26 January 2009 - Hamish and Tim Prebble are creating the ideal backyard retreat for their 2009 Ellerslie International Flower Show exhibit - and be prepared to be wowed with their use of plants which have "never before been seen at a show in New Zealand".

No strangers to competing in garden shows, the Canterbury brothers are promising a garden that is both theatrical yet functional - a place to escape and relax with year-round interest and form. Importantly it will have elements, which they say Show visitors can take away and replicate at home.

Hamish says botanically, the garden will be interesting. "It will feature many plants from the sub-Antarctic Islands and Robinson Crusoe Islands, off Chile. Many of these will not have been seen before at a garden show."

Texture will be the focus, the brothers' 10m x 10m contemporary garden being designed to get homeowners to think beyond using the current palette of popular plants. It has been designed collaboratively with Jordan Frizzell from Outerspace Landscapes.

"All the plants we have grown at our nursery (Texture Plants) at Prebbleton making them suitable for New Zealand gardens."

Hamish says while the focus will be on texture, there will be a hint of colour, mainly blues and silvers, with wall-planted agave, Aloe Bainseii, Nikau Palms and bamboo giving the whole exhibit height, curves and movement.

"It will be a green oasis with botanically interesting plants."

Central to the design will be an elliptical pod hung with jellybean chairs, an eco-friendly Mahootus hot tub and lighting, along with a hint of kiwiana.

Fourteen years ago, Hamish and Tim returned home to Canterbury and set-up their boutique Texture Plants nursery with the aim of introducing New Zealanders to plants with foliage, form and structure, from New Zealand natives to wacky exotics, as the backbone to good garden design.

The self-confessed plantaholics travel the world in search of new seed and plant material.

Hamish says they are excited about the opportunities the Ellerslie International Flower Show brings to Christchurch, in rejuvenating the Garden City image and making Ellerslie one of the top five garden shows in the world.

"We always said Christchurch needed a garden show of the international acclaim and calibre of Ellerslie. It is fantastic to see the level of local support for Ellerslie. It is going to be a huge success."