Robin gave us a spin in his restored 1917 Overland 75, still going strong almost 100 years on. This car narrowly escaped destruction in the Christchurch earthquake, having been purchased just a few days before. We drove down their long drive, the wind in our faces, the late afternoon sun illuminating the long, dry grass either side of the windowless car. We were instantly transported back to another time.
Dursley Garden, Bideford
The next day we popped in to Dursley Garden in rural Masterton. Known in 1916 as Te Rangi Pai, the garden was designed by formative New Zealand landscape architect, Alfred Buxton. It was a happy coincidence; we'd met Buxton's great-grandson over the New Year.
Owner Judith Callaghan is a force to be reckoned with. She manages gardens of reasonable size and historical importance with little help, and was determined to power around with her broken foot in a brace, despite her children's protestations. The property she and her husband took over 42 years ago is a transformed place. The previous owners had let things slide, branches still lying where they fell, the garden in disarray. Judith has put her own stamp on the garden and has kept the home in tip-top shape.
Majestic 99-year-old trees and an elegant sweeping drive define the property. The woodland walks must be a sight in spring with mass daffodils, hellebores, trilliums, hyacinths, Solomon's Seal and rhododendrons coming into their own. In hot, dry January we spot Californian tree poppies, which look like floating poached eggs, plus unusual dusty-pink Martagon lilies, but much of the woodland garden lies dormant. Judith says late February is lovely when pink and white cyclamen blanket the ground beneath majestic oaks.
Beside the house the flower gardens are in full swing: roses border the lawn and a deep perennial border garden is quite the feature. Judith says this bed almost looks after itself.
She composts and applies a little superphosphate once a year and away it goes. Her friends call it the "gaudy garden" but, to my eye, the colourful flowers work harmoniously together. To top it off, Judith has developed a large, productive food garden to feed her family of seven. The plots are covered with DIY hoop frames and walk-in cages to protect plants and fruit from white butterflies and birds.
She says hers is not a "fashionable garden", but then "nothing goes out of fashion more quickly than the latest trend".
Judith's perennial border
Plants include white cosmos, cream roses and lemon yellow gladioli, warmed with mustard chrysanthemums, salmon alstromeria, saffron-orange dahlias and day lilies. Cooler pinks and mauve contrast with dianthus, nepeta, paeony and tree dahlia. Wine-coloured lupins, antirrhinum, dahlias and burgundy iceberg roses provide accent and the colours are tied together by tall trumpet lilies - cream with greenish-yellow throats and burgundy stems and buds.
Summer gardens
• Dead-head roses and flowering perennials back to healthy shoots for repeat flowering.
• Water veges and flower beds every couple of days if dry. Pay particular attention to swelling veges such as pumpkin, beans, cucumber, corn and beetroot. Water the root zone, not the foliage, to avoid fungal problems.
• Every few weeks apply liquid fertilisers such as vermi-liquid (from your worm bin).
• Potash supports fruiting and flowering, nitrogen encourages leaf growth.
• Net brassicas to prevent cabbage white butterfly and check under leaves for eggs and caterpillars.
• Thin apples by removing smaller fruit from clusters. Good airflow helps reduce pests and disease and gives fruit space to grow.
