At one time, when distances seemed greater, little imagination was necessary to visualize season extremes between the two hemispheres.
The United States was in the grip of winter, while New Zealanders were sweltering in 80° degrees Fahrenheit heat.
But with only a few days of air travel drawing the two countries closer, it seems strange to be planting our gardens while harvesting yours.
Though New Zealand is but a spot on the map, it is a rich land blessed with a temperate climate, little snow, and good, but not excessive rainfall.
We like to think it a worker’s paradise, and indeed, anyone who will own his own home and garden.
And we are keen gardeners, particularly in this “Garden City” of Christchurch with its tree and flower-lined streets, spreading parks and little squares, extensive botanic gardens, garden circles, flower and agricultural shows, garden clubs, and competitions for the best-kept streets.
Planting, Harvesting, and Enjoying The Garden
As you rake up fallen leaves for the bonfire or compost heap this month, we are transplanting zinnias, salvia, and asters for late summer.
We pick roses while you fill your barns and sheds with golden pumpkins, melons, and the last of the tomatoes.
Flowers in Bloom
Dahlias and chrysanthemums are in, and there is a succession of gladiolus. Now, we are tying up climbers, removing dead flowers from the annuals, and enjoying summer’s routine tasks.
Vegetable Garden Delights
While you are searching for your first Iris stylosa, gathering walnuts, and harvesting the late apples and pears, we appreciate fresh green salads of lettuce, spring onions, chives, and radishes.
Already, we’ve had our first rhubarb pie, a good supply of asparagus, and several pickings of strawberries.
Raspberries are swelling, and gooseberries, black currants, and loganberries will be ripe for Christmas. Carrots, red beets, spring cabbage, and chard are now common fare.
As the month advances, the vegetable garden flourishes with rows of parsnips, kohlrabi, onions, spinach, lettuce, peas, beans, and all the rest.
French beans are flowering already, having started their tender life under cloches (bell jars). Giving them this early protection fills the gap before the Scarlet Runners are formed.
Of all the months in the garden, we love November best. It is the season of growth when miracles happen overnight.
For our enjoyment, we measure the growth of beans, clematis, and other climbers against a daily mark on the fence. Was it only last week we planted corn? Already, it is tracing the dark earth with tender green.
Forgotten perennials develop from anonymous green tips into recognizable leaves and buds almost before our eyes. Annuals burst into bloom while our backs are turned.
Plans and Traditions in New Zealand Gardens
From now on, garden plans have Christmas dinner in view. From the podding of the first green peas to the flowering of the early potatoes, we almost brood over them, for it is not a traditional New Zealand Christmas without them. Their welfare is the usual topic of conversation between gardeners at this time.
The first week in November gives us roses, Etoile de Hollande and Cecile Brunner being the earliest.
The others follow quickly. Regal lilies are flaunting their graceful buds, which we doubt will open every year in time for Christmas.
Yet, no matter what the weather, they never disappoint us. Like the peas and potatoes, they are part of the Christmas scene.
November is the gayest month for flowers—marigolds, gazanias, violas, poppies, stocks, clematis, delphiniums, larkspurs, gypsophila, aquilegia, and border and perpetual carnations.
With frosts now well behind us, we sow portulaca and morning glories. We plant tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins in the vegetable garden.
Most of us grow a few early tomatoes under cloches, which can now be removed.
The first flush of blossom overcomes the beauty of late apple and pear and the last of the ornamentals.
Here, pears still flourish on century-old trees while apples are grown by the millions in other regions—mostly for export.
In the milder North, citrus fruits ripen for commercial use. At the same time, home gardeners grow their Chinese gooseberries, passion fruit (2″ to 3″ inches purple fruits of Passiflora edulis), tree tomatoes, feijoas, and figs. And everywhere we grow trees—old English trees and many natives.
Lest you think these are Elysian fields, let me hasten to add that we also have worries.
White butterflies have made their unwelcome appearance. Greenflies are ever with us, and we are trying to combat the carrot fly with layers of sawdust between the rows.
Dealing With Pests and Dryness
As this is usually a dry month, the pleasant chore of watering the garden begins.
We mulch our lilies, azaleas, daphne, and other moisture-loving plants with rotted straw, sawdust, and compost to combat dryness.
Twilight and Garden Chores
November evenings are the loveliest of all “down under.’’ Twilight lingers long here in the south, and while we putter about, the last thrush sings from the walnut tree. In the distance, a lawnmower purrs as a neighbor tries to beat the darkness.
Planning For the Next Gardening Season
In your country, you will enjoy the comfort of long winter evenings with the latest gardening book, magazine, or seed catalog, making plans for next season’s garden. But who knows?
Before long, it might be possible to airmail a bouquet to friends in the United States to brighten a winter’s day.
44659 by Cicely Wylie