Saturday 15th June, 2024
Hi
Starting to look pretty full on the rose front
Week three of potting and the garden centre is starting to look pretty full, well where the bush roses are anyways. We have put them down a bit differently this year. Still alphabetical mind, but grouped according to type.
Climbing roses are all together as usual and include all the modern climbers and ramblers.
The
David Austin roses are all together in their own section for the first time here. These include all the bushes and those like
Graham Thomas and
Wollerton Old Hall that could used as bushes or as small climbers. For those that don't know, the Austin roses are actually modern shrubs roses that have been bred for that classic old fashioned look, fragrance and repeat flowering. The blooms are generally full with lots of petals and with that typical old world look (like
Claire Rose) though some are quite rosette shaped (check out the new
Olivia Rose Austin) or there are others that have a beautiful cupped shape like
Scepterd Isle.
Just while on the the
Austin rose front, in my opinion there is a huge range of colours and shades that you may not necessarily associate with true old fashioned roses but which are truly beautiful. I love it that they are old world in style and yet some have some quite punchy colours.
Darcey Bussell, for example, has fully-double rich crimson flowers. The new one to us of
Dame Judi Dench has the lovely shade of glowing apricot orange blooms that pale prettily towards the edges.
Lady of Shalott is another example of an orange cupped rose, it has red buds that open to an attractive and unusually rich shade of salmon. My last one to mention is
Windrush which is a single or semi double rose in a beautiful pale lemon yellow. When this shrub is in flower it becomes covered in masses of blooms and looks stunning. Otherwise click the
link and scroll the Austin roses to your heart's content.
Then there is the modern rose section and this section primarily has all the
Floribundas,
Hybrid teas and
Shrub roses.
Hybrid tea roses generally have high centered and pointed buds. To recap,
floribundas tend to be cluster-flowered roses though often with nice buds that open to a full head of blooms. I will mention
Iceberg here because we all will know this one as being a classic floribunda. There are quite a few shades of this classic these day,
Blushing pink,
Brilliant pink and
Burgundy, and of course the original
White. They are all good doers and repeat well.
Hybrid tea roses in my head usually have beautiful high pointed buds and have the reputation of a bloom per stem. They often have more petals than their counterpart
floribundas and hence why they may last longer in a vase. All of these are generalizations as roses have been so highly bred over the years that many exhibit characteristics of both main type of moderns. There are many many Hybrid teas to choose from but a couple of good examples are the likes of the Rob
Somerfield rose
Diamond Design which is a soft cream with pink edges.
Elina is another classic, very healthy, typical Hybrid tea flowers in pale lemon yellow.
First Love, which is pretty in pink with exquisite buds, is another great example.
Shrub roses are just that: shrubs with flowers and technically
Austins belong in the shrubs but we have made them a group of their own as they are the dedicated work of David Austin. There are many types of
shrub roses and a more obvious example that all will know would have to be the
flower carpet roses, which have been popular over the past few decades.
The final rose grouping that we have made this year is the Old Fashioned roses. This collection of varieties includes all the roses that are not Austins, moderns or climbers. These have been harder to get over the past few years but this is where we have put the
Albas,
Mosses,
Portlands,
Bourbons,
Gallicas and the like that we have. The Albas are really cool and we have
Alba semi plena and
Alba maxima with their crisp white flowers and blue grey foliage. The Mosses are called such because of the moss like growth on the buds and stem. Check out
Nuits de Young or
Marie de Blois with its large, rich-pink double fragrant flowers.
Complicata is a Gallica with uncomplicated single pink flowers that will just delight.
My special deal
Camellia Silver Column were $ 42.99, now just $25.00 each. Great tall plants that need to get into the ground and form a beautiful Camellia hedge for someone. Tough hardy and durable.
These are perfect for hedging as
Silver column is a narrow form of Camellia with simple, smallish single white flowers with yellow stamens (see image below). It has an attractive dark green leaf with a distinctive kind of slight twist to it. Plant no further than one mere apart for a hedge, though with a 70cm gap between centres (like the landscapers do) you will get a more instant effect.
Rose pruning dates to mark in your Calendar
Your roses should be looking scruffy and unpruned with mostly all their leaves now gone and it's time for them to rest.
Lime sulphur is one of the best sprays to use as it will help all the leaves fall and will kill off all the overwintering spores and eggs.
Lime sulphur is quite harsh and will stain fences and walls so do be careful. If you are not keen on lime sulphur then definitely use
Copper oxychloride and
Conqueror oil as this is next best and do several sprays through the winter and one before pruning and one perhaps once the job is done.
Copper is the fungicide part and the
oil controls scale and overwintering eggs by covering them in oil and suffocating the organisms. Both are pretty safe to use and mix them separately but in the same tank. Quarter fill your tank with water, mix the copper powder with a little water to form a slurry and then add the slurry to your partially filled tank. Continue to fill your tank until three quarters full. Dilute the conqueror oil with water and then add to the nearly full tank...fill to the top and shake it all together. This brew is the mainstay of winter spraying and is suitable for nearly everything from roses to fruit trees, grape vines and citrus.
If you are not keen on spraying then this is the one that you should do... If you need to know more or are keen on fine tuning your gardening and rose growing skills then diarize one of the events when the Waikato rose society will be at the nursery. These guys have a raft of knowledge and are only to keen to share what they know, whether it be on spray programmes, pruning, selection of roses or growing show-class blooms.
Wednesday 10th July 10.30am to 12.30pm
Saturday 20th July 1.00pm to 3.00pm
Sunday 28th July 11.00am to 1.00pm
Just arrived in
Heucheras and Heucherellas. These are perennials, sometime called coral bells, with the prettiest of leaves and they look fab group-planted in semi shade or morning sun areas. On the whole they are easy to grow. Ang has filled the tables with these colourful plants.
Heuchera Fire Alarm has fiery, red-hot foliage in early spring and fall. Spikes of pink bell-shaped flowers shimmy above reddish stems in summer. A superb companion with other seasonal garden color. Provides bold texture and color contrast in mixed containers or borders in bright or dappled shade.
Heuchera Grande Black is one of the best foliage plants with striking black coloured wavy leaves. In late spring the foliage is topped off with masses of small white flowers that appear on stiff stems. Best with some shade and good soil that does not dry out too much.
Heuchera Peppermint Spice This is a terrific choice for adding a touch of colour towards the front of a border. The lobed leaves are an attractive minty grey-green with dark veins. Showy sprays of rose-pink flowers appear early summer.
Haven't had for a while
Myosotidium hortensia or Chatham Island Forget-me-not. We haven't had these for a while and they have the most gorgeous statement foliage, not to mention the absolute blue flowers. This plant needs some protection from the summer humidity and good drainage and so happiest in the morning sun. Imagine a bed of these.
Schinus molle is the pepper tree and makes for an intriguing tree with evergreen lacy foliage. The trunk will become gnarled and fabulously interesting with age. The foliage is bright green and comprised of many narrow leaflets. The flowers are insignificant but the papery pink to red berries are wonderfully ornamental in autumn and winter.
Every season has something to do in the garden and these tasks change with the seasons. If you are anything like us here in the nursery we have just spent the past weeks picking up leaves that have fallen and now look to replanting and the pruning season. As we move into the winter our range of plants become the biggest for the year and so now is the time if you are after specific
trees and
roses and
fruit trees. Don't miss out if you have a project and would like an orchard, new rose bed or even a driveway lined with trees.
On that note, it's the weekend again, what ever is on your agenda have a great couple of days off.
All the very best from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.
