What's next for Omaka? Well, our primary business, which helps support the garden, is our B&B, so every project needs to benefit both.  We’ve just completed a wonderful new Orangerie, allowing guests and garden visitors to enjoy the garden whatever the weather or the season.  Over the next few years, we’ll replace the tennis court with lawn, fountain and perennial borders inspired by Emmett’s Garden in England - planting has commenced in preparation.  Looking further ahead, we’re planning a spectacular stained-glass glasshouse, using around 30 stained-glass windows rescued from a demolished Wellington church.  But until then, we’ll keep doing what we love most - sharing our tranquil oasis amidst New Zealand’s Forgotten World!

A 25-hectare botanical reserve, donated to the Whanganui District Council in 1966 by Stanley Bason. Stanley and his wife Blanche had farmed this property before donating it to the City, with the intention that it would become a garden for the enjoyment of generations of visitors. More about the garden below – first let’s get to how it all started.

With the world facing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity accelerated by the climate crisis, a significant new global initiative has been launched to protect the extraordinary diversity of the plants that feed us. The Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants (GCCFP), launched in September 2025 and led by the New York Botanical Garden, brings together an impressive group of partners — among them the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the US Botanic Garden, and CGIAR — in a coordinated effort to enhance global food security and protect edible biodiversity for future generations.

The bumblebee (or humblebee as it was once known as) is a powerhouse pollinator, first arriving in New Zealand by boat, in the 1880’s. It was brought here specifically to pollinate red clover. It is now regarded as an essential pollinator in the horticultural industry and is especially brilliant in glasshouses and, of course, in our gardens. Their great specialty is that they are adept at pollinating plants that will only release pollen when parts of the flowers receive intense vibration. This means that many plants, such as tomatoes, potatoes and artichokes all rely on the bumblebee’s trembling action – they grip the flower and shiver their flight muscles without opening their wings - to be pollinated.