We’re off to New Zealand today to visit Lynne Leslie’s garden. We’ve visited before (Lynne’s Garden in New Zealand), and it is always fun to see what she is growing.

Here are photos taken in late spring in my small-town garden in Wellington, New Zealand. I love perennials, vegetables, and shrubs, and I plant them close together to keep weeding to a minimum.

Every year I plant snapdragons (Antirrhinum, Zones 8–11 or as cool-season annuals) and stake them as they grow to protect them from the strong winds we get here on the hill. They flower from winter through to summer, when rust attacks them. I then replace them with other seasonal plants.

Planting evergreen plants under trees gives interest all year, and I tuck in colorful annuals depending on the season. Cinerarias (Pericallis × hybrida, Zones 9–11 or as annual) self-sow, along with primula, then the roses, hydrangea, dianthus, and other perennials come into their own for summer.

The roadside is a riot of easy-care color for dog walkers and motorists to enjoy: roses, gazania, dianthus, euphorbia, daisies, wallflowers, iris, etc.—all sun lovers.

I do love clematis and grow many varieties and colors through roses and shrubs, up metal frames and anywhere else I can fit one in. This is our New Zealand native, Clematis paniculata (Zones 4–8).

Peonies (Paeonia species and hybrids, Zones 4–8) are another favorite, but due to the fact that our winters in Wellington do not get cold enough for them to flourish, I help them along with ice cubes and potassium during winter. This lemon one is the first to flower and has huge blooms.

Cape primroses (Streptocarpus, Zones 10–11 or as an annual or houseplant) do very well outside and also in pots in the gazebo. I watch them carefully, as snails are inclined to have a wonderful lunch if I let them.

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