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Huatoki Native Plant Nursery

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Huatoki Native Plant Nursery

Huatoki Native Plant Nursery is currently closed until further notice. Visitors are welcome to come simply to view the gardens without charge.

Huatoki Native Plant Nursery is a small home based nursery that caters for native plant enthusiasts. There are no cultivars or exotic plants to be found, either in the plant stock available or the extensive gardens found throughout the nursery. The plants available will appeal to specialist plant collectors as well as those with more eclectic tastes and with an interest in unusual plants. Informat

ion about the geographic origin and eco-source status of the plant is provided when known. Divaricating plants (small-leaved, tangled-branched plants), as well as special local Taranaki plants, rare and distinctive species, shrub epiphytes, and native bird and reptile attracting plants, are an important feature in the plant stock available. The nursery and accompanying gardens have been visited by special interest groups such as botanical societies from other parts of the country from as early as 1994 and has been described as ‘’definitely a 'must see' for New Zealand plant lovers visiting New Plymouth.” and as recently as 2012 as “a botanical treasure house.” The extensive native gardens provide a point of difference in that the plants available in the nursery can be viewed in their mature forms and in an aesthetically pleasing and natural looking setting.

04/11/2023

The ‘Poor Knights Lily’ or Raupō-Taranga (Xeronema callistemon) is flowering well in my garden again this year.

03/06/2023

Pittosporum pimeleoides subsp. pimeleoides is a small slender branched shrub with pointed leaves that are arranged in whorls. When in flower, as it is in my garden at the moment, it is smothered with hundreds of small but beautiful yellow red-striped flowers which produce an attractive aroma in the evening. This representative of the amazing Pittosporum genus is an endemic species restricted to the upper half of the North Island. The following photos of two plants in my garden were taken yesterday.

19/02/2023

The following photos of a nīkau palm were taken in my garden in December last year and in January this year and include images of a newly emerging inflorescences (flower clusters). The nīkau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) is probably one of the most distinctive and easily recognized plants in the New Zealand bush; and certainly adds a lot of beauty, character and interest to a New Zealand garden.

11/02/2023

Olearia pachyphylla or ‘thick-leaved tree daisy’ is a very rare and threatened coastal shrub endemic to northern North Island and found growing amongst low scrub on steep cliffs and along stream banks. It has large leathery leaves that have a pale green upper surface and with fine white to light brown tomentum underneath. Their main threats in the wild are loss of habitat, competition from exotic plants and browsing by goats. I have only the one plant in my garden which is currently in the early stages of flowering. The small white flowers are arranged in attractive clusters at branch tips.

02/01/2023

The ‘Rēkohu (Chatham Island) Geranium’ (Geranium traversii) is flowering in my garden at the moment. It is a low-growing perennial with attractive silver-grey foliage and flowers that range in colour from pink to light purple and sometimes white. The flower colour is more intense when it first opens. It is a relatively garden friendly plant but seems to prefer full sun and good drainage and is ideal in a rock garden or border planting. It also self-seeds quite freely.

04/12/2022

The indigenous and endemic forest tree species pōkākā (Elaeocarpus hookerianus) is probably not as well-known as New Zealand’s other member of the genus, the hīnau (Elaeocarpus dentatus), although it is often more likely to be available in specialist native plant nurseries. The pōkākā has a very distinctive juvenile form consisting a much branched divaricating shrub with small narrow toothed and lobed leaves that vary considerably in shape and appearance. The shrub gradually moves through the divaricating phase to become a more regular branching tree reaching 14 metres. The adult leaves are larger, have crenate to serrated edges, and are broadly oval to elliptic with reddish midribs. Pōkākā is commonly found growing in lowland and montane forests in many parts of the country. I have two mature pōkākā in my garden. The tree photographed here flowered for the first time this year and is about 12 years old. The flowers are prolific and appear to be attracting a very wide range of insects including many bumblebees.

25/11/2022

The Marlborough Rock Daisy (Pachystegia insignis) are flowering in my garden at the moment. Distinctive features include large daisy-like flowers, leathery leaves covered white dense matted hair (tomentum) on the undersides of leaves, on stems and covering the surface of new growth. They prefer free draining soils and an open sunny situation. They respond well to growing in raised rock gardens and tubs provided they are given good drainage. They have seem to have some difficulty with long sustained periods of rainfall and require good airflow to avoid problems with humidity. The Marlborough Rock Daisy is found growing naturally on rocky cliffs and coastal faces from the seaward Kaikoura Ranges south to northern Canterbury.

20/10/2022

The Poor Knights Lily or Raupō-Taranga (Xeronema callistemon) is flowering well in my garden this year. The last time the plant had this many racemes (flower-spikes) was in 2018. Last year it had none and the year before only 2. I have since moved it out into a more sunny position and this year it produced 5 flower spikes. It is a plant that seems to need a good amount of sunlight, sharp drainage, and good airflow, and is frost sensitive. It is also thought that root bound plants are more likely to flower. The plant is only known to occur naturally on the Poor Knights Islands near Tutukaka, and the Hen (Taranga) Island, near Whangarei where it is mainly found on sea cliffs and rocky outcrops. My plant was originally sourced as a very small plant from a local nursery about 18 years ago.

13/10/2022

The Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) endemic plant pouteretere (Leptecophylla robusta) forms a shrub or small tree of up to 8 m tall. In my garden it has formed a somewhat sprawling yet attractive bushy and prickly shrub with dark green narrow sharply pointed leaves. The underside of the leaves are greyish-white with distinct green linear markings. My garden plant is particularly attractive at the moment with fresh new leaf growth at the tips of branches and tiny flowers hidden amongst the foliage. The stems and branches are very brittle. Male and female flowers are found on separate plants with female plants producing red, white or pink fruit.

30/09/2022

Dracophyllum is a genus consisting of a large group of shrubs, small trees and groundcovers and are members of the Ericaceae family. The scientific name Dracophyllum comes from the Greek meaning “dragon leaf” which is said to refer to its resemblance to an unrelated member of the Dracaena genus from the Canary Islands (Dracaena draco) commonly known as dragon tree. Comparisons have also been made with our indigenous tī kōuka or cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) which was originally placed in the Dracaena genus in 1786. New Zealand's 35 indigenous Dracophyllum species although diverse are very distinctive, some adopting a candelabra like branching pattern and are often compared with the trees illustrated in the children’s books written by Dr Seuss. The neinei (Dracophyllum latifolium) in my garden is over 30 years old and during this time I have built up a large collection of photographs taken of this single plant at different stages and when in flower which has generally occurred between November and January in my garden. The flowers are initially hidden behind leaf-like bracts which are gradually shed to reveal the clusters of tiny dark red nectar laden flowers. The bright red terminal clusters of new foliage are also particulary attractive at the moment. The following photos are a sample of those taken over the years.

25/09/2022

The beautiful climbing rata, akakura or crimson/carmine rata (Metrosideros carminea), is flowering in my garden again. This woody root climber is only found growing naturally in coastal to lowland forests in the North Island with North Taranaki being its southern limit in the west. The particularly prolific covering of bright carmine flowers in spring and early summer make this plant popular in cultivation. It has distinctly different juvenile and mature leaf forms. The mature leaves are larger, rounded to elliptic, and are a bright glossy green with pale undersides. It is a plant that requires a good amount of light to ensure good flowering. Plants grown from the stem cuttings of an adult plant don’t have a climbing habit so can be grown as a pot plant or shrub in the garden.

23/09/2022

The Surville Cliffs Korokio (Corokia aff. cotoneaster “Surville Cliffs”) is flowering well in my garden at the moment. This low-growing tightly divaricating shrub occurs naturally on the ultramafic rock and serpentine soil areas of Surville Cliffs north-west of North Cape. The very attractive growing form, distinctive foliage, small bright yellow flowers and red fruit, has led to it becoming fairly popular in cultivation. In the garden it seems to prefer a good amount of sun, good drainage and airflow. It looks particularly good in rocky garden setting.

Address

4 Camden Street, Vogeltown
New Plymouth
4310

Telephone

+6467535811

Website

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