After leaving the flower and vegetable gardens we headed into the Gondwanaland wilderness area. [Note: this post continues yesterday’s exploration of Hereweka Gardens, Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand. Garden visited Sunday 29 Oct 2017]
Native tree ferns are bursting into growth
and their graceful fronds create beautiful effects
Photo (above) shows a nikau palm in the foreground, a tree fern behind, and a fuzz of tea-tree foliage up on the ridge above
Photo (below) gives you an idea of the “wild side”. Flax, nikau palm and tree ferns are the most obvious flora in the photo
We left the open area and headed into a tea-tree woodland with a green understorey
I even found the iconic New Zealand silver fern which is another type of tree fern. You can see the lovely silver-white colour on the underside of the fern frond (below)
The next photos show the tea-tree woodland. This was a wonderfully peaceful and tranquil space, and lovely and cool on a hot day
Looking down by the walking track, I enjoyed seeing this lovely little native fern growing densely by the track. Blechnum penna-marina. Its a tough customer, growing from coastal to alpine conditions
Another tea-tree area that we walked through on our way back to the house. We were amazed at the thick carpet of detritus shed by these trees
After emerging from the woodland I admired this fabulous abstract art, worked entirely by nature
Thank you for reading! Tomorrow I’ll wrap up the Hereweka Gardens story by sharing what I found on the way back to the house and carpark.
If you would like to know more about Hereweka Garden and the owners you can visit this page on their website
Text and photos by Exploring Colour (2017)
especially love the Blechnum penna-marina
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Its a very lovely little fern and tough as boots into the bargain!
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Impressive!
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Its fantastic to visit!
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very nicely put together with photos and words. It truly was an amazing walk. Thank you for sharing.
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You’re welcome – thanks for sharing the (online) walk!
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Perhaps more beautiful than the more formal area you highlighted yesterday! I love those giant ferns. Interesting about the “micro climate” and wonderful what it produces.
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They’re managing to grow things there that I remember from when I grew up in the Far North of NZ but are rare to see in the south here. I’m not surprised you like the tree ferns, they’re a wonderful part of the NZ flora. My last post on this garden will be tomorrow. It will have lots of colourful flowers seen on our way back to the house. Thanks for reading Ellen!
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Such a variety of beautiful images. And I see you like leaf shadows, too! Lovely, Liz!
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Yes Pete – I adore leaf shadows! Thanks for coming by!
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You live in another world. This was fabulous. I love ferns. None of mine compare in size to these beauties.
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Its particularly lovely there because they have a warmer micro-climate that allows them to grow plants you normally wouldn’t see this far south. To be there feels like you’re in an Eden or Paradise! Thanks for reading!
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Looks very lush there. Like your upward shots of the tea-tree woodland
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Thanks Helen! I was happy with how those turned out and its a nice record that’ll help me remember how beautiful it all was on Sunday!
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