have been winter. It's been a really strange year, weather-wise."
As she prepares for this year's flower show, Kitson would be walking around her garden, looking for that special bloom.
"It has to be pretty, it has to be perfect, it has to be unblemished. Looking its absolute best at the time."
As for what it took to make the perfect bloom, Kitson said it was a lot of nurturing.
"You need to look after them. You need to feed them and you need to have good soil, I think.
"A lot of nurturing and love goes into growing the perfect flower.
"You do need to give them love and attention to get things to grow and grow well."
Adult entries for the show need to be brought in between 9am and 9.45am on Friday morning and children between 8.45am and 9.30am.
The doors to the room will be closed from 10am for judging and opened again at 2pm until 3.30pm for viewing with prizegiving at around 2.30pm.
The show will run on Saturday from 10am to 2pm.
Top prizes have been provided by Mitre 10 and there will also be a raffle.
'We are a tourist destination, but we don’t act like it because we are not open.'