Rachel Clare
Rachel Clare is a gardening writer who is obsessed with flowers. She has written hundreds of articles on botanical subjects ranging from kōwhai to compost, and is editor of Kiwi Gardener magazine, a former editor of Get Growing e-zine and OrganicNZ magazine, and former deputy editor of NZ Gardener magazine. She is passionate about connecting tamariki with te taiao the natural world, and her children’s book Play Wild: Nature Craft Projects for Tamariki was a finalist in the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. She grew up in Ahuriri Napier and has been friends with Tryphena Cracknell since she was 13 years old sharing a lifelong love of flowers, native plants and gardening.
2026 festival sessions
Aotearoa in Bloom
Rachel Clare and Tryphena Cracknell
9.30am-10.30am, Saturday 25 July, Whitehaven Theatre Marlborough, $25
Have you ever supped the nectar from a harakeke flower, written a letter to someone on a rangiora leaf or smelt toropapa, our most fragrant native plant? In their new book, Aotearoa in Bloom, longtime friends Rachel Clare and Tryphena Cracknell invite readers on a botanical hīkoi through Aotearoa's flowers, exploring where they grow, when they bloom, the stories behind their names, their uses in te ao Māori and how to grow them in your garden.
Join them for an informative and entertaining session where they share some of the stories behind these plants including floral bigwigs like kōwhai and puawānanga (native clematis), as well as lesser-known species, such as our native geraniums, violets and forget-me-nots. Their presentation will also shine a light on the early women botanical artists, such as Sarah Featon and Georgina Hetley, who were keen to disprove the notion that Aotearoa was devoid of flowers, and plantspeople like Lucy Cranwell, Auckland Museum's first curator of botany, who held an annual native flower show for children. They'll kōrero about their favourite plants and also suggest suitable blooms for growing in your garden.
Buy Tickets Here
Play Wild in the Library
Rachel Clare workshop
2pm-3pm, Saturday 25 July, Te Kahu o Waipuna - Marlborough Library, Free
Rachel brings nature inside with her book Play Wild which is full of fun activities. Come and forage for special treasures to make a nature craft and hear other cool ideas to celebrate te taiao / our natural world. Best for ages: 4 – 10 and their grown-ups. Please reserve your seat through the Whitehaven theatre ticketing website.
Buy Tickets Here