9 March 2010

Show-stopping 15th Ellerslie Flower Show opens tomorrow

The gates open tomorrow (10 March) for the 2010 Ellerslie International Flower Show which promises to be a real show-stopper with almost 100 horticultural exhibits, including more than 30 display gardens.

Show Managing Director Dave Mee says the thousands of visitors will be treated to the biggest and best show in its 15-year history.

"For the first time Ellerslie will have two international feature gardens by multi award-winning Chelsea Flower Show designer Chris Beardshaw from England and international award-winning Japanese designer Koji Ninomiya. They headline a stellar list of garden designers at this year's Show.

"Chris Beardshaw is guaranteed to wow the crowds with the Show's largest ever garden An Englishman's Retreat on the shores of Victoria Lake, as is Japan's international award-winning designer Koji Ninomiya who is creating our first ever traditional Japanese garden. Both gardens will be show-stoppers."

Mr Mee says Chris's magnificent An Englishman's Retreatgarden will have almost 10,000 plants, including 4500 annuals and 3000 herbaceous plants, with loads of colour and plenty of fragrance, making it a real feast for all the senses, while Koji's traditional Japanese garden will be a striking contrast.

Christchurch bought New Zealand's premier garden event in November 2007 to reclaim and enhance Christchurch's image as the Garden City and to develop Ellerslie in to one of the world's most prestigious garden shows.

Mr Mee says Ellerslie is well recognised as a prestigious event on the international calendar of flower shows, evident with the large contingent of international media, horticultural experts and visitors attending this year's show.

"With measures in place to reduce the queues - larger marquees with multiple exit and entrances and longer opening hours - a new traffic management plan, improved signage, more food and beverage outlets and a greater number of relaxation areas, visitors are guaranteed a better experience this year."

Highlights of the 2010 Ellerslie International Flower Show are:

Gardens by international designers Chris Beardshaw from England and Japan's Koji Ninomiya.

All Black halfback Andy Ellis and his mate Danny Kamo from John Marsh Landscape Architects with their "grown up" garden. There is no cricket, beers or barbecue this year, instead the duo are making a serious statement about the impact humans are having on the environment and the planet's natural resources.

Gold award-winning Ellerslie 2009 designer Dan Rutherford who has gone south to create an ice garden for the Christchurch International Airport Company. It will feature a two-metre high towering iceberg and evolve over the five days to give Show visitors a full sensory experience of being in the Antarctic.

Christchurch-based international designer Craig Pocock's garden of industrial-sized dumpsters, mini skips, a shipping container and exotic aquatic weeds.

Te WaipounamuGarden a traditional Maori garden which dispels the myths and answers the question on what is a traditional New Zealand garden.

Lincoln University students using imagery from traditional board games and video games to evoke childhood memories in their garden; while three graduates from the University have created New Zealand's 21st Century quarter-acre paradise -  in the sky!

Last year's Supreme Award winner Bush Telly which has headed to the hills to create their 2010 exhibit, featuring a musterer's hut set against a backdrop of Mount Cass and the rugged North Canterbury back country.

The National Flower Bed Competition being hotly contested by Wellington, the Coromandel, Rotorua, Kaiapoi, Akaroa and Ashburton to wrestle the title off the Garden City that is going for the hat trick.

New Zealand's tertiary students competing for the title of Student Designer of the Year presented by Yates.

Some of New Zealand's best landscapers being put through their paces in The Great North and South Landscape Build-off, competing to build a mirror image garden at Ellerslie with the emphasis on using "local materials for local projects"

Mr Mee says Ellerslie 2010 features an eclectic mix of gardens and horticultural exhibits, with something to appeal to everyone's taste.

Ellerslie International Flower Show is New Zealand's premier week-long Garden Party in Christchurch's North Hagley Park from 10 to 14 March 2010. Check out the website for further information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

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