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The Garden

Photographer: Gabrielle McKone

“Oh how I love flowers! It's strange we should all of us Beauchamps have this passion for flowers... I have a bunch of good old fashioned marigolds on my table, buds, leaves and all.”   KM, to her sister Charlotte.

The garden's original perimeters and path were established during early excavations at the house. Original photographs, eye witness accounts, KM's stories and letters, and garden historians have all helped identify the plants growing at the house during the 1880s and 1890s. The karaka trees, calendulas and arum lilies have constantly reseeded.

KM recollected the garden as “small and square with flower beds on either side. All down one side big clumps of arum lilies aired their rich beauty, on the other side there was nothing but a straggle of what the children called ‘grandmother's pincushions’ ” .

“The karakas...they were so lovely with their broad, gleaming leaves, and their clusters of yellow fruit.”   The Garden Party.