Oasis Cottage

01/09/2025

It’s 1 September, the first day of spring. 💐

What an excellent opportunity to congratulate Open Polytechnic ākonga (learner) Steph Evans, owner of Oasis Cottage in Oxford, near Christchurch, whose garden was awarded a 3-star status by the New Zealand Gardens Trust earlier this year.

This award means that the country-style Oasis Cottage gardens are officially recognised as a “Notable Garden”.

For Steph, it’s the result of years of hard work, transforming five acres of paddocks into a richly planted, diverse garden.

“It was an incredibly special moment,” Steph says.

“I’ve poured two decades of effort into this garden—sculpting the landscape, planting thousands of trees, perennials and roses, and designing it to be both beautiful and immersive.”

The New Zealand Gardens Trust assessment involved an in-person visit by a panel that examined design, maintenance, plant selection, and visitor experience.

“It’s not a business; it’s our retirement lifestyle—a place for us to live beautifully and share with others through occasional open days,” Steph says.

“We are now expanding and refining areas to aim for a 4-star rating.”

Steph is currently studying towards a NZ Certificate in Floristry (Level 3) at Open Polytechnic, after initially enrolling in the NZ Certificate in Floristry (Level 2) in 2023.

“After years of gardening and crafting floral arrangements at home, I decided to expand my knowledge and skill set,” Steph says.

“Open Polytechnic’s flexible model suits my rural lifestyle and the hands-on nature of my daily life in the garden perfectly.”

Steph finds Open Polytechnic’s NZ Certificate in Floristry (Level 3) “extremely practical”.

“The course is structured around real, hands-on floristry work,” she says.

“Each assessment has required me to create actual arrangements—wired designs, hand-tied bouquets, and more—mainly using flowers I grow myself.”

“It’s deepened my seasonal awareness and sharpened both my techniques and planning.”

Floristry represents the turning over of a new leaf in Steph’s career after selling her successful sunscreen and skincare business in 2019.

“Floristry is part of a new chapter—one focused on creativity, garden-based living, and beauty in everyday life,” she says.

“For fun, I now create and deliver seasonal bouquets to locals in our small rural town of Oxford, using flowers grown on-site at Oasis Cottage.”

Steph says that floristry is part of a slower, more intentional life.

“Studying floristry later in life has been empowering, and I encourage anyone curious about the field to dive in,” Steph says.

“You never know how deeply it might change the way you live.”

📷Steph with a floral crown she created for an Open Polytechnic assessment.

31/08/2025

Still catching up with rose pruning — winter ends today, and I’m racing the clock! ✂ 🌹Next up: a spray with Conqueror Oil, then Liquid Copper a few days later. If you’re running behind, too, you’re in good company.

03/08/2025

The digger returns for the next phase of renovating our old pond. And then nature tested it without delay or mercy! ☔🦆

30/07/2025

We've been enjoying working on the garden over winter and cannot wait to show the improvements we've made to new and returning visitors!

28/07/2025

That’s a wrap – 2,765 spring bulbs planted!

I’ve just finished what might be the biggest bulb planting season we’ve ever done at Oasis Cottage. It’s taken weeks of prep, spade work, and quite a few muddy boots – but oh, the anticipation!

We’ve added hundreds more tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari, and bluebells across the borders. Some favourite varieties from last season are back, alongside a few new additions I can’t wait to see bloom.

Here’s a peek at last spring’s display — these are the colours and textures we’re building on:
💜 Rich purples and pastel tulips
💛 Golden daffodils lining the orchard walk
🌸 Hyacinths and muscari buzzing with bees
🌷 Bouquets straight from the beds to the vase

This year’s additions include:
• Ad Rem, Triple A, Pretty Princess, and Dynasty tulips
• Fortitude and Grand Monarch daffodils
• Ocean Delight and Pink Surprise hyacinths
• Bluebells King of the Blues, Muscari Early Giant, Snowflakes

Can’t wait to see what spring brings. For now, we rest. (Well… almost.)

We’ve added hundreds more tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari, and bluebells across the borders. Some favourite varieties from last season are back, alongside a few new additions I can’t wait to see them bloom.

27/07/2025

This week’s garden mission: reclaiming the long border by the wishing well.

It’s 21 metres of narrow planting (just 1.3m wide) with no irrigation and plenty of Nor’wester wind – not exactly a gentle spot!

After a few seasons of experimenting, I’ve finally landed on a mix of plants that thrive here and look beautiful. Last year they really proved their worth.

Here’s what’s in the mix:
• Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’
• Eryngium (Sea Holly) - grown from seed
• Gaura lindheimeri ‘So White’
• Verbena bonariensis ‘Meteor Showers’
• Rudbeckia hirta ‘Cherry Brandy’ - grown from seed
• Bunny Tail Grass - grown from seed

And to brighten things up in spring, I’ve planted Darwin Hybrid tulips – ‘Ad Rem’ and ‘Triple A’.

It’s a joy to see this border come into its own. A little structure, a lot of texture, and a burst of colour to come 🌷✨

Let me know what you’re planting this winter!

26/07/2025

🌰 Homegrown, Hand-Plaited, and Hugely Satisfying 🧅

There’s something so satisfying about cooking with onions you’ve grown, harvested, and hung to cure yourself. We still have plenty of our 2024 crop—Red Amposta and Italian Long Keeper—hanging by the back door and flavouring every meal.

💡 Planning for next season starts now. If you want a great onion harvest, July and August are prime months to sow seed. I’ve just ordered fresh packets of my two favourites from Kings Seeds and will be sowing them in a large tray to get a head start.

✨ These two varieties store beautifully (as you can see!) and keep us going for months. They’ve never let me down.

🪴 Whether you’re a seasoned grower or just onion-curious, give it a try this winter—it’s one of the easiest and most rewarding crops to grow from seed.

08/07/2025

🌲 Nature’s Roses 🌹

These stunning rosette-shaped cones are from our Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara) — aren’t they extraordinary? This year I managed to gather and dry a whole basketful, ready for Christmas wreath-making and festive floristry.

I’m toying with the idea of giving some a light dusting of gold… ✨ What do you think — natural and rustic, or gilded and glam?

Let me know below 👇

26/06/2025

I am so pleased that I finally finished planting 1,100 tulips into the double borders. 🌷🌷In this little video, I share my colour-blocking planting method and plan. Feel free to contact me if you would like me to email you a copy to modify and use for your own garden.

I purchased the bulbs from Bulbs Direct. They are sold out now, but at least you will be prepared for next season!

15/06/2025

Thank you to New Zealand Gardens Trust for posting this little article about us on their website!

We often say that it all started with just one flower, and that flower was planted, of all places, in the vegetable garden. At the time, we felt a bit cheeky about it. Steph even asked permission (a rare moment!) to sneak that single bloom into the raised veg beds. And so it began.

20/05/2025

Today, I started reworking the other side of the double border to plant 550 tulips for a (hopefully) colourful spring display!

11/05/2025

This week’s mission: reworking one side of the double borders — 550 tulips going in, a few purple overachievers coming out, and a fresh batch of seed-raised beauties stepping up for their debut.

After a very purple summer (lovely, but a bit much), it’s time to rebalance the palette. I’m aiming for more contrast, more structure, and a spring display that edges us closer to that 4-star goal.