Elva's Garden

Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 2005-0245

A photograph, taken in the 1960’s, shows 233 Cameron Road situated on an already busy intersection. The house is almost a public space, with unobstructed views into the front of the property.

Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 2004-0554

The inquisitive eye would see a front garden of formality and order. An encaustic tile path joining the front gate to front step with geometric precision. The clipped twin camellias, the imposing centrally positioned front door and identical front windows adding to the Victorian symmetry.

Perhaps to regain a sense of privacy and quiet containment, Elva cultivated her back garden to be one of charm, colour and intimacy. The images shown here, taken between January 1965 and May 1966, reveal a rather inward looking and private space.

The informal planting style, with unrestrained free flowing plants, is typical of the cottage garden. A trellis fence defines a long herbaceous border, the geometry softened by cascading pastel coloured roses. Underplantings are old fashioned favourites - white daisies, perennial phlox and pink geraniums. Further along the garden, tall orange dahlias and bronzed leafed begonias add colour and vibrancy.

Garden adornments show an eclectic style. A white painted adirondack chair draws the eye into the adjoining orchard. A red tyre, cut in half and filled with plants, is placed in the herbaceous border. The other half, containing succulents, is part of a pot plant collection that decorates the back porch.

Elva chooses to record her cats, one inanimate but fiercely hunting, the other soft with tail erect and showing a slight interest in the flower bed. Elva watches intently. Gertrude Jekyll’s description of a cat as ‘ the perfect garden companion’ comes to mind.

The white concrete swan, crafted by Tauranga man Peter McTainsh  is favoured by Elva in these images. It appears in six photos and is positioned as the focal point in different parts of the garden. One photo shows the swan with two Crown Lynn ceramic companions settled on a lake of daisies.

But it is the photograph taken in August 1965 that is most revealing. Elva’s deep sense of place, her turangawaewae, shows in her facial expression and bearing as she stands with her husband in the garden her parents began seventy-five years previously.

Grateful thanks to Fiona Kean, Tauranga Heritage Collection and to Shirley Arabin for assistance in the preparation of the images.

Anne Marquand
February 2020

Image courtesy of Brain Watkins House Collection except where stated otherwise