Living with Natives: New Zealanders Talk About Their Love of Native Plants

Politicians, artists, academics, farmers, business people – growing numbers of New Zealanders are committed to a love affair with native plants. Whether it be in a private garden, a corporate planting, or an eco-restoration area, there is something about planting with New Zealand natives that evokes beauty, tranquillity, and the satisfaction of restoring our environment to the way it used to be. This collection of 44 personal narratives is sumptuously illustrated with photographs by John Maillard, who travelled from Invercargill to Auckland to bring to life the contributors’ garden stories. Contributors include Peri Drysdale, Jeanette Fitzsimons, Bob Harvey, Diana, Lady Isaac, Tim Shadbolt, Steven Tindall, Mathew Sinclair, Hugh Wilson, and a host of conservationists and gardeners esteemed in their locales. The informative and often moving stories are as individual as their authors. Each records a gardener’s successes (and failures) and offers sound advice based on experience.