Dunedin ablaze with spring festival colour
21 Sep 2010
2010 Dunedin Rhododendron Festival
17 - 25 October, 2010
Spring is a prime time for garden enthusiasts and the combination of climate, creative planting, centuries of nurturing and a picturesque backdrop make Dunedin’s Rhododendron Festival a highlight event on New Zealand's calendar.
Rhododendrons thrive in Dunedin’s temperate coastal setting, and each year when the city’s extensive public and private gardens are in full bloom, a nine-day festival brings thousands of visitors to the region.
More than 50 different events make up the Dunedin Rhododendron Festival programme for 2010 - starting with a grand opening on 17 October.
27th Dunedin Rhododendron Festival
This year the Dunedin Rhododendron Festival celebrates its 27th anniversary and, while it is history and the insight of city forebears that have created the popular event, the 2010 festival will focus on forward thinking.
Television garden guru Tony Murrell opens the event with a message about gardening in a modern world and landscaping at home, and Fionna Hill, a well-known New Zealand florist, will present a workshop on growing micro-greens.
Otago Peninsula tourist attraction Larnach Castle, which has an acclaimed garden with an 'international significance' rating, will host a "Tastings in the Garden’ event featuring fine wines, beers and local produce.
Seasonal produce from the Otago region will also feature in cooking classes run by local expert Judith Cullen in her seaside garden at Dunedin’s St Clair beach.
As well as garden tours, fetes, workshops, exhibitions and garden parties, there will also be a number of non-horticultural events.
A fashion show, golf tournament, Spring HairRaiser Ghost Tour, food and wine events and family entertainment will all give locals and visitors every opportunity to make the most of the city environs ablaze with spring colour.
Gardens on show
Rhododendron lovers can feast on their favourite blooms with 20 private and public gardens open for the festival.
A highlight will be the Rhododendron Dell at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens in the inner city. The four-hectare Dell is nestled amongst mature native trees and complemented by an understory of perennials, creating a colourful woodland garden.
It features more than 3500 rhododendrons with 178 species and more than 200 named hybrids.
The smallest and largest varieties in the genus, as well as one of the oldest New Zealand raised hybrids known as ‘Marquis of Lothian’ are of special interest.
The Dell is regarded as one of the world’s most significant plantings of rhododendrons and inspired the beginning of Dunedin’s Rhododendron Festival which started in 1984 as a one-day celebration and progressed to a week before becoming the extended event of today.
More information
2010 New Zealand garden festivals
Dunedin woos major world botanical event
Spring 2010 - New Zealand events
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