In the verdant gardens of Tauranga, a dedicated resident with a green thumb has unearthed an astounding botanical treasure – a rare flowering of a red kūmara.

For the past couple of years, Welcome Bay’s Sam Mockford has diligently tended to his garden, nurturing a variety of vegetables.

However, it was a recent discovery that has captured the attention – a rare red kūmara flower, blooming purple amidst his carefully cultivated greens. The special moment is almost as magical as spotting a unicorn, with the flower stealing the spotlight putting on a fleeting performance for Sam, as the star of the show.

This unexpected find sparked his curiosity, and he quickly looked online to learn that the red kūmara very seldom flowers.

“I have around eight to 10 kūmara plants down currently,” says Sam. “Been growing my own food for a couple years now.”

He had heard that the flower is very rare, only a couple weeks ago.

“Never thought I’d get one though.”

A delighted Sam Mockford, next to his kūmara patch. Photo: Sam Mockford.

He first noticed the flowers on the weekend.

“There were three flowers in total but two got damaged from the recent storms. And one remains, but I only noticed it today [Saturday, April 13].”

He grew some of the kūmara plants from sprouts himself and the rest he got from his partner Roselle Entwistle’s mother Jenny Innes.

“We love growing our own food because nothing tastes better than fresh food straight out the garden.”

It is thought that kūmara plants only flower under great stress. Stress may be related to the day length shortening at this time of year, or the state of high humidity combined with damp soil. Coupled with this is that kūmara don’t flower often in New Zealand anyway, because they are a tropical vegetable.

The flower doesn’t last long, but before collapsing, it puts on a spectacular display amongst the garden greenery.  The journey from bud to wilting is a covert operation, and would have been missed if Sam hadn’t been paying close attention.

Rare red kūmara flowers have unfurled in a Welcome Bay garden, showing off a spectacular display of purple and pink hues.  Photo: Sam Mockford.

The bud unfurls into a bloom that resembles a morning glory, and is typically purple or pink-tinged, with no fragrance, just a vibrant colour and unique shape. Likened to a cameo appearance in a blockbuster movie – short but impactful, the flowering period is quickly over. If you blink, you miss it.

In 2017, a surprised Auckland man reported flowers growing on a red kūmara in his inner city Freemans Bay garden. The experts in the kūmara capital of Ruawai in Northland were consulted. One man who had worked with red and gold kūmara for 30 years said he had never seen one flower. However, apparently the orange kūmara would regularly flower.

He attributed it to the time of year when the day is shortening and something is stressing the plant. It was noted that it was more common to see the kūmara flower up north under drought conditions. There was also a larger volume of kūmara growing up north, which would improve the odds of seeing a kūmara flowering.

The kūmara has been reported to have flowered once in Russell in the early 1960s, and in 2010 in parts of Northland, and in 2019 in Nelson.

In 2019, Jenny Lucey' discovered a red kūmara flowering in her Aongatete garden in Western Bay of Plenty. Jenny couldn't offer any explanation, and says she didn't do anything unusual.

"Other than a bit of compost, some blood and bone when planting, and watering every now and again, I didn't give the red kumara any special treatment,” says Jenny.

In 2021, a Kaitaia woman was delighted to find the unexpected appearance of a purple red kūmara flower in her garden.

A rare red kūmara flower stealing the show amongst the greenery of kūmara plants growing in Sam Mockford's vegetable garden in Welcome Bay. Photo: Sam Mockford.

The red kūmara, also known as the red sweet potato or Ipomoea batatas, is a variety of sweet potato, with its cultivation by New Zealand Māori recorded at the time of Captain Cook’s first exploration. Māori, prior to the arrival of whalers and sealers, are reported to have had 80 named variety of kūmara, which were highly prized and valuable.

Māori traditional accounts agree that the plant was introduced to Aotearoa by people aboard the early voyaging canoes, usually by a notable woman specially charged with the task of ensuring its survival. The red kūmara is still a cultural and culinary staple in NZ.

More rare red kūmara flowers are budding in Sam Mockford's Welcome Bay garden. Photo: Sam Mockford.

With flowers being relatively rare for these edible tubers, it makes them a special find for gardeners like Sam, who is enjoying the garden-to-table experience.

“Best eating for kūmara is either homemade kūmara fries or just the easy roast kūmara in the oven," says Sam.

“If we grow too much kūmara that we can’t keep up with, then we will give them away to family or neighbours.”

He’s keeping a close eye on the plants to see if more flowers will appear, already spotting new buds popping up amongst the plants.

“I’m just blown away that I have this wonderful rare flower growing on our property.”