Sue Davies' garden in Taradale features in a new book called Secret Gardens of Aotearoa. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sue Davies' garden in Taradale features in a new book called Secret Gardens of Aotearoa. Photo / Warren Buckland
She’s not a Silver Fern or a Black Fern but she has been asked for her autograph — and boy can she garden.
Hawke’s Bay’s Sue Davies’ gorgeous garden features in the recently released book Secret Gardens of Aotearoa.
Written by Sophie Bannan with stunning photos by Jane Mahoney, this gardening book’s point of difference is that it gives the featured gardeners their own voice by providing garden notes and sharing their knowledge and ideas.
Sue says she was blown away and “thrilled to bits” when she saw the finished book.
Last week she, along with the other featured gardeners, went along to the book launch in Auckland.
“I hadn’t met any of them in person. We had seen each other on Zoom meetings but it was so nice to meet them, such a buzz. We had a lot of fun and I even got asked to sign some books — that’s my five minutes of fame,” Sue said with a laugh.
Sue became involved when she saw an advertisement on Instagram looking for gardens.
“I’ve never planted for anyone but myself but I liked the idea of sharing what we had done. My daughter said ‘do it’ so I did.
“They came and had a look, took photos and were very friendly. They were looking for diverse gardens.”
Sue says she loves to plant for form.
Sue Davies loves to sit on her porch looking out over her garden and watching the birds feed. Photo / Warren Buckland
“It’s a bit like an art form, I like putting contrasting textures together. I’m not so mad on flowers. A lot of my plants do flower but they have to deliver more than that,” Sue said.
Sue and her family have lived on the Taradale property for 32 years.
“It was the garden that I fell in love with when we came to look at the property.
“Our kids grew up here and now that I’m not working so much I spend a lot more time in the garden.
“It makes me feel good being outside although as we all know the weather hasn’t been that great.”
Sue said since the photos for the book were taken she had lost a lot of plants to root rot.
“So there has been a lot of changes, clearing, chopping down. I’m looking at it as an opportunity to do something new.”
Sue’s garden is full of trees, two in particular towering over the property. There are tropical plants, and beautiful little spaces open up unexpectedly as you walk through it.
There are unusual and gorgeous plants everywhere you look and Sue knows the names of them all.
Her chapter in the book is titled Texture Garden and I understood why as I walked around.
Sue's garden is full of unusual plants. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sue worked in a plant nursery for seven years, gaining a huge amount of knowledge about propagation, plants, and gardening,
“I revelled in it, ” she said
“Gardening keeps me fit as well. I’m not a gym person, I like exercise with a purpose. To me gardening has never been a chore, it’s always a pleasure.”
When she’s not in the garden, Sue enjoys sitting on the porch watching the birds feed and enjoying the view.
Her other passion is floral art and she is a member of the local floral art group.
If you’d like to explore Sue’s garden and others around the country The Secret Gardens of Aoteroa will take you on a journey into some amazing backyards. It’s full of information and tips from passionate home gardeners.
