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Saturday 25th November, 2023

Hi
Dead heading versus pruning and get trimming. 
If your roses are looking a little worse for wear, then don't despair. We did get a very wet weekend and it did finish off many of the flowers that were full out and can even damage some of the buds. For us in the nursery we still want colour showing and have been busy deadheading and removing the spent blooms and leaving any buds left to still come on. In the garden situation if the main flush is over, then you can choose to remove all the flowers and your rose bush will re-leaf in a couple of weeks and look great again. Another 5 weeks later and you should have another full flush happening again being a total time frame of around 7 weeks.
Now, dead heading is the removal of the spent flowers to leave the remaining blooms still looking good. When all the flowers on a stem have finished, I prune the stem back to the main framework, though usually leaving around 3 or 4 buds or a piece about 5 to 8cm long, somewhat like a winter prune. Often if the entire rose has mostly finished then I will prune the entire bush knowing that I will have a full flush in 7 weeks, and this will also maintain the correct size of the bush. Generally, if you take this approach then you will get in about three to four flowerings in a season.
Don't forget to go back and add more organic matter as in compost, sheep pellets, rose fertiliser etc. Roses are gross feeders and love lots of food. I was going to add water here but, so far, that hasn't been so necessary. If we do start to get a dry summer then add water to the care as roses also like to be kept moist.

 
Spraying isn't my favourite task, but I do it when I see the start of black spot and or aphids. A couple of close sprays (approx. 2 days apart) of super shield should nail it and then with the weather patterns, i.e. before rain and after rain especially with this humidity. Otherwise, if the weather is for extended fine periods then spraying is often not necessary.
It's probably time to start hitting any hedges and getting them all trimmed and tidy especially if you want the garden all looking nice for Christmas.  You know the story, if your hedges and edges are trimmed and the lawns mown then you mostly all the way to the garden looking fab.
Normally, I would say that when growth starts to change to the normal leaf colour that's when the growth has fully expanded and it's time to prune. Problem is that if we keep getting all this rain then the growth may not actually stop and so in the case of the hedges at home, we need to get them, done before they take over. If we do get a dry summer then growth will slow and we will go into a kind of summer dormancy.
Friday plus thirteen equals Black Friday 
What does the 13th October and the 24th of November have in common, well both could be commonly known as Black Friday and for quite different reasons. The former for the superstitious and the latter for commercial retail. We have made a selection of 13 roses and 13 camellias for an extra discount to our readers for the weekend just to celebrate our version of Black Friday. This Black Friday offer has only been promoted through our database and Facebook pages and only while stock lasts, so be in to grab a bargain.
The selected Thirteen CAMELLIA at 30% off, are named below. The discount applies to online and shop sales when purchased on Friday 24th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th only. Select any number of these plants for this offer which finishes Sunday night.
Early pearly, Setsugekka, Transnokoensis, Silver Column, Silver Dollar, Fairy Blush, Paradise Helen, Little Gem, Yuletide, Cinnamon Cindy, Night Rider, Mine no Yuki, Paradise Blush.

 
The selected thirteen ROSES at 30% off are named below. The discount applies to online and shop sales when purchased on Friday 24th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th only. Select any number of these plants from current stock, choose a bush, climbing or standard or a mixture of them for this offer which finishes Sunday night.
Christchurch Remembers, Iceberg, Lemon n Lime, Grandmas Rose, French Lace, Serendipity, Berry Nice, Akaroa, Inkspots, Green with Envy, Fireball,  Little Miss Perfect.

 
Knowing your Hydrangeas 
The name Hydrangea  comes from the Latin hydro meaning water and angeion meaning barrel or pitcher. I'm not sure how the barrel part fits but I do know that Hydrangeas do like to have plenty of water, and so it's best to plant them where they get lots of moisture. It's true that a shaded position is a good spot but many plant these fab flowering shrubs under old established trees which can be too dry for them and when you look around you often see them wilting in the summer (maybe not this year lol).  
As I mentioned before about roses, the flowers are the most sensitive part of a plant and Hydrangeas are no exception, so semi shade or dapple light does protect their very showy sepals from moisture and sun, which can cause some browning. Having said all that I don't know of many that have killed a hydrangea from putting it in the wrong position as they are pretty damn hardy. Look at all those that grow along the fence lines out on the roadsides in the full sun!!!
Hydrangeas belong to their own family being Hydrangeaceae and there are three mains species that we tend to use in gardens one being macrophylla (big leaf) which is probably one of the biggest group of cultivars that we stock. Most will identify with this with its classic or traditional mop head or alternatively lace cap flower. It's worth noting here that aluminium sulphate will keep the blues blue and lime will keep the red and pink cultivars the correct colour, otherwise they tend to muddy into purples and mauves which still are pretty attractive. These chemicals need to be applied in the winter prior to the spring for effect. The other important thing to note here is that Macrophyllas flower on old wood so be mindful of what you prune out in the winter otherwise they may not flower the following spring
Some classic Mop heads 
Bridal Bouquet is probably one of out most popular with large pure head flowers.. plant in some semi shade so that the beautiful white blooms get some protection from the midday sun. Bloody marvellous has sumptuous velvety crushed raspberry pink. Blue prince will be of course blue flowers in a delightful cornflower shade.

 
Some great Lace caps
Strawberries and cream is stunning and is like its name suggests with its our row of strawberry coloured florets and the inner flower being cream. White wave and blue wave both have other rose of sepals in the respective colours. Blue deckle is one that I truly love, soft powder blue florets that highlight the central head of smaller blue flowers, with a nice compact growth habit.

 
The Paniculatas are probably the tallest of the hydrangeas and actually cope with more light positions. These flower on new wood rather than old wood and as far as I know are not dependent on aluminium ions for flower colour. Their leaves are different, perhaps smaller, than the macrophyllas and furrier for the want of a better description. Flowers in all cases tend to be cone shaped but different between the cultivars . Limelight is very popular at the moment famed for its green or lime colour flowers that age to the classic cream of the paniculatas. Diamond rouge has the normal cone shaped cream flowers that antique to a rouge red shade. Levana is like a cream cone shape lace cap paniculata.

 
Finally the Quercifolias which translates to Oak leaf and their leaves are definitely oak leaf in shape, colouring red in the winter which is cool for a hydrangea. There are a few different cultivars of these and they also have similar cone shaped cream flowers.  This species is more tolerant of those drier positions.
To check all the hydrangeas out .. follow the link
Colour in the Nursery

 
We are still brim full of colour to fill those space in the garden. Ang has a huge range of those hardy Alstroemeris that will naturalise in space in the garden providing colour right now. These smaller more compact cultivars are also pretty good to give colour in a pot.
Penstemons always make a fab show with their spires of tubular flowers, Cut them back after flowering for a follow up blooming.
Corydalis Porcelain blue is a plant that really rewards. I have it in my garden at home and it's looking pretty stunning at the moment and the colour blue is pretty unreal.
Liliums always flower as we come towards Christmas and Lilium Snow queen is the Christmas lily. I mean who can resist white lilies in a vase at Xmas time. Plant a plant now and let it clump up to give more bloom year after year. The other one that we have is Black out. The deepest, darkest, wine coloured blooms of this deliciously, decadent lily appear from early summer.  
Housekeeping
Looking ahead over the next few weeks for those that order by courier. It's usually a hugely busy time for the courier companies and we can't afford to get our plants stuck and not make it to where they are going. Our last week of delivery for December will be South Island Monday the 11th and Tuesday the 12th of December and North island will be Wed 13th of December. Any orders that may be made during the festive season will be put aside until our courier service will resume again Monday the 8th January 2024.
The nursery is only closed for Christmas day, and we are open normal hours of 8.30 to 5pm all the way through the holiday period. There is always watering to be done and so someone needs to be here. If you are planning to visit from around NZ then know that we will be open as usual and the display garden is there to visit too.
Up and coming Events...   check out our events page
Gordonton Country Garden Ramble  Saturday 25th of November
Tickets available on the day from St Mary's church 974 Gordonton Rd. Cash or bank transfer only. Or you can order a ticket and pay online. https://www.trybooking.com/nz/events/landing/10814  Direct any other questions to rriddell@xtra.co.nz  or phone on 0221077562
Art Exhibition in the display garden at  Wairere Nursery By Anthony...  at Wairere nursery gardens. Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of March 2024,  10am to 4pm.
I can't believe at how fast the year is closing in on us as we are in the last week of November. I'm sure December will just blur until Christmas day as everyone races around getting ready for the holidays and being with family and friends. Tony and I really have to get into our garden as the hedges are looking quite overgrown and since the usual Christmas brunch will be at our place I do like the garden to be looking fabulous.
Have an awesome weekend!
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team

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Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: