22 Oct 2025

Celebrating New Zealand's flowering plants

From Nine To Noon, 11:20 am on 22 October 2025
Four close up pictures of native flowers

He Puāwai 100 native flowers in 3D - Philip Garnock-Jones Photo: Supplied / Philip Garnock-Jones

When you think of books about sex - plants don't ordinarily spring to mind.

But botanist, Philip Garnock-Jones has just published He Puāwai - A natural  History of  New Zealand Flowers that celebrates with spectacular photography, all the ways flower reproduce.

One hundred native species are featured with close-up, often microscopic images, that can also be seen as 3-D images if viewed through the special glasses that come with the book.

Philip - who was Head of Botany at Victoria University until 2009 - worked on the book for over 10 years.

He joins Kathryn to pick his favourites.