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A Celestial Place: Hill Gardening in a Colonial Garden City

University of Canterbury, theyellowroom subject and is @xtra.co.nz

Despite an assumption that Christchurch — the Garden City of New Zealand — has historically been viewed as the manifestation of a utopian dream, the experiences of the city's gardeners reveal a variety of sentiments about the meaning of gardens. Hillside gardeners, in particular, tended to see their gardens and their place in them in very different ways from their counterparts on the flat. These hillside gardens were places that allowed for an explicit appreciation of internationalism, localism, and an often spiritual connection with the world at large. They were `celestial', paradisical, and I therefore argue that tropes of utopias and paradise may sit uneasily with each other in colonial discourse. This point requires further attention from historians.

Key Words: celestial • Christchurch • environment • gardens • genealogy • internationalism • New Zealand • utopia

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