Growing memories

Growing Kowhai - Sharon Peoples

Earlier this year my extensive and extended family posted family photos on a closed social media site. Many of the photos were taken in front of a tree that grew in our front garden. Someone commented that the tree on how much the tree was used. The tree had wonderful yellow flowers and the leaves were small and circular, and pared up the stalk.
The tree was removed when my brother-in-law re-landscaped the garden in the late 1970s.

I had forgotten about the tree, until a black and white image in a photographic exhibition at the NGA, showed the image of the flower of a kowhai tree. Until then I had no idea of the tree’s name or that it was from New Zealand. I bought a postcard and pinned it up in my studio.
I have never seen another tree like ours. I often wonder how it got to be in our suburban garden. The other tree was a lilli pilli. How strange it is that southern hemisphere native trees were in our garden.
The post on social media prompted me to search the internet to see if it was possible to buy a kowhai in Australia. Nothing appeared except there were seeds for sale on E-Bay. I checked and they were from an Australian source. I ordered 20 for $4.00 Two weeks later they arrived with no instructions. Back to the internet and found a NZ government agency site with instructions for germinating kowhai.
I had to sand one side of the seeds six times. The seed coating is hard. I got out an emery board and tried to sand each seed. It was no mean feat. I lost two seeds somewhere in the carport. I filled a seedling tray with potting mix, planted out the seeds and waited for the four to six weeks suggested by the government instructions.
Five weeks later one little shoot appeared. The instruction suggested keeping them out of the sun until they sprouted. Slowly over the next four weeks eleven seedlings more appeared. It was time for the sun when we had some fierce 40 degree days. I put them in the morning sun for a few days and they really responded well. I had not realised how shady my garden had become over the years. When the weather cooled a little I put them on my studio steps for the morning, then onto our outdoor table. Each day I have been following this route.
The larger seedlings are now about eight centimetres high and their growth has slowed a little. The instructions indicate that the plants can be potted up at this stage. However, I think my germination process is quite late and should have started back in spring. Although the website says that the plants grow in the South Island, I am worried about the Canberra frosts. So no doubt they will be cossetted over the winters.
I am not even sure if it is the same variety. However, the idea of growing memories is the thing that appeals to me for this Nets project. How it will manifest in an artwork is still to come.
Sharon Peoples
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