Aotearoa in Bloom: Talk
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Thursday 13 August, 6:30 - 8:00pm
Central Court, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion
6:30-8:00pm
$10 cash, no registration required
Rachel Clare and Tryphena Cracknell celebrate our native flowering plants with their illustrated talk. Their book Aotearoa in Bloom presents a range of flowering plants, from beloved blooms like kōwhai and pōhutukawa to the lesser-known, like our tiny native forget-me-nots, fragrant toropapa and our many orchid species. Books will be available for sale and signing.
This event is supported by the Garden History Research Foundation and HarperCollins.
Author
Rachel Clare is a gardening writer who is obsessed with flowers. She has written hundreds of articles on botanical subjects ranging from kōwhai to compost, and is associate editor of Kiwi Gardener magazine, a former editor of Get Growing e-zine and Organic NZ magazine, and former deputy editor of NZ Gardener magazine.
She is passionate about connecting tamariki with te taiao the natural world, and her children’s book Play Wild: Nature Craft Projects for Tamariki was a finalist in the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. She grew up in Ahuriri Napier and has been friends with Tryphena Cracknell since she was 13 years old sharing a lifelong love of flowers, native plants and gardening.
Author
Tryphena Cracknell (Rongomaiwahine) is a passionate gardener, crafter and foodie. She has spent a large part of her career working in museums and art galleries as a curator, historian and kaitiaki for amazing taonga tuku iho. Her published writing tends to focus on art, textiles, Māori arts practice and contemporary jewellery. She writes a regular column on native plants for Kiwi Gardener magazine and sometimes still moonlights as a curator.
In recent years, she has worked in conservation, caring for flora and fauna, including as operations manager for the Department of Conservation in Rēkohu Chatham Islands.
