Liz suggested we have morning tea at Larnach Castle for a early birthday (mine). Even on the yuckiest of days Larnach is amazing with its tower, 19C architecture and blousy, loose plantings. The first thing we saw was this wedding cake tree in its barest winter state.
The we walked through a dripping woodland at the end of which you launch onto the main lawn and see the castle
That red dot is Liz racing to fire and morning tea – I’d got lost in the weeds photographing as yet unknown native ferns
and the ceiling really is that buttery yellow. And they have three real fires blazing, as Larnach is 300m above sea level they have fires most of the year, even in January sometimes
Some fireplaces have winter non-floral displays, this one reminds me of deer antlers
And we come to tea, we have year passes so visit often-ish for a garden walk and lunch or tea, and sometimes just tea
On the way back I saw the pink tree broom I enjoy so much – these come from very dry inland marlborough at about 600m
Just before we left we stopped at the tree fuchsia where a bellbird sang for us. Not too much detail with low light and a smartphone
Growplan 
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