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Articles—

People

Meet the personalities behind the most amazing gardens, businesses and ideas in the world of botany.

Hands-on flower cultivation in the working garden at Paradise Botanica.

Gardens, People

Paradise Botanica | A garden that rebuilt a life

Victoria Chammanee’s 'Paradise Botanica' garden is now open to the public through Secret Gardens. Once a site dominated by kikuyu and concrete, it’s now a biodiverse sanctuary. Victoria tells us about her approach to gardening, the work required to reshape her site, and how it quite literally helped to rebuild her life.

Garden designer Ashley James tending his rural flower garden in Victoria Australia.

Gardens, People

Introducing Ashley James | Our new gardening columnist

We’re excited to announce the newest columnist to Sage Journal, Australian garden designer, Ashley James. In his first piece, he shares where his love of gardening began and how his romantic, European-inspired style took shape.

Soft pink and peach-toned flowers growing in a lush cottage garden.

Gardens, People

A colourful life | Violet Faigan and her Ōtepoti Dunedin garden

Dunedin-based gardener Violet Faigan tells us about her wonderful, colour-packed garden.

Picking flowers in meadow garden at House of Florelle

Gardens, People, Travel

All in the details | House of Florelle

Through House of Florelle, Georgia Casey welcomes visitors to her rural property for floral workshops, garden parties and events that showcase her love of flowers, creativity and the finer things.

Flower garden with mixed blooms and a small shed set among mature trees

Gardens, People

Plot twist | The Little Barn Garden

Wedding flowers are usually sourced from growers and florists, but Liv Wynne-Lewis decided hers would come from the soil of her parents’ Hawke’s Bay farm.

Wayne Webster, Whistling Green - Secret Garden X Sage Journal

Gardens, People

Finding balance | Thirty years of change at Whistling Green

Located in Hillcrest, Auckland, this garden blends Aotearoa and Asian influences – evolving and transforming since Wayne and Rama first bought the property in the early 1990s.

Gardens, People

A painter’s palette | A garden of gentle colour at The Blue House

Illustrator Jenny Cooper has shaped a soft, expressive garden around her home – The Blue House – in North Canterbury. A story told in partnership with Resene.

Sage Journal winter event with Kath Irvine at Keirunga Gardens, Havelock North

A winter garden gathering | Celebrating 5 years of Sage Journal with Kath Irvine

A look back at our winter garden gathering with Kath Irvine — celebrating five years of Sage Journal.

Jo Ensor

Gardens, People

A new crop | How a Marlborough farming family blends cut flower & traditional farming

Jo Ensor is blending family life, heritage and a love of horticulture as she transforms part of her Marlborough farm into a thriving cut flower garden — and builds her business, Tyntesfield Blooms.

Kaikōmako - Secret Gardens

Gardens, People

Restoring Kaikōmako | The garden that sparked the Secret Gardens garden-share platform

Jane Mahoney shares the story behind Kaikōmako — her ten-year garden project in Corsair Bay, Canterbury, and the beginnings of Secret Gardens.

Gardens, People

Bringing order to chaos | A professional garden designer’s own garden

Garden designer Carolyn Campbell transformed a once-overgrown Tawa hillside into a layered, living artwork. A story told in partnership with Resene.

Kimberly Andrews - Giraffe the Gardener

Books, Gardens, People

From backyard to book | Kimberly Andrews on her children’s book, ‘Giraffe the Gardener’

Kimberly Andrews shares how her own garden and other green spaces influenced her latest children’s book, Giraffe the Gardener

Gardens, People

Pottering about the potager | A Waimate cottage garden

Nicola Blunt tends to both her 'zen' and potager gardens in Waimate, South Canterbury. A story told in partnership with Resene.

Mollie Howard | Hawke's Bay Artist

The people behind the gardens: Our most-loved stories of 2024

Meet the artists, chefs, winemakers and homesteaders whose love for plants and the land shaped our favourite people-stories of 2024.

Gardens, People

‘Tussock’ | Landscape architect Louise Dunning Morrow’s Marlborough family garden

A conversation and home garden tour with landscape architect Louise Dunning Morrow on designing gardens that inspire — from Marlborough to the world.

Gardens, People

Textured fields | Layers of colour beneath the gums

Horticultural enthusiasts, Sue and Simon Nyhof, lose track of time in the splendour of their central Otago garden. A story told in partnership with Resene.

Pollination garden

Growing together: On Mel Adams’ pollination garden

How Mel Adams offers cover and shelter for not just honey bees and bumblebees, but other insects that benefit from a green, floral-filled, chemical-free garden space.

Japanese anemone

Gardens, People

A seasonal living canvas shaped for a growing family | Landscape architect Paul Roper-Gee’s Christchurch garden

A conversation with Paul Roper-Gee of Botanic Landscape Architects. Explore is own garden, and learn about his life as a landscape architect and passionate gardener.

Tom and Lucia Gordon, Clifton Glamping

Gardens, People

A landscape of luxury and legacy | Clifton Glamping

At Clifton Glamping, Tom and Lucia Gordon balance luxury accommodation with their dedication to sustainability and reforestation, creating a unique retreat immersed in nature.

Gardens, People

Heartfelt hues | The inflorescence Havelock North garden brimming with colour & texture

The instinctual gardener, Suzanne Beaumont, cultivates her Hawkes Bay grounds with vibrancy and swathes of colour. A story told in partnership with Resene.

A season of growth | The life of artist Mollie Howard

Hawke's Bay artist Mollie Howard creates floral-inspired paintings that celebrate nature and motherhood, with her deep passion for the natural world and strong family connections shaping her artistic vision.

St Georges Restaurant

Gardens, People

Garden-centric cuisine | St Georges garden-to-table restaurant

Take a walk through the garden-to-table experience that is St Georges Restaurant - a family run affair where ingredients are sourced direct from the gardens onsite.

Paula Kelly - Pegasus Bay Gardener

Gardens, People

The Pegasus Bay Gardener | Cultivating the expansive grounds of a North Canterbury winery

Paula Kelly, gardener at Pegasus Bay Winery, transforms its grounds with decades of horticultural passion and experience, creating stunningly beautiful gardens in North Canterbury.

Celebrating the winter season | Garden musings with Bri DiMattina

Bri DiMattina, recipe developer, gardener & author of Nostrana, shares with us her insight and 6 of her favourite winter gardening activities...

Huntress Wines | Janine Rickards

Gardens, People

Nurturing the land | Jannine Rickards on gardening, winemaking & kaitiakitanga

For Jannine Rickards, gardening is more than just a hobby, it's a connection to her whakapapa—a practice steeped in tradition, sustainability and spirituality. As a winemaker and the founder of Huntress Wines, Jannine weaves her love for the land and her passion for kai (food) into every aspect of her life.

Gardens, People

The Central Otago homesteader who grows, harvests, preserves & hosts tourists

In the quaint settlement of Lauder, Central Otago, Gillian Swinton and her partner Hamish have cultivated a lifestyle that seamlessly blends their love for gardening, hospitality and rural living.

Gardens, People

From urban plot to rural refuge | The Pomeroys’ journey to country living & abundant gardening

In the North Canterbury country town of Amberley reside quantity surveyor Keeley and chef Jen Pomeroy – two garden enthusiasts whose journey into gardening reflects a deep-rooted connection to family, food and community.

Gardens, People

A Mid Canterbury edible garden designed for hospitality & self-sufficiency

In the farming town of Seafield in the Ashburton District, Stevie Young’s garden stands as a testament to a dedication and passion for simple and sustainable living.

Secret Gardens NZ - Texture Garden

Autumn in a subtropical, suburban garden | Insights from a Secret Gardener in Hawke’s Bay

An interview with Secret Gardener, Sue of Texture Garden — a subtropical, suburban garden in Taradale, Hawke's Bay.

Secret Gardens NZ - Ngā Kaupeka

Gardens, People

A productive urban garden called Ngā Kaupeka | Autumn insights from a Secret Gardener in Auckland’s North Shore

An interview with Secret Gardener, Phoebe of Ngā Kaupeka — a small-scale, productive garden in Forrest Hill, North Shore, Auckland.

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© 2026 Sage Journal Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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