Story book: A rich blend of memory and meaning permeates John and Shirley Pettit's Epsom home and garden

摘要

Shirley pettit wondered what her husband John was writing on his hand one day when they were out walking. "We went down a road we'd never been down before and saw an arts and crafts-era cottage for sale," she says. "John wrote down the number of the real estate agent and by the end of the week it was ours." The home, in a cherry-tree-lined street in Auckland's upmarket Epsom, had potential. "We took nearly all the plants out and started again," says Shirley as she stands in the front garden, surrounded by a wonderful flourish of roses, foxgloves, alstroemeria, dianthus, mignonette, granny's bonnets, wallflowers and Queen Anne's lace. "If there are any plants that are 'cottagey', we've got them."