A Visit to the Winter Gardens in Auckland New Zealand

A Visit to the Auckland Winter Gardens

 

Just two weeks ago we paid a visit to the Winter Gardens in the Domain in

Auckland, and what a picture it was.  These photos are of some of the amazing

displays inside the Victorian style glass houses.  The Winter Gardens were

designed in the style of Gertrude Jeckyll and Edwin Lutyens and opened

in 1913.  One of the glass houses is heated and contains tropical plants

these photos were taken in the other one.

 

 

Delphiniums and snap dragons

 

 

Schizanthus

 

 

 

Mimulus

 

 

Delphiniums

 

The two glass houses are connected by a courtyard with a water lily pond

which contains some gold fish, and off to the side is a fernery which is

also well worth a wander through.

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blog

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

 

 

 

 

 

A Spring Garden in New Zealand

 

 

My Spring Garden

 

Here is a new watercolour and collage work to celebrate Spring, our garden

is full of blackbirds this year and I have spotted two nests.  Although they

are not native to New Zealand we love having them around - they clear out

so many slugs from our seedlings.  We have also had a bumper year with tui

feeding on nectar from our Kowhai trees.

 

 

Here is a photo of my first rose, it grew from a cutting from the Coromandel.

I believe that it is one of the first varieties to be grown in New Zealand and was

probably brought here by settlers in the nineteeth century.  It flowers early

and prolifically and has a lovely perfume.

 

 

All images copyright France Jill Studd 2016

 

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blogspot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Have a look at this website for more of my work: http://www.tivolinz.com/exhibits.html

Garden Exhibition at Tivoli

Here are some photos of my exhibition 'Get Back to the Garden' at Tivoli in Oneroa,

Waiheke Island.  It is a celebration for all gardeners who enjoy the presence of birds,

bees, butterflies and all the other creatures who use our gardens for resting and feeding

places. It also supports a ban of neonicotinoids worldwide.

This work is called Tui, but it also shows a Welcome Swallow.

This work is called 'Red Flax' and to the left are some knitted bumble bees

Left is a work called 'Vervain' and then 'Alliums' and 'White Iris'

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blogspot

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016



A Preview of a New Exhibition

Sunflowers for an Exhibition

 

Here is a painting from a new exhibition which I be opening in a few weeks.

The Exhibition is called 'Get Back to the Garden' from Joni Mitchell's Woodstock

song.  I hope to show the importance of small urban gardens in providing food for

bees, butterflies and birds now that so many of their natural feeding grounds have been

lost to food production and building development. This is called 'Sunflowers'.

 

 

 

I grew these small lemon coloured ones this year they were some of the most

showy and successful.

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016



Mid Winter Black Swans in New Zealand

A Brood of Black Swans in Mid-Winter

 

I took these photographs of a family of black swans on a small lake near where we live.

It is now mid Winter and four cygnets have hatched and survived.  I believe that

they have been helped in this by the locals who are feeding them, as soon as they

saw me they came gliding over.

 

 

One of the parents was keeping a careful watch.

 

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blog

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

 

More Wild Flowers from New Zealand

 

Eglantine

Here is another painting made from a collection of wild flowers which I gathered on a

recent walk along the Wharemauku stream, I have called it Eglantine after the

wild rose which grows in the hedge behind our local airport.  I have also been surprised

at the number of weevils which seem to living on the spinach in our vegetable patch,

they are remarkable little creatures, so I have put some of those in as well.

 

 

 

The Guinea Fowl feather comes from Staglands a wildlife reserve which we visited

for our youngest Granddaughter's first birthday.  It was a real treat and the

girls just loved the animals, my favourites were the little brown pigs which

followed us around.

 

 

Here they are!

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blogspot

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016 Pigs courtesy of Staglands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Wild Flowers from New Zealand

A Bouquet of Wild Flowers

 

My granddaughter picked a bouquet of flowers for me when she went for a walk

with her grandfather.  I have used some of her collection in this Autumny painting

along with some colourful leaves which seem to have fallen later this year.

Also included are some honesty pods and a stick insect.  We often see these

'hayseed' stick insects and came home the other day to find one on the front door.

 

 

 

Here is another spiney stick insect which I picked up off the footpath

this morning, it must have been blown out of a tree in the storm

we had last night.  This one would have been 8 -9cms long in

it's body  so quite a large one.

 

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blogspot

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

 



Huka Falls, the Waikato River, New Zealand

Huka Falls

 

Here is a little film of the Huka Falls which we visited recently, it is the

most visited of the natural features in New Zealand.  This was believable as

even at nine o'clock in the morning buses were drawing in and many

different languages could be heard amongst the viewers.

The Huka Falls is in Wairakei Village just North of Taupo and is where

the Waikato River which drains Lake Taupo narrows to 15 metres through

granite rock.  32 - 270 cubic metres of water per second pass through the

narrow gorge

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective blogspot

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

The Last Rose, a Painting from New Zealand

The Last Rose

 

This is my latest painting from the garden as Autumn settles in.   It is warm

and muggy with the rain and the bees and butterflies are still busy

 

 

Among the leaves are many small beetles and ladybirds as we tidy up

for Winter.  This work will form part of my Wild Garden exhibition

not just a series of paintings on gardens but a look at the

importance of supporting our birds and insects within an urban

environment.

 

Midnight Collective

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

 

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Painting Rudbeckia Daisies in a New Zealand Garden

 

Rudbeckia Daisies

This is a new painting of the Rudbeckia daisies in a nearby garden.  They are intermingled

with poppies and salvia and the bees seem to love them all.  We are almost into

Autumn now and the houheria or lace bark tree is flowering at the back of our garden,

 it is full of honey bees and from there they are coming into our vegetable patch to fertilize 

the pumpkins.  Along with the monarch butterflies they

are also visiting my pink cosmos and scarlet dahlias.

 

 

Wellington has had the hottest Summer on record so even with Autumn here

the days are warm and muggy.

A Monarch on the houheria tree

 

Midnight Collective Blog

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016



The Decline of Bees in New Zealand

 

Loosing Our Bees

This year I have grown a few sunflowers which the bees usually love but I have not seen

one on them.  I have one of the pollenless variety which I would not have grown had

I realised, however the others are full of pollen and still no action.  Earlier in the

season at blossom time we had many bees but now it is difficult to see them around at

all.  Even so I love my sunflowers so here are some pictures of them.

 

 

 

If you want to help the plight of the Bees in New Zealand you can sign the petition organised

by Steffan Browing, which asks the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a strategy to

protect our bees from harmful neonicotinoids used in agricultural sprays.

 

For more information on Steffan’s campaign:
Webpage (including a downloadable petition form to gather more signatures): http://action.greens.org.nz/bees-info
Sign the online petition: http://action.greens.org.nz/bees2?utm_expid=98069376-4.044JnMHSQ_S5PLwfTm8mPA.2&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Faction.greens.org.nz%2Fbees-info

Here is one bumble bee on a scabiosa!

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective Blogspot

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016

 

 

 



A Bee Friendly Wild Garden Painting from New Zealand

 

 

A Bee Friendly Painting

 

 

I have just finished this painting, another one in my Wild Gardens series.

After reading two books by Dave Goulson I am committed to planting bee

friendly flowers in my garden along with our native species which bring the birds.

If you are interested in the conservation of the bees around your garden or fields I recommend

his books ' A Sting in the Tale' and 'A Buzz in the Meadow'. 

Any old fashioned flowers will attract and feed your local bee population,

lavender, heartsease, marigolds, foxgloves, poppies, borage, aquilegia,
anise hyssop and echium to mention just a few. 

My sunflowers are just beginning to flower, the bumble bees love these, 

but it is no good growing the pollenless varieties.

 

 

 

In New Zealand our honey and bumble bees are all introduced but we do have

native bees as well.  They are predominately found in the bush feeding on

our native tree and plant blossoms.

 

Frances Jill Studd website

Midnight Collective

 

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2016