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Early spring, and the view across massed tulips towards the cafe at the heart of the garden during the annual Tulip Festival at Eden Garden in Auckland.
Tucked into the side of one of Auckland’s volcanic cones and only minutes from the bustle and noise of its downtown area lies the peaceful oasis that is Eden Garden.
It is a lush paradise of beauty and tranquillity that is a secret to many. Garden lovers visiting the two-hectare idyll for the first time are usually taken aback that they should have been unaware of this treasure in their midst for so long.
And it’s arguable that there is nothing to equal the garden’s atmosphere and collection of plants anywhere in the country.
Networks of paths radiating out from the heart of the garden around the cafe encourage the exploration of shady nooks and leafy dells. The pathways run down to the base of what was an old quarry as well as up to the heights at its rim (the aptly named Hillary Heights) with its superb views north across the city to the harbour and Hauraki Gulf and its islands.
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Yellow camellia at Auckland’s Eden Garden.
Celebrating its 60th year in 2024, Eden Garden is a well-established, nationally regarded showpiece combining woodland and subtropical themes. Mature trees provide a canopy for camellias (reputedly the largest and most varied collection in New Zealand), rhododendrons, Japanese maples, magnolias, bromeliads, hibiscus and native trees along with flowering shrubs and perennials. Together they provide an ever-changing garden scene.
The vireya rhododendrons, which bloom beautifully all year long, are a highlight. Because they respond to weather conditions rather than day length, they do not have a regular restricted flowering season – the vireyas may, and do, present their attractive blooms at any time of the year. Eden Garden’s vireya collection includes a number of varieties grown in conjunction with the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust, part of an international rhododendron research and conservation project.
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‘Shantung Pink’ vireya at Auckland’s Eden Garden.
The garden and cafe are managed by Jacqueline Jones. The operation’s reception and garden upkeep are supported by staff and volunteers. Maintaining the garden is the work of a small team of gardeners who are kept busy with new plantings and the restoration of paths, beds and borders. Help – and hindrance at times, it has to be said – in the garden is provided by a roaming gang of chickens, an entertaining element for staff and visitors to the garden.
Creation of the garden began in 1964 after a farsighted horticulturist and nurseryman, Jack Clark, along with an enthusiastic band of supporters decided to take on the task of converting a disused quarry into something of beauty.
The quarry, on the eastern slopes of Mt Eden, had supplied basalt rock and scoria for Auckland’s buildings and roads since the mid-1800s. Following its closure in the 1920s the quarry was purchased by businessman Sir Frank Mappin as an addition to his neighbouring property.
For the next three decades or so the old quarry lay neglected. In 1962, Mappin gifted his home to the Crown as a vice-regal residence for use by the Governor-General when in Auckland – today’s Government House – with the offer including the old quarry. However, by then the quarry was an unsightly, overgrown dumping ground; the Crown declined. Mappin then offered the quarry, free of charge, to a friend, horticulturist and nurseryman Jack Clark, with the suggestion that he build a home there and plant the land.
Clark saw the possibilities for developing a special garden on the site and relished the challenge. Not least he was in a position to assist the project immensely through the donation of thousands of plants from his nursery business. Two years of negotiation and planning followed, and eventually towards the end of 1964 an incorporated society – the Eden Garden Society – was formed to manage the garden and to open it to the public for an admission fee.
So began many decades of a labour of love for Clark and his supporters, committee members and the thousands of volunteers over the years. Contractors, suppliers and others gave generously of their time and money.
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Brendon Collings (left) and Michael Tuck are gardeners at Auckland’s 60-year-old Eden Garden.
The Justice Department also lent a hand. Learning that work in the garden needed more muscle than was able to be provided by its volunteer force, the department arranged for groups of offenders who had been sentenced to periodic detention, to help out. The “PD boys” as they were known – strong and energetic men (and the occasional women) – were of immense assistance with the heavier work involved in moving rocks, building stone steps and walls and maintenance.
For visitors to the garden, the experience is one of a rare beauty and peace. It had been Jack Clark’s idea that the garden might also be a garden of memories whereby people could endow trees and shrubs as well as bench seats and rocks in memory of deceased loved ones. Eden Garden couldn’t provide a more fitting environment. The tranquillity and quiet allow for reflection and comfort in memories. Birdsong lifts the heart. And bench seats spread throughout the garden – 137 of them at last count – means that you’re never far from somewhere to sit and enjoy.
A visit to Eden Garden is always time well spent and leaves one all the richer.
