Hortensia House, named after the French word for hydrangea, is the private homestead and garden of Georges and Huguette Michel. It was Huguette's love of hydrangeas that inspired the title. She has reflected her love of these old favourites in the recently planted hydrangea hedge outlining the driveway, which brings welcome colour throughout the summer.

The Monet-inspired garden is informal in design and is loosely themed on blue and yellow capturing an essence of serenity and reflecting the colours of the house. Huguette's favourite shade of hydrangea is blue and these along with lavenders, for-get-me-nots, love-in-a-mists among others provide the blue tones throughout the garden. Yellow is provided by various varieties of roses including 'Pimpernel' and 'Graham Thomas', other favourites include pansies, daisies, aquilegias, and gazanias. The desire to have flowers in the garden all year is reflected in the large variety of species to be found in the garden.

Numerous roses add a vibrant splashes of colour among the hundreds of native plants and fruits trees. Among the many fruit trees on the property are red cherry guava, weeping white mulberry and a beautiful persimmon tree outside the kitchen window.

Huguette and Georges welcome you to come and experience their stunning garden. As you stroll along the bank down an inviting shaded pathway enjoy the mass plantings of arum lilies relaxing in the cool waters of Spring Creek. To enhance your garden experience, most plants have been labelled.

Adding another aspect to the enjoyment of their garden is the small craft shed in which one will find a variety of old milk cans, buckets, tin-wares, pots and trays, all expertly hand-painted by Huguette Michel-Fleurie.

Opening Hours:
Hortensia House Gardens and Craft Shed is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 2.00 to 5.30 pm
Address: 134 O'Dwyers Road, Blenheim.
Phone: 03 570 5167