There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.”

After several delightful summery days in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui in the North of New Zealand, we have turned south, and just like that, Autumn arrived. The tree-lined driveways at the wineries we visited are now glowing with burgundy and golden leaves. Mornings have been cool, yet the temperature gauge rises in the afternoon so at times summer lingers on.
The pristine environment of New Zealand in Autumn is spectacular. Although the land is often covered in clouds, the clarity of light created at this time of year, when the clouds part, is remarkable. The roses continue to bloom everywhere we have been.

There is a time in the last few days of summer when the ripeness of autumn fills the air, and time is quiet and mellow.”
Rudolfo Anaya

The pretty Ellen Willmott Rose I have never thought of growing until I saw a bed of them in the Napier Rose Garden and was struck by its simplicity and charm. It sits tall and upright with single blooms that flutter in the breeze. It is unique compared to other Hybrid Tea roses.

“My plants and my gardens come before anything in my life for me and all my time is given up working in one garden and another, and when it is too dark to see the plants themselves I read or write about them.”
Ellen Willmott

This feminine beauty; the Ellen Willott Rose was bred by William Edward Basil Archer and his daughter, Muriel Gertrude Archer in the United Kingdom, 1935. So, an older style rose that has maintained its significance since the 1930s. It features white petals with lemon-yellow undertones tinged with pink on the edges, ruffled bloom form, striking red stamens, moderate fragrance, red stems and abundant repeat blooming flowers to a height of 120 cm.

The Ellen Willmott rose is a hybrid of Dainty Bess – a single pink rose, and Lady Hillingdon, a double apricot rose. It was named after an eccentric gardener; Ellen Willmott who was born in in 1858 in England. Ellen was a passionate gardener who developed three massive gardens in the UK, France and Italy after inheriting two nineteenth-century fortunes, one from her father and another from her godmother. Ellen Willmott received the Victoria Medal of Honor in 1897, and was honored alongside Gertrude Jekyll.

Ellen was well known to spend huge amounts of money on vast numbers of gardeners, plants, bulbs and plant expeditions. According to a story from Lambley Nursery, she employed more than a hundred gardeners and would sack anyone if a single weed was present. Eventually she had to sell her gardens and died penniless and heartbroken having lost her fortune.

“I had a passion for sowing seeds and was very proud when I found out the difference between beads and seeds and gave up sewing the former.”
Ellen Willmott

The plant Eryngium giganteum is associated with Ellen Willmott because she was known to sprinkle the seeds while no one was looking at every garden she visited, and unbeknownst to the garden owners several months later sea holly would be flowering in their garden. This plant has been known as Miss Willmott’s Ghost since.

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz

In contrast to the delicacy of the single-bloom roses above, I came across some exceptional Dahlias at the Mount Maunganui farmers market in New Zealand’s North Island. I do not know anything about Dahlias, but I love the diversity of the colours and styles. The symmetry of the flowers is so perfect, irresistible, and appealing that I had to take some photos to share. The grower was at the market and visibly proud of his stunning cut flowers, which he told me he grows locally and does not spray with any chemicals. They were magnificent.

“There truly aren’t enough words to describe the exquisiteness of dahlias. They’re simply stunning with their grand size—I have dinner plates smaller! And those rich colours—they’re absolutely drenched in beauty. It’s little wonder that they represent dignity and elegance.”
Heather Webber

Travelling further south yesterday, I discovered that the Autumn season highlights in Christchurch are also Dahlias. When I entered the Central Rose Garden of the Botanical Gardens, I found more examples of them in full, glorious bloom. Whether you love plants or not, Dahlias can lure anyone in for a closer look. The brightness of the colours is a magnet that one can hardly believe is real; they are so flawless.

Since 1863, Christchurch residents, despite the threat of earthquakes, are fortunate to have beautiful 21 acres of Gardens, a tranquil space along the Avon River bordering Hagley Park. There are many features of the gardens worth noting: Historical trees, Natural heritage trees and plants of New Zealand, the Herbaceous Border, the Heritage Rose Garden, The Daffodil Lawn, Curators Cottage Potager Garden, The Conservatories, the Peacock Fountain, The World Peace Bell and The Central Rose Garden amongst many more highlights through the seasons.

“Dahlias are the symbol of beauty, wealth and prosperity. Like attracts like. Dahlia attracts prosperity.”
Amit Ray

“The gardens are a living record and story of both the city’s colonial past and Aotearoa’s ancient vegetation. It supports education, innovation and play while offering us botanical world travel by just exploring the extraordinary, carefully tended plantings. It is a romantic, transporting and active space with a heartbeat – I think quite easily taken for granted by all of us who have stitched it into our own life stories. ”
Julia Atkinson- Dunn

The Central Rose Garden is the first public rose garden in New Zealand and was opened in 1909. It is a formal garden, bordered by a walled hedge with Dahlias growing around in beds on the outside. The metal rose sculpture above sits at the entrance. On reaching the Rose Garden one can surely be forgiven for being distracted by the incredible beauty of the Dahlia Garden.

Further south in New Zealand, the weather is cooler, so there are far more roses still out in full bloom that had not been ravaged by the last days of summer heat. Of particular note was a Hybrid Tea called Rosa Keepsake. Keepsake, with the registration name KORmaila, was bred by Reimer Kordes in Germany in 1973. It is known as Esmeralda in Australia and Germany and Keepsake in New Zealand. The blooms are large, high-centred, classic-shaped, mid-pink in colouring with a moderate fragrance.

A tinge of autumn is present in this next rose, although it was stunning in the gardens, perfectly shaped and vibrant.. It is ca lled “Rosa Fyvie Castle.” A pink blend of Scottish Hybrid Tea Rose bred by Anne G Cocker in 1985. It will grow to 100 cm tall and has a strong perfume.

And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep, and autumn was awakened.
Raquel Franco

“I am made for autumn. Summer and I have a fickle relationship, but everything about autumn is perfect to me. Wooly jumpers, Wellington boot, scarves, thin first, then thick, socks. The low slanting light, the crisp mornings, the chill in my fingers, those last warm sunny days before the rain and the wind. Her moody hues and subdued palate punctuated every now and again by a brilliant orange, scarlet or copper goodbye. She is my true love.”
Alys Fowler

Fyvie Castle has the registration name CoCamber.

One last rose that caught my eye in the Christchurch Rose Garden was “My Mum,” bred by Bob Mathews in New Zealand. It was 1999, a short time after Bob and his wife Cath took over the family rose business established by his parents, Tom and Pearl Mathews, in 1947. They have developed a selection of roses that are easy to grow, with beautiful blooms, fragrance, and suitability for the NZ conditions: hardy and healthy.

My Mum Rose has the registration name MATtmum and is a Floribunda Rose with a gorgeous blend of pinks, salmon, apricot, blush and coral. The blooms stand out in the garden on healthy, upright, compact bushes full of blooms to 1.2 metres. I would love to see this one in Spring.

“A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.”
Terri Guillemets

When travelling, I always like to leave something I wanted to do or see behind to look forward to returning to visit, and this is the case today. There are more gardens in New Zealand, but severe winds have forced us to abandon a visit to Dunedin, and we are now cruising towards Tasmania.