Conference 2011
"Days of Wine and Roses"

The 8th Annual NZGT conference was held in Blenheim 14-17 April 2011 and was organised by the RNZIH NZ Gardens Trust.

Conference speakers included:

Andrew Stone
Bee Dawson
George Pratt
Jane Hunter
Sir Miles Warren.

Gardens visited were:

MATUKU FARMS - the garden of Betty Manson
TUSSIX - the garden of Diane Sixtus
TIMARA LODGE - the garden of Bryan & Jan Johnson
LONDON HILL GARDENS - garden of Dennis & Barbara Burkhart
WINTERHOME - the garden of Richard & Sue Macfarlane
BAREWOOD - the garden Joe & Carolyn Ferraby
HORTENSIA - the garden of Huguette Michel Fleurie
UPTON OAKS GARDEN - the garden of Dave & Sue Monahan
MORITAKI - the garden of Peter & Andrea Forrest
ROBINSON GARDEN - the garden of Geoff & Robin Robinson.

RNZIH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The 2011 Annual General Meeting was held at the conference venue.

Venue: Marlborough Convention Centre, 42A Alfred Street, Blenheim.
Date: Thursday 14 April 2011.
Time: 5.00 pm.

BANKS MEMORIAL LECTURE (a free public lecture)
A history of cultivars of New Zealand's indigenous plants and the influence of ERMA

By Lawrie Metcalf

The Banks Memorial Lecture is a free lecture open to the public. It commemorates Sir Joseph Banks, botanist on Captain Cook's first voyage to New Zealand. During a later distinguished scientific career, he was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London.

Venue: Marlborough Convention Centre, 42A Alfred Street, Blenheim.
Date: Thursday 14 April 2011.
Time: 6.00-7.30 pm.
Cost: Free.

Biography:

Lawrie Metcalf was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO) in 2010 for "services to horticulture". He is recognised as New Zealand's most authoritative writer on the cultivation of our native plants with more than a dozen books to his credit. Possibly the best known is The cultivation of New Zealand trees and shrubs which was so successful that it has been republished several times. His books are well-researched and well written and illustrated by his own photographs and drawings.

Lawrie was Assistant Director of the Christchurch Botanic Garden for more than 20 years and then Director of Parks and Recreation in Invercargill but is now "retired" in Mapua, near Nelson. He has a particular interest in Hebe and is the International Registrar for cultivars of the genus and those of Coprosma, Leptospermum, Phormium and Pittosporum.

His many achievements have received recognition. He is an Associate of Honour of the RNZIH, an honour restricted to those who have rendered distinguished service to horticulture in New Zealand. He was awarded the Loder Cup, which is presented to "encourage and honour New Zealanders who work to investigate, promote, retain and cherish our indigenous flora". He has also received international recognition by being awarded the Veitch Memorial Gold Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society (UK) in 1991, a medal awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture". He is one of the very few New Zealanders to have received this prestigious medal, the highest honour that the Royal Horticultural Society awards to people outside the UK.

Lawrie Metcalf has done more than probably anyone else to encourage New Zealand gardeners to use our native plants. He is a distinguished horticulturist, writer and conservationist.

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