It’s not often your neighbour writes a beautiful book, but that’s exactly the case with Olivia McCord. Living just down the road from the shop, Olivia’s new book, The Floral Dream, has quickly become a favourite of ours.

I recently caught up with her to chat about the reality of growing cut flowers in Te Puna (it's a lot of weeding), the challenge of photographing a garden in flux, and why she thinks "starting small" is the best advice for any aspiring gardener.

Olivia, we’re so lucky to have you just down the road from the shop. What is it about Crawford Road and the Te Puna area that makes it such a special place to live and grow?

I think Te Puna can be both a blessing and curse to grow in. Firstly, we have very fertile free draining soil and favourable weather conditions. This is amazing for growing hence why we have such a high density of orchards. But the curse is that everything grows in such an abundance that it can feel like a full time job keeping on top of weeds and grass. I sometimes envy the lower South Island for their slower growing gardens. But Te Puna really is the best of both worlds, it has a lovely rural feel but is the first stop out of Tauranga town so you have easy access to town and Mount Maunganui.

Growing cut flowers is a labor of love. When you’re out in the garden, what does a typical morning look like for you?

Lately, I haven’t been in the garden nearly as much as I would love to as you can imagine with a business and young family. But when I do get out into the garden I love to listen to a podcast, often true crime or long style interviews with interesting people and spend the majority of time weeding. Late winter, early spring I am often in my greenhouse sowing seeds and late October I am busy planting out my flowers and vegetables. We get hard frosts at our property so I am very conscious of working around frost times. Although, I’m hoping for the first frost now to sweeten my leeks so I can harvest them.

Your book, The Floral Dream, is such a beautiful exploration of your craft. What was the most rewarding (or perhaps the most challenging) part of putting your gardening philosophy into print?

With this book I found the writing came easily as I was writing from a place of experience and my journey with flowers so it came naturally. The hardest part by far was the photography. As flowers are such a visual thing I wanted to capture shots of all of them, which was challenging. It was not possible for me to grow every single flower – although I grew the majority – so I had to connect with other local growers to be able to take shots of their flowers or source a couple further afield.

For someone sitting at home with a patch of lawn and a dream of a cutting garden, what is the first piece of advice you’d give them to get started?

Keep it simple and small. I think the biggest thing that turns people off gardening is if they make it too big and then it becomes overwhelming and feels like work. I’m taking my own advice this season for the first time and focusing on growing a few select flowers well. With a smaller amount I will be able to stay on top of them, with dead-heading, staking, pinching and allow the flower to bloom to its full potential rather than chasing my tail.

The book makes sense on a coffee table next to a fresh pot of tea. When you finally down tools and head inside, what’s your go-to tea ritual to unwind?

I cannot go to bed at night without a cup of tea, nor start my day without one. My favourite two blends are the Earl Grey and Chai. I’m a milky tea drinker much to some people’s horror so often add a big splash of milk to my teas. I have a great mug with a tea strainer in it when having tea just for myself but on the weekend will often brew a big pot to share.

Finally, if you could have a cup of tea with anyone—past, present, or fictional—who would it be and why?

That is a hard one. At the moment I am really interested in fictional writing so I would probably love to have a cuppa with Marian Keyes. I love her style of writing and would love to ask advice on her career. Then maybe a historical woman like Nancy Wake to hear their amazing stories. 

Thanks Olivia!

You can follow Olivia and her garden here: @crawfordroad_life