Gardening with Gael - Friends right til the end

My friend Rosie and I have been friends since we were five. After six decades of friendship we have no need for explanations. We know each other’s lives intimately and it takes no time to catch up on our families before getting on with our real shared interest: gardening.

We meet every year to celebrate our birthdays swapping cuttings, bulbs and plants grown from seeds. For her 60th I gave Rosie 60 bulbs to plant. This week I could give her clivias I have grown from seed. I am hoping they may have cross pollinated and we have a new colour to enjoy.

Rosie also has a strong gardening background. Her family, the Becroft’s, came out from England with the Albertlanders and planted their first apple orchard in Albertland, or as we knew it, Port Albert. The orchard was called Sunnyside, owned, by the time we were kids, by Percy Bell who was married to Audrey Becroft. By then, Rosie’s father Ian Becroft had established the apple orchard we are familiar with today in Te Hana on the banks of the Te Hana Creek, a tributary of the Topuni River. With the railway line passing through Te Hana the orchard was well positioned to send the apples to Auckland and from there overseas for export.

My sister and I were exactly the same ages as Rosie and her sister and we frequently visited. I remember the lawn in their garden was the best I had ever seen. It was short, green and perfect. Rosie says her father was very proud of the mower, one of the first around which had a roller on the back, and they, like all of us had to rush ahead picking up cabbage tree leaves. Rosie and her sister helped pick up windfall apples and at the end of the season, when the packing sheds were no longer in use, the four of us would roller skate around and around the apple grading machine.
Rosie’s grandfather, Archie Becroft, lived next door and his garden melded with the garden of Rosie’s parents. Archie had a great love of chrysanthemums and grew large beds of them. In the early autumn when the chrysanthemums were at their best the family hosted a garden party. I remember the chrysanthemums. I recall the twine used to tie up the stems to prevent the flower heads falling. Both Rosie and I plan to replicate some in our gardens. The gardens provided the family with fresh fruit and vegetables. Rosie would go out in the evening to dig the potatoes and any ripe produce for the evening meal.

In the 70’s, with the return of her older brother Ron to the orchard, the Becrofts branched out into grape growing and wine making. The orchard has been sold since then and Max Wintle, who was there with the Becroft’s still manages the orchard. He sells apple juice at the Whangarei market and Rosie swears it is still the best in New Zealand.