“If you think of gardening as an art form, I think it’s (Ayrlies) the best expression of that art… The whole thing is an experience beyond any other in the country.”

“Ayrlies is special. It transcends the good taste and horticultural confidence that is typical of so many of Britain’s grand gardens… I have never seen such a wide mixture of plants in one garden and I have never seen colour and plant association handled better. I left elated by the scale and vision and dream-like intensity of colour and size.”

“The lush garden along the idyllic coast of New Zealand, Ayrlies, reflects a half-century of taming the landscape with an impeccable eye – and more than a touch of savage beauty.”

“She (Beverley McConnell) is without a doubt the first lady of horticulture in New Zealand, the Vita Sackville-West, Gertrude Jekyll and Rosemary Verey of Down Under…You don’t make a garden this complex and relaxed without discipline.”

“The climax for me is the vast constructed wetland that stitches the complex of gardens, pools and walks to the larger context of surrounding farmland, and the Hauraki Gulf in the distance.”

I continue to refer to your book Ayrlies more than any other. It is the perfect illustrated description of a great garden of splendid trees and shrubs in relationship with water…You have designed and made one of New Zealand’s treasures.”