The exquisite jewel like colours of Autumn down the Creek Bed first day of May.

Vibrant Goldenrod (Solidago Colin) softened by Cotinus Royal Purple which, unlike Cotinus Grace, holds its deep leaf colour into the Autumn, the puffs of smoke (these are the Smoke Bushes) still holding on.

Basil, the Wire Hired Fox Terrier, 11 months.

Poppy, Jack Russell, 12 years - The Boss.

Jacob the Donkey, 25 years. Mutual respect is the essence!

Glorious Cotinus (Smoke Bushes) provide a rich dark back drop for the handsome perennials and exuberant bulbs that line the winding shellrock path.

Physocarpus opulifolius Shady Lady and a very dark Cordyline australis (Cabbage Tree)provide contrast with the lacy mauve Allium carinatum subsp pulchellum and blue Salvia. Glowing in the background is Catalpa bignonioides (Indian Bean Tree) with its large heart shaped leaves

A long trip from Zimbabwe and now they are at Greenhaugh. A family of three giraffes. Made from recycled oil cans, approaching life size and very beautiful. Along with the Hippo they are a reminder of the wonderful month we spent in Africa.

Poppy on the right - a twelve year old Jack Russell - streetwise and definitely the Boss.

Basil on the left - a wire haired Fox Terrier, eight months old and a good boy.

Great friends hanging out together after a busy day in the garden.

What a glorious Spring we are enjoying in the Manawatu. Summer is coming up fast and all indicators are that it is going to be a good one.

The sun umbrella is up.

The pool awaits.

May starts next week and still the Brugmansia flower.

Such pleasure they have given me. The heady fragrance of these Angels Trumpets sends me into raptures. Evidently each one has a different fragrance.

So of course I have had to order a whole heap more from Russell Fransham's wonderful catalogue. I had the pleasure (and it was a big one) of meeting Russell in January when I visited his spectacular subtropical garden in Matapouri.

I know you are going to tell me these beauties are poisonous. But so are Aquilegia (Granny Bonnets), Narcissus (Daffodils) Aconitum (Monkshood) etc etc. My grandchildren have been taught not to eat the plants!!

The sphere arrived at Easter. Colin's Dad made it.

The grandchildren had a great time. No broken bones and it didn't land in the creek.

I have noticed garden visitors giving it a push as they pass. How could you resist!

Max and Isla trying out the possibilities.

Hydrangea macrophylla Merveille Sanguine is known in New Zealand as "Bloody Marvellous" or if you must "Raspberry Fantasy". It has voluptuous blood-red mop head flowers that age wine purple. I grow mine in light shade and this year they are a glorious deep royal purple. These flowers are complimented by the dark foliage that makes this Hydrangea so unique. All my visitors want a plant. Easy to understand why.

We have a Hippo wallowing in one of the ponds. Oh well, we are open for anything here. He seems very friendly. Hopefully he doesn't eat grandchildren or Jack Russells

This week we had a visit from twenty five delightful members of the Foxton Garden Group. They had lunch in the garden following a walk and a buy up in the plant Nursery. The bearded Irises, which are flowering in the garden at present, flew off the shelves, as did assorted Ixia, Allium, Aquilegia, Hostas, Meconopsis and other woodland treasures.

Wedding season is not far off. We take bookings for Wedding Ceremonies and Photos at Greenhaugh.

As we have no inside venue you will need to have plan B in case of bad weather. So far this hasn't been necessary!

Make contact and we can discuss prices and options. Email me: lynne@greenhaugh.co.nz

Thank you to Candace for sending me some of her beautiful photos taken in February this year.

Colin is extending our Plant Nursery.

More room is needed to pot on all the imported seed sown by Janet over the past few years. A lot of this has been wild collected in the far reaches of Russia and China, in the Himalayas and through the Greek Islands. These include many species of Crocus, Colchicum, Narcissi, Tulip, Fritillaria, Calochortus, Codonopsis, Meconopsis, Iris, Anemone, Scilla and Muscari.

We have imported seed also from South Africa, England, Japan and North America. Lots of exciting Allium, Lilium, Galanthus, Arisaema, Aquilegia, Primula, Moraea, Erythronium, Veratrum, Ornithogalum, Ixia, Geissorhiza, Dierama, Sternbergia, Lachenalia, Nomocharis, Camassia, Habranthus and Zephyranthes.

Expect to see these in my shop and on my Trade Me listings.

A dramatic herbaceous late flowering perennial native to Central and South America especially Brazil.

In late Summer and Autumn the slender spikes of brick red flowers with dark fuzzy crimson chalices create a striking picture. We underplant with the red Blood Lily Haemanthus coccineus which flowers at the same time.

Salvia confertiflora is a tender perennial but survives well under high trees here in the Manawatu. Any pruning is done late Winter.

A drift of these will stop your visitors in their tracks.

My favourite season.

Here at Greenhaugh the days are still sunny and warm but enough rain has fallen over the last couple of weeks to help the grass grow (happy sheep) and to encourage those stunning Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes and Habranthus) to flower. Even more spectacular are the Autumn Crocus, Colchicum and the unbelievable Blood Lilies (Haemanthus coccineus) which have burst out of the soil ahead of their lush foliage.

Haemanthus coccineus grow under our trees in drifts like Fairy Lights.

COLCHICUM The Giant. This is the largest of our many Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron.

A glorious rose inherited from earlier owners of Greenhaugh who would have planted it at least fifty years ago.

This climbing tea rose bears huge creamy double (think mashed potatoes!) highly fragrant flowers for about six weeks during late Spring and early Summer. A once flowerer but well worth it. It grows on a pillar right outside our kitchen and entrances us. My husband's favourite rose. He says it smells of lemon though research tells me it is the colour that explains the name.

This rose was introduced by George Paul in 1916 (his last introduction before he died) and with it he won the RNRS Gold Medal that same year. No surprises there.The Paul family were well known English Rose breeders over a number of generations and responsible for many of the beautiful roses we still grow today. Paul & Son of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was founded by Adam Paul in 1806. By 1872, his grandson, George Paul, was the owner and introducing roses of his own, others being the delightful Tea Rambler and Paul's Himalayan Musk, both of which we grow at Greenhaugh.

Each year we propagate Paul's Lemon Pillar to satisfy the various visitors to the garden who have to take one home. I love to see it being spread around. If you are visiting Jerusalem up the Wanganui River there it is behind the Church growing over the Nun's balcony. I planted it for them along with a number of other roses. For fourteen years I have done a Yoga Retreat in these beautiful surroundings with Michael Jones and a lot of those years I took a Heritage Rose as a gift for the Nuns and planted it in the grounds of St Joseph Convent. I'm sure Mother Aubert would have approved.

Spring colour along the Creek bed shellrock path provided by self seeders such as Eschscholzia (orange Californian Poppies), pink Silene and red Geum against the backdrop of the glorious Cotinus Grace (Smoke Bush). Soon to emerge from this carpet will be drifts of Allium siculum, Allium carinatum subsp. pulchellum (in pink and white) and towering Allium giganteum.

This area of the garden was originally paddock and where the path now winds water often lay. My plan (this being 25 years ago and I still had a lot to learn) was to create a long babbling brook of recirculated water running from the large pond which exists just beyond the Smoke Bushes in the picture. I hired a man with a machine who dug a metre deep channel the length of the present path following the contours of the land. We never saw water again! A few weeks later I asked Colin to fill the channel in (by hand). He has never forgotten that day.

Hundreds of glorious Bearded Irises presently bloom through the garden - my favourite plant - or is that Alliums?

Recently I have begun collecting the Irwell Irises - 84 at this stage. These have been bred by New Zealander Ron Busch (1935 - 2012) whose home and garden were at Irwell in Canterbury. A prolific breeder (since 1958) of many beautiful Irises.

My potager has become Iris gardens whilst I wait to see the first flowering before placing the Irises in their permanent homes. So enthralled am I by the wondrous sight from my kichen windows that I am now planning to let two of my four vegetable gardens remain as Iris gardens.

Alliums in the other two?

For nearly 40 years my husband Les and I have lived and gardened at Greenhaugh. The house was built in 1874. My parents-in-law previously lived here and we shifted into a lovely half acre garden. It is now five acres and bursting with Heritage and Austin Roses, bearded Iris, glorious Lilies, drifts of assorted Allium and many many other (often rare and hard to obtain) bulbs, perennials and self- seeding annuals.

In 2013 Greenhaugh was designated a Garden of National Significance by The New Zealand Gardens Trust. For more than 26 years Janet Wilson and Colin Mahy have combined their various and special talents to build and care for the garden, this accreditation being testament to their years of dedication and hard work. Viv McGlynn with her knowledge and experience rejoined us more than five years ago and more recently Lisa Taylor. Their enthusiasm and willingness assists in maintaining the high standard of the garden and the Plant Nursery.