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Kinder Garden 2021

Developed over 11 years by Erica Kinder, this colourful flower lovers garden boasts poppies, peonies, irises, around 100 roses, organic produce and a cute vintage-themed potting shed.

The tree-lined driveway of claret ashes and elms leads you into the gardens that hug the house and span a hectare.

 

124 Loop Line Road
OPAKI

RefreshmentsSales availableToilet availableWheelchair accessible

A returning favourite of the Wairarapa Garden Tour, Kinder Garden continues to expand and evolve each year. Since the garden last opened in 2019, Erica has been busy with ‘lockdown’ expansions. There’s now a new alfresco dining area near the pool, a pergola draped in a purple flowering hardenbergia and flanked by two Pierre de Ronsard roses that will climb and soften the entrance to the new ‘blue garden’

If you’ve visited Kinder Garden before, you’ll be familiar with Erica’s bold use of colour planted in blocks throughout the large rural garden. Erica’s favourite area is her hot border of gold and orange blooms. You’ll find flowering yarrows, lillies, daisies, roses and salvias – all oranges, yellows and golds. She says these fiery colours are often overlooked by gardeners, but she loves them en mass.

Plantings include ethereal varieties: hollyhocks, delphiniums, and heritage perennials often collected from little old ladies at plant stalls. Salvias are a firm favourite as they look good in all seasons and require little water. She also recommends dianthus as her go-to perennial.

Erica developed a passion for planting from her mother, growing up on a South Island sheep station. She loves her garden for the way it connects her to the seasons and provides respite amidst the busyness of work and family life. Erica’s garden featured in NZGardener a few years ago.

On tour weekend, enjoy refreshments in the garden provided by Opaki School. Remember to bring cash to buy gorgeous perennials from local propagator Louisa Shannon.

 

GALLERY