There will be more information available soon for each event- the programme is as follows:

Gardens of the Sea - Seaweed Tasting at the Portobello Aquarium

Date: Thursday, 26 October

Times: 2pm and 7:30pm (each session will last 2 hours)

Venue: Portobello Aquarium, Hatchery Road, Portobello

Cost: $25 per person

Bookings: Phone (03) 479 5826 – Bookings essential

Sea weed tasting

Come and discover the spectacular seaweed gardens of our local region. The array of colours and forms will astound you. Take this opportunity to enjoy vegetables from the sea, freshly cooked. Often described as food and medicine all in one - find out why you should be eating seaweed and how to harvest and prepare it. The entry fee includes a visit to the Aquarium and a variety of seaweed treats such as kelp chips, dips, muffins and cookies - yum!

Flowers in Fashion and Jewellery

Dates: Thursday 26 and Saturday 28 October

Time: Thursday depart 9.30am & 1.30pm. Saturday depart 10:00am (tours up to 3 hours)

Venue: Meet in front of Dunedin Visitors Centre, the Octagon.

Cost: $50 per person (Tour discounts and complimentary gift)

Contact: Rebecca Wilson, phone 03 479 2455 or email walkthetalk@clear.net.nz (Bookings essential)

The Flowers in Fashion and Jewellery tour is especially designed for the Dunedin Rhododendron Festival. Enjoy a personalised shopping trip that takes you straight to the heart and soul of Dunedin fashion and contemporary jewellery. Visit fashion designers and jewellers who draw inspiration from our flora and fauna in creating fabulous wearable art. Fuelled by Dunedin's best coffee, you will uncover the city's shopping secrets.

For more information: www.walkthetalk.co.nz

Peter Johnstone Seminar -Floral Designs in Middlemarch Churches

Dates: Saturday, 29 October

Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm

Cost $50 per person (includes garden visit, lunch and demonstration)

Bookings: Communication Link, (03) 474 5162

Contact: Communication Link, (03) 474 5162

Peter Johnstone, international designer, decorator and landscaper, will design flowers in the beautiful churches of Middlemarch. This wonderful experience will be in the Presbyterian, Catholic and Anglican Churches. All these churches are within walking distance of each other and will start at the Presbyterian Church. Lunch will be provided at Peter’s sister’s home, Strathmore on Browns Road (this runs up the side of the Community Hall) and the food will be provided by the Kissing Gate Café.

Booking limited. Maximum 40 people

With Enchanted Eyes: Artistic Depictions of New Zealand Flora

Dates: Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 October

Time: Monday – Friday 9.30am - 8.00pm, Saturday & Sunday 11.00am - 4.00pm

Venue: Reed Gallery, Floor 3, Dunedin City Library

Cost: Free

Botany comes alive in an exhibition of items from the Dunedin Public Libraries Heritage Collections and Dunedin Botanic Garden that features New Zealand botanical illustrations.

The above image is from “The native flowers of New Zealand" Mrs Charles Hetley. London, Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington (Limited), 1888.

The exhibition is on in Dunedin from 20 October 2006 to 11 February 2007.

Tea, Tour & Talk with Lady Authors at Larnach Castle

Dates: Thursday, 26 October – Sunday, 29 October

Time: 2pm daily

Venue: Larnach Castle, Pukehiki, Otago Peninsula

Cost: $15 - includes tea, talk and tour

Bookings: Larnach Castle, phone (03) 476 1616 or email larnach@larnachcastle.co.nz www.larnachcastle.co.nz

Join Margaret Barker and Fiona Eadie as they share stories from their books, enlighten, educate and entertain you.

Thursday and Friday

Fiona Eadie, Larnach Castle's Head Gardener and Author of "100 Best New Zealand Native Plants for Gardens". Fiona will be giving an illustrated talk on "What Native Plants can do for your garden", which will be followed by afternoon tea and Fiona's guided tour of the Larnach Castle Garden, where you can see many of her ideas in this wonderful setting.

Saturday and Sunday

Margaret Barker, Owner and Creator of Larnach Castle Garden. Author.

Margaret's talk on "Creating the Garden at Larnach Castle" is based on her new book launched in September 2006. Margaret has spent 39 years creating this Garden of National Significance, one of New Zealand's top gardens. Learn of her inspirational journey, illustrated with images from her private collection and of her evolution as a notable gardener. Be absorbed by her story and understand the ideas behind her garden. Enjoy afternoon tea with Margaret who will then personally show attendees around her magnificent garden.

Dunedin Botanic Gardens through the Decades

Date: Friday, 27 October

Times: 12:30pm and 2pm

Venue: Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin Town Hall

Cost: Gold coin donation (proceeds to Otago Video Cine Club)

The Otago Video Cine Club in conjunction with the Dunedin Centre will screen archived film footage of the Dunedin Botanic Garden through the decades. Much of this footage has never been shown in public before. The screening will last approximately 40 minutes.

Cargills Garden Tours

Dates: Thursday, 26 October

Sunday, 29 October

Time: 9.30am garden tour, lunch 12.30pm

Venue: From Cargills Hotel, 678 George Street

Cost: $35-00 (including bus tour, garden entry, main course, dessert, tea or coffee)

Bookings: Cargills Hotel – phone (03) 477-7983

Spring’s the ideal time of the year to have a look around private gardens for great design ideas and inspiration. Whatever your taste, there will be no shortage of stylish and colourful gardens on the Secret Garden Tour. Park your vehicle at Cargills Hotel in George Street, hop aboard the Newtons coach and take the opportunity to look around these spectacular gardens. Whether you choose the lunch option on Thursday or the breakfast option on Sunday, the Atrium on George at Cargills Hotel provides the perfect setting to relax and enjoy the rhododendron display in the hotel’s very own courtyard garden, which is ablaze with springtime colour.

Hort Talk - "Woodland Groundcover and Herbaceous Plants of the Rhododendron Dell"

Date: Friday, 27 October

Time: 12noon

Venue: Botanic Garden Centre, upper Lovelock Avenue

Cost: No charge

Join Doug Thomson, curator of Dunedin Botanic Garden's Rhododendron Dell, as he talks about "Woodland Groundcover and Herbaceous Plants of the Rhododendron Dell". Doug has been working in the Dunedin Botanic Garden Rhododendron Dell for 20 years and before that he did horticulture in Scotland. In the dell Doug is trying to create a "whole", a woodland feel like in nature and as part of that he uses flowers and shrubs to create texture on ground level.

The Artist’s Room

Dates: Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 October

Time: Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm and Saturday, 12pm -2pm

Venue: The Artist’s Room, 2 Dowling Street, Dunedin

New works by Dunedin artists, David Burke and David Teata

Country Garden Tour

Date: Sunday, 29 October

Time: 8:30am – 6:00pm

Cost: $120-00 per person, all inclusive

Bookings: Country Tours, PO Box 12002, Dunedin, phone (03) 467 5041 or fax (03) 467 5071 (bookings essential)

Contact: Louise Foord

Enjoy a full day tour through the landscapes of the Strath Taieri and the Maniototo. Enjoy garden visits and refreshments at Gladbrook Station (morning tea), Clachanburn a Garden of National Significance (lunch) and Shag Valley (afternoon tea).

Lions Club of Port Chalmers and District Garden Fete

Date: Saturday, 28 October

Time: 11:30am to 2:00pm

Venue: Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell, Church Street, Port Chalmers (sign-posted from both ends of George Street, the main street of Port Chalmers)

Cost: Free

Featuring: Craft stalls and plants. Check out the Lions BBQ and infamous seafood chowder. Sit and enjoy the live entertainment from the 30-piece Otago Symphonic Band playing a selection of popular music.

Join in the Rhododendron Festival in the tranquil setting of the old Port Chalmers Quarry which has been transformed over the last seven years by the local Lions Club as a community project. From the lookout within the Dell panoramic views of the historical sea port and the upper and lower Otago harbour can be enjoyed, a special feature of which is the selection of historical photos of the area over the decades from the days of the sailing ships. The Lions Club has been awarded an Environmental Award for the transformation to date, and a recipient of a “Keep Dunedin Beautiful” Award, and this year received a Lions Best Project Award. Although the Dell in only in its infancy, it has become a very popular visitors destination in the Port.

Port Chalmers Design Store

Dates: Thursday, 26 October - Sunday, 29 October

Time: 10am – 5pm daily

Cost: Free

Take an afternoon to explore the historic town of Port Chalmers and be one of the first to discover Dunedin's only New Zealand product design store.

A “real” design store, it offers an original shopping experience where individuality is found in every product. Port Chalmers’ Design Store is a launch pad for Dunedin's freshest design talent and also represents some of New Zealand’s leading designers including David Trubridge, Simon James, Katy Wallace and Miranda Brown.

From ceramics to lighting, linen and smalls gifts, viewing these New Zealand designed products promises to be a pleasurable and enriching experience. And the perfect opportunity to find that distinctive Christmas gift.

Port Chalmers’ Design Store at 15 George St is open Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm

Rhodos Gone Bush

Date: Saturday, 28 October

Time: 9:30am to 12:30pm

Venue: Meet at the Flagstaff/Pineapple track “Bullpen” car park on Flagstaff – Whare Flat Road

Bring: Rain jacket, strong footwear, morning tea/snacks

Cost: Free (no booking necessary)

Reasonable fitness and agility required

Not suitable for young children unless in a back-pack

Put on your tramping shoes and discover a dell in the wild. The walk/light tramp will take a trek down to view the Bruce Campbell Rhododendron Dell, which was planted in native bush on the slopes of Flagstaff in the 1950s. You’ll see an original section of the 1840s Johnny Jones Bullock Track and learn about the colourful hermit Ben Rudd, the history of his property and plans for its future. Ecological restoration work is ongoing with the current project developing a silver beech forest.

Guide: Ken Mason is a trustee and Voluntary Project Officer of the Ben Rudd Management Trust. In 1986 Ken was honoured with life membership of the Otago Training and Mountaineering Club, which owns the Ben Rudd property. He is vice-chairperson of Dunedin Forest & Bird Society and is on the national advisory panel of the New Zealand Ecological Restoration Network.

The Zonta Club of Dunedin-Otago House and Garden Tour