We have a bird-table, and put out bird cake and sugar water every day. Kaka, Tuis Waxeyes and Dunnets are regular feeders, with Bellbirds, Fantails, Grey Warbler, Brown Creeper, Kereru (NZ Pigeons) Red Crowned Parakeet and Morepork frequenting the wider garden. We hear Kiwi at night from time to time and a special visitor a few years ago was a "Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike". The 11th recorded sighting of a very very occasional Australian vagrant.

Iris has always been an enthusiastic gardener and her favourite relaxation is in the four gardens we look after. Sails Ashore, Kowhai Lane, my late mothers garden next door and now she has taken on St Andrews Anglican Church garden. My involvement has been more in the co-opted department, but I now find myself taking on projects. My mother was a very keen gardener and well known for her lawn fetish and now I find myself fretting about the lawns as I grow older.

North Island visitors to the Island are often astonished at the "northern" plants that will succeed here. We have Pohutakawa and Puriri growing well and have fruited both Kiwi fruit and Tamarillo outside. (We have to reassure Te Puke that they are not at risk from Southern competition) Kauri grow well on the Island.

We grow the majority of our own vegetables, enjoying the pleasure of growing our own and knowing just what has gone into them, and also the freshness and quality that home grown gives us. All our food scraps and garden waste goes into a worm farm or our large compost bin, and although Stewart Island soils do need mineral additions from time to time we avoid pesticides and sprays if at all possible.

Click on the link below for a PDF copy of a recent article. We apologise for the size but any smaller and they would be illegible.

NZ Gardener, Size 914kb. Published May 2006.

Sails Ashore flower garden is a mixture of exotics and natives, with the bank in front of Sails Ashore being devoted to natives. We are particularly fond of grasses and their motion in the wind. I am fascinated by native orchids and we have large areas of the Earinas Autumnalis and Macronata. (Autumn and Bamboo orchids) and Winika Cunnighamii (Ladies Slipper) Several Thelymitra species (sun orchids) seriously frustrate me, but are well worth persevering with when they do briefly open. Stewart Island Forgetmenots, Pratia's and Gentians fill in spaces with their delicate blooms. We have lots of Rhododendrons for their colour and Fuchsia for the nectar drinkers. Ferns fill out damper darker corners.

At Kowhai Lane Anne and Iris have established many natives, which compliment the setting amongst established larger exotic decorative trees and native fuchsia..