Coming up roses

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Rosy outlook: Roses, delphiniums, penstemons and daisies help with the cottage look.

A passion for gardening has turned a bare central Blenheimproperty into a magical hidden garden in a few short years.

When Blenheim builder Dillon Kerr and wife Ruth decided to build their family home in Maxwell Rd, he concentrated on the house while she took over the garden. A keen gardener for as long as she can remember, Ruth especially adores roses. Having left behind more than 150 roses at their previous home in Mowat St, Ruth was determined to have as many as possible on their new property.

Because the house is formal looking, she opted to have a more formal garden at the front, lining the entrance path with a row of white and burgundy standard iceberg roses underplanted with burgundy heucheras on the house side and hebes on the road side.

From there the garden evolves to a more cottage look down the eastern side with roses being the common link. Red, white, pink, yellow and peach.

"We started with a ground layout which we made up after looking through a few books," she said.

"It was a bare block so we were lucky to start from scratch."

Initially her garden started with a white room followed by a pink room and then a blue room and so on. The series of rooms includes a backyard play area for the couple's six children, featuring mainly a lush green lawn area, just right for bikes, a sandpit and a water slide in summer.

For Ruth, gardening allows her time out from the children. Dillon takes care of lawns, watering and structures, while the rest is Ruth's domain.

She's a keen gardener no matter what the season.

"I love it in the autumn and winter when all the plants die down and then in the spring it's exciting to see all the new growth starting. Summer – that's the time to smell the roses."

Ruth's favourite roses are "David Austen" varieties, although she admits to being partial to banksia roses and also white climbing rose "Sir Edmund Hilary", "which smells so nice".

- The Marlborough Express

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