With tearooms open whenever the garden is open, Awaiti, meaning “little stream”, has evolved around a meandering stream since 1980. Stones from the surrounding farmland are used for lining the waterways and for hand-made walls, with viewing portholes providing glimpses of Japanese irises and lupins beyond. A weir and waterfall are bordered with primulas and lead into pools edged with hostas, astilbes, Japanese irises and azaleas. Jeanette’s favourites are the cottage perennials, which grow in abundance in a riot of colourful beds. A lavender walkway borders a rhododendron garden and old totara railings edge the pathways leading out to the lake. Here Allan has crafted a quaint shingle-roofed brick shed and water wheel backed by swamp cypresses and liquidambars.

More than 300 rhododendrons are planted among silver birches, ash trees and maples which provide glorious autumn colour. A formal yew-edged rose garden is shaped like a clover leaf around a central wishing well. Clipped Thuja plicata ‘Pyramidalis’ separate the garden into lobes and provide a backdrop for the many roses. Archways of climbing roses, pink clematis and mauve wisteria form viewing frames for vistas of cherry blossom. Tree peonies are another spring feature (see close-up photo). White fantail pigeons, doves and peacock complement the garden. The original farm cottage, built in the 1860s, has been converted into tearooms surrounded by a cottage garden, including two turn-of-the-century camellia trees. Awaiti Gardens is now a garden of Regional Significance under the NZGT.