ARTICLE : Otari-Wilton’s Bush News

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush nursery notes – September 2005

The new propagation house at Otari is now operational.   Although all staff have helped with the building of the house, Dave Bidgood, collection curator, has put in an enormous effort to ensure that the structure is working well.   We are lucky to have such a multi-talented staff working at Otari.

The propagation house has already proved its worth.   Recently seeds of Aciphylla aurea germinated and given they was sown in 1998, it is a miracle.   Seeds of Campbell Island’s Gentiana antarctica and Damnamena vernicosa, collected by Jane Wright several years ago, have also recently germinated.   Previous conditions in the old facility meant that seed and cuttings sometimes didn’t succeed owing to a range of environmental conditions, i.e. the narrow temperature range, lack of light and lack of consistent moisture, especially during weekends.   The new house has good light, warmer temperatures and an automatic misting system.   One of the benches has bottom heat which aids the strike rate of cuttings.

I have started work on the propagation of Arnold and Ruth Dench’s collection in Newlands.   Visiting almost weekly throughout late winter, I now understand why the alpine plants enjoy the conditions so much.   On a cool day elsewhere, working in the Newlands garden taking cuttings and writing labels feels like you are halfway up Mount Ruapehu.   The great bonus of this work with Arnold and Ruth is the informal learning that takes place.   The new growth of spring means cuttings will not be taken until this growth hardens up later in the season.

Muehlenbeckia ephedroides seed from near Fitzroy Bay has germinated and the plants raised will be returned to the wild in a new planting near Pencarrow Lakes by the Department of Conservation.

Robyn Smith

 Going Native – April 2005

We compliment The Dominion Post for publishing articles on native plants in the Magazine section of the Saturday edition, beginning last year.   The articles, written by staff at Otari-Wilton’s Bush and Te Papa, and members of Otari-Wilton’s Bush Trust, have covered topics such as Asplenium xlucrosum, white clematis / puawananga, kakabeak, toetoe, pingao, sea spurge / Euphorbia glauca, ngapuka / Hebe speciosa, kokomuka / Hebe elliptica var. crassifolia, rewarewa, mahoe, northern rata, red mistletoe, kamahi, and a description of the trees and tree ferns along Otari’s canopy walkway.

The articles are of great interest and educational value.   We look forward to the continuation of the series.

Chris Horne, Vice-president

 Otari–Wilton’s Bush news – April 2005

The Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Marian Hobbs and the Minister of Conservation, the Hon. Chris Carter with a young visitor open the newly constructed northern rata boardwalk at Otari-Wilton’s Bush.   Photo: Robyn Smith.

The recent rain has been welcome as there was very little moisture in the soil and staff were spending a lot of time watering.   The rain has enabled staff to plant an area adjacent to the Kauri Lawn where we had removed some frost damaged Arthropodium cirratum.   The replacement plants are Hebe diosmifolia and Libertia peregrinans.   On the other side of the path Carex testacea has been planted as a groundcover.

The resource consent for the new propagation house is imminent, so it won’t be long before it will be built and new plants grown for the collections.   Highest priority for propagation will be the ‘Dench Collection’.   Arnold and Ruth Dench, of Newlands, have kindly offered to allow Otari to propagate their collection.

The old propagation house will be roofed and used to house a duplicate collection of ‘The Tony Druce Collection’ currently held at Percy Scenic Reserve in Petone.   This will help ensure plants are not lost from that collection while major roadworks which impinge on Percy Reserve, are carried out.

Three hectares have recently been purchased from the Ministry of Education.   This land is adjacent to the Troup Picnic Area.   The mature pine trees on the site will be felled next January and the picnic area will be re-developed.   The portion of the Circular Walk will be re-routed through this area to enable easy access for pushchairs.

An upgrade of the Circular Walk is progressing well and is expected to be completed within four weeks.

The rock stack / waterfall area of the Alpine Garden near the carpark is to be redesigned, hopefully to keep children off it.   Currently it is assumed by many people to be a playground and staff are often dismayed to see children climbing all over it.   We may need to fence off that area temporarily until plants are well established.

Last year a boardwalk was built by the Otari-Wilton’s Bush Trust around the old northern rata, Metrosideros robusta, to protect its roots from foot traffic.   This boardwalk was opened on 28 February by the Minister of Conservation, Hon Chris Carter and the Minister for the Environment, Hon Marian Hobbs.

Robyn Smith

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush news – December 2004

Extreme weather in August caused anguish for staff.   The wild garden and the fernery were particularly hard hit.   The February storm felled a hinau in the wild garden and the August storm felled a rewarewa just behind the large rock stack at the back of the alpine garden.   Most of the hinau and rewarewa trunks are now part of the garden.   In the fernery a tawa fell over and on its way down, crushed two smaller mahoe and ripped a large epiphytic Griselinia lucida, puka, from the neighbouring tawa.   Initially I thought the fallen tawa had also crushed a wonderful stand of Blechnum fraseri, but luckily only one was broken.   Other ground ferns were crushed and will take time to recover.   The fernery is now considerably lighter and will be less humid during the summer months.   We will be keeping a close watch on the ferns to see how they fare.

Arnold and Ruth Dench, of Newlands, have generously offered to have their collection duplicated and added to the Otari collections.   This is a long-term project which involves cataloguing and propagating the plants.   When ready, they will be mostly used in the alpine and rock gardens.

Six selected cultivars from the Rene Orchiston flax collection have been planted at the Churchill Drive entrance, the northern picnic area and beside Kaiwharawhara Stream along Wilton Bush Road.   These have been specially selected by Saani Scott, a weaving tutor at Te Wananga O Aotearoa, and will be available for harvesting, by permit, for local weavers.   Rene Orchiston travelled the country for 30 years selecting the best flax cultivars to preserve them at a time when interest in weaving was at a low point and the art of weaving was dying out.   Now with the huge resurgence in interest, these plants are proving to be a wonderful resource.

Michael Bayly and Alison Kellow from Te Papa have donated many species of Hebe that were used for identification purposes while studying the Hebe genus at Te Papa.   Most of the plants will be re-propagated and added to the collections.   The Department of Conservation has donated two rare native gentians from Charleston on the West Coast.

A new boardwalk and viewing platform has been installed around the huge northern rata, Metrosideros robusta, which will hopefully protect its roots from trampling and deter people from walking on the garden.

The first stage of a major overhaul of the ‘Brockie’ rock garden has just been completed.   It is well worth a look if you are a fan of this area.   Boggy margins have also been added to the rock garden pond and been planted with Clematis quadribracteolata, Bulbinella gibbsii var. balanifera, Schoenus pauciflorus, Rumex neglectus and Carex litorosa.   The second stage will start early next year.

A new propagation house is to be purchased for the nursery.   This will be a 6m x 4m plastic skin house with a roof vent, benches and misting system for cuttings.   Staff and volunteers are looking forward to utilising this for the collections and revegetation work.

If you live in Wellington, you may have noticed that the Otari staff have burst into print.   A series of articles are being written and published in the gardening section of Saturday’s Dominion Post.   Subjects covered have included edge effects on bush, Hebe speciosa, Euphorbia glauca, Peraxilla tetrapetala, Marattia salicina, Pterostylis banksii and Pachystegia rufa.

Robyn Smith, Curator manager, Otari-Wilton’s Bush.

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush news – April 2004

Flowering of Hoheria indicates the onset of autumn, and we now appear to be having more settled weather than last summer.

Otari-Wilton’s Bush has been accepted as a “Garden of National Significance” and a foundation member of The New Zealand Gardens Trust.   The trust’s website www.gardens.org.nz promotes its member gardens.   Otari was represented by David Sole, Manager of the Botanic Gardens, at the launch at Government House, Auckland, on 25 March 2004.

The February storms occurred while I was on leave.   I was impressed at how the staff took it in their stride, and did what had to be done.   A large hinau fell on other trees in the Wild Garden, and was held partly by Tecomanthe speciosa, the vine from Three Kings Island.   The area was closed for safety reasons.   It was nearly a month before an arborist was able to fell the tree.   We have retained two large pieces of trunk for features in the garden, and many branches to use as garden edging.   A large ngaio near the bowling club also fell over and blocked the path.   Many smaller trees were dealt with by Otari staff who spent most of a week cleaning up after the storm.

Several third year Victoria University ecology students are doing experiments in the reserve, so some plants have coloured ribbon attached.   We are keen to support these projects provided there is no detrimental impact on the reserve.   The students are required to give us a copy of the results which is useful information to have.   One project of interest is to measure the impact of karaka in the forest reserve, and make recommendations on how to manage this native adventive.

Part of the Circular Track has been upgraded, with new cross drains to limit gouging of the track during heavy rain.   The track has been levelled and metalled.

Interpretation signs for the Wilton Walkway will include information about the original piece of bush at the “look-in” viewing platform, interpretation of the area of the Fernery the walkway passes through, and the clearing which houses the Drachophyllum collection.   Eleanor Burton’s artwork will feature on the signs.

Eleanor is on parental leave for twelve months, but over the next six weeks will add all accessions from the last eighteen months to the new database.

Otari-Wilton’s Bush Trust ran four seminars in February: Epiphytes in Wellington forests, Lizards in New Zealand, How to be sluggish, and Threatened coastal plants of Wellington.   All were well attended.

Seed of Olearia gardneri, the threatened species from Wairarapa, has germinated, and will be returned to the Department of Conservation to grow on.

Otari is also germinating seed of alpine species from the Tararuas in a joint project with Greater Wellington.   We will share the resulting plants.   Our allocation will be planted in our alpine garden, Greater Wellington’s will be planted around the new Kaitoke field centre in Upper Hutt.

Planting on the Kaiwharawhara Restoration Project will occur every Saturday from 1 May to 31 July, 9 – 11am.   If you wish to help and want more details, please phone Mary on 389 9254.

Robyn Smith, Curator Manager, Otari-Wilton’s Bush.

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush a significant garden

Otari-Wilton’s Bush has been classified as a garden of national significance by the newly formed NZ Gardens Trust.   Launched early in April by the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, the trust has developed a database and a website of gardens endorsed by the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture.   Otari-Wilton’s Bush is one of twenty-eight founding gardens nationwide, and the only one in the Wellington area to qualify.   Visit www.gardens.org.nz.

Source: Wellington Contact, 8 April 2004

We congratulate Wellington City Council, and the devoted staff at Otari, on this richly deserved recognition of New Zealand’s only botanic garden dedicated solely to native plants.

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush news – December 2003

Staff have been working hard to catch up with the Spring flush of weeds and to ready Otari for an assessment for inclusion on the directory of the New Zealand Garden Trust.   If accepted, Otari-Wilton’s Bush would feature on the trust’s website which is designed to attract plant enthusiasts from New Zealand and around the world to visit.

Along the canopy walk the rewarewa is flowering and is visited daily by tui, and hinau is flowering adjacent to the deck outside the information centre.   Rengarenga are at their best at the moment and there is a lovely sweep of them around the Kauri lawn.   The perfume from the cabbage trees around the cabbage tree lawn is almost overpowering, as is the perfume from the hangehange, found all through the bush areas.

Mick Parsons has been working on the waterfall and nature trail steps to reduce the depth of the steps.   Mick now has a permanent part time position at Otari.

Tim O’Leary has been reinstating the Dracophyllum garden after the disruption of a new track, Wilton’s Walkway, which now runs through part of this garden.   New plantings of Chatham Island forget-me-not and rengarenga will replace old tracks in this collection.

Dave Bidgood works with the Otari-Wilton’s Bush Trust, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington on the Kaiwharawhara Revegetation Project.   Last year over 8,000 plants were planted along Kaiwharawhara Stream between Otari and Ian Galloway Park.   On the second Saturday of each month between 9 and 11 a.m., volunteers are needed for releasing the plants.   If you would like to join in, meet on the information centre deck at 9a.m.   All equipment is supplied.

Pimelea aridula agg.   Photo: Colin Ogle.

Eleanor Burton has been busy with the new Canterbury collection which will include areas for Banks Peninsula plants, sub-alpine and short tussock associations, and a shrublands and tall tussock area.   There has been a huge contribution to this area from all staff for rock placement and topsoiling.   We are all looking forward to the completion of this project.

Plants of Pimelea aridula agg., a rare Wellington coastal pimelea, have been picked up by Peter Griffen from DOC Wellington.   A dozen plants remain here and will be planted in the threatened plants border next autumn.

Raewyn Empson from Karori Wildlife Sanctuary has sighted a banded robin on the Blue Trail.   Being banded means it has come from the sanctuary to find a new home with us.   Lately there have been several sightings of bellbirds around the collections by the Cockayne lawn.

A new Botanic Gardens database for the plant collections is now “live”, and our computer system at Otari is about to be upgraded.   This will enable Otari to have two computers networked and should provide a faster, efficient service.

Robyn Smith, Curator Manager, Otari-Wilton’s Bush

 Otari – Wilton’s Bush news – October 2003

It has been four weeks since I started work at Otari Wilton’s Bush and I am just starting to settle in and feel at home.   The staff have been pivotal in making my induction gentle and friendly.   Six months have elapsed since Jane Wright left and the staff have had to deal not only with their normal duties but take on extra responsibilities.

Two weeks after starting, the annual open day and plant sale was held despite bad weather.   Native plant week followed on from the open day and our speakers were Colin Miskelly who gave us a talk on the effects Karori Wildlife Sanctuary will have on bird life over the fence, John Dawson and Rob Lucas spoke on their partnership over the years of writing books together, Tamati Potaka spoke on combining traditional Maori medicine with modern herbal remedies, and Julia Williams gave a talk on using natives in our challenging sites in Wellington.   These lectures were well attended and 70 people attended the Glow-worm walk.   Thanks to all our speakers and guides for a wonderful 10 days of promotion and interest.   The staff at Otari organised these events and I thank them for doing such a great job.   Thanks too, to the Otari-Wilton’s Bush Trust, botanic gardens staff, guides and stall holders for their work.

Contractors have installed handrails on the bridge to the waterfall and at the bottom of the Nature Trail.   We are now working on interpretation for the glow-worm/dragonfly viewing platform.

Landscape design students from Victoria University came for a second series of talks and guided walks.   Staff were on hand to pass on their specialist plant and horticultural knowledge to the students.

Eucalyptus logs were collected from trees felled in Karori Cemetery and will be used as edging around the Wild Garden.   The dracophyllum garden and fernery are being re-furbished after completion of the Wilton Walkway.   This short boardwalk ends with a viewing platform “looking in” at the original bush conserved by Job Wilton and his descendants.

Volunteers spent two mornings cleaning up the roadside and river edges at Otari in conjunction with Clean Up New Zealand Week.   Thanks to Margaret Crimp of the Trust for organising the volunteers.

Robyn Smith

We congratulate BotSoccer Robyn Smith on her appointment from 1 September as Curator Manager at Otari – Wilton’s Bush, New Zealand’s only botanic garden devoted solely to native plants.   Robyn and her staff are responsible for the management of the 100 ha reserve, which comprises original and regenerating conifer broadleaf forest, and 5 ha of plant collections.   It was at Otari, in 1926, that Dr Leonard Cockayne and J.G. McKenzie established the Otari Open Air Native Plant Museum.   Their vision to conserve native vegetation, teach people about native plants, and advocate their use in horticulture, remains as the blueprint for Otari – Wilton’s Bush today.

BotSoc Committee

Streblus banksii.   Photo: Jeremy Rolfe.

 Otari-Wilton’s Bush news – June 2003

In April, a 1500m2 area of botanically significant forest was purchased by Wellington City Council for addition to Otari.   It was part of the grounds of Wilton House.   It has some large tawa, totara, and several large-leaved milk tree (ewekuri, Streblus banksii) in the valley of a small tributary of the Te Mahanga branch of Kaiwharawhara Stream.   The forest is visible from Churchill Drive, on your left when descending from Wilton Road.

Source:   Otari-Wilton’s Bush News and Views, June 2003.