1,000 years of gardening in New Zealand

"Whether Maori or European, the New Zealand gardener represents a blend of two ancient gardening traditions brought to this country in the last 1,000 years - the first from the warm, tropical islands of Polynesia, the second from the much cooler islands of Great Britain. Yet even thee islands were but stepping stones in the movement of gardening traditions throughout the world. Their ultimate origins lie in the islands of Southeast Asia and the more arid lands of the Middle East from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Every plant we grow, every tool we use, every scrap of knowledge we have of cultivation, propagation and the care and use of plants can be traced to some form of inttroduction during those thousands of years."--Book jacket.