Gardener and plant collector Catherine Davies-Colley, her husband David, cats Luna and Tux and an eclectic brood of chickens live at a renowned magnolia garden at Poroti, west of Whangārei.
When did you move here and what was the garden like when you arrived? We moved here in 2001. The property had been an old kiwifruit orchard but all that remained was a shed, some alkathene pipes, and hedgerows that had been planted as windbreaks. We lived in a caravan with our three kids while David built the house. It took two years,
