Saturday 26th October, 2024
Hi
What is your preference ????
It goes without saying that we all have different tastes. Well it would be boring if we all liked the same thing and I'm sure that we cater for most tastes in the rose-bloom world. Roses come in all shapes, sizes, colours and forms just like everything else in life. I have a real thing for single roses and I think it's their simplicity that is the attraction. I know though that most people have a particular style that they love. For instance, those that like
Hybrid teas are really into that more formal classic shape of the florist-style bud.
Then there are those who just adore the classic old-world style of which the
David Austin roses
have a huge representation. These are really quite modern shrub roses that have been bred for that old look, repeat flowering and many of these also have the added bonus of being really fragrant.
The last main group are the
Floribundas and these are really cluster-flowered, with perhaps smaller hybrid tea-shaped flowers. They are very showy in the garden and make for a spectacular display.
If you are not sure about what you like, then a great place to head, other than coming to the nursery, would be one of the rose shows that are coming up over the next couple of weekends.
Diamond Jubilee Te Awamutu Rose Society 60th Annual Spring Rose Show Friday 1st Nov 1pm to 4pm & Saturday 2nd November 9am to 3 pm.
Venue Ta Rugby sports and recreation club, 420 Albert Park Drive.
Daltons Waikato Rose Society Spring Show held in the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion, Saturday 9th November 12.30 to 5pm & Sunday 10th November 10am to 4.30pm.
I find it difficult to take a pic of all the roses that really shows how picturesque it is looking in the garden centre at the moment, but as you can see it has become a blaze of colour. FYI The rose in the foreground is a very pretty Hybrid Musk rose called Penelope.Over the past week, since I last wrote, the roses have come into flower big time and it's really the prefect time over the next couple of weeks to come and look, sniff and choose the ones that are your style. It's also good to see the roses in person because photos can only show a representation of a moment in time, as blooms vary according to stage, season and environment.
On my Thursday wander around, the
David Austin or English roses that were showing lots of great colour included:
Wildeve, looking pretty in soft pink,
Darcey Bussell, a stunner in rich crimson red and
Leander, which could be grown as smaller climber or bush, in a lovely shade of Apricot. Also looking lovely are
Young Lycidas, with fragrant blooms that are deep magenta with a silvery hue, and lastly I spied a bloom of
Roald Dahl, which is reasonably recent selection in soft apricot orange.
The
HTs (Hybrid teas) that caught my eye yesterday included
Auckland metro with its huge sumptuous fragrant buds in creamy white,
Diamond design, which always catches my eye as I really love its large buds that are creamy white but edged in pink and
Elina, an oldie but a goodie... again large classic buds in soft lemon yellow.
Glorious, another HT,
was NZ Rose of the Year in 2006 and has perfect buds in clear yellow.
Valencia has large deep apricot blooms that have gorgeous form and are highly fragrant.
Royal Dane,
Nelson Girls...... Too many to list them all.
The Singles, or almost-Singles, are also blooming beautifully. For example,
Jacqueline du Pre is looking very elegant with her semi-double ivory blush flowers with pink stamens.
Windrush is a David Austin, but has fewer petals than most in that range, it forms a large bush with large semi-double flowers in soft lemon yellow.
Silver Ghost is a
Shrub Rose and a new one to me with quite single and very silver-white flowers looking ghostly and perfect for a white garden. Then there is the oldie
Complicata, a
Gallica rose which bears single, deep pink simple flowers which aren't complicated at all.
Just for good measure there is a shrub rose called
Leonardo da Vinci... little known but a really good healthy rose with continuously bright pink flowers with nice form.
I get asked if it's still OK to plant roses etc now and you can plant a containered plant any time and right now the ground is still quite moist and warm, so perfect for growth. I think that roses and the like sometimes do better planted now as they are going right into perfect growing condition with new feeder roots ready to just go!
What has just arrived in
Pots, and lots of them... well 6 pallet loads of them... all in that cool antiqued terra cotta range with many shapes and styles like Swags, Lemon Cylinders, Heritage Planters and Urns. Remember to only use potting mix in containers as it is designed to grow plants in pots: don't be tempted to add soil or compost.
Daisies to fill all those spaces that just need some colour in the garden. They will flower for weeks and weeks. Cut them back to keep them bushy and they will be in full flower in around 6 weeks again... not that they really stop.
Geraniums are perfect for containers in those sunny positions as they will flower all summer long... Ivy leaf geraniums are great for trailing or perhaps some climbing. Bushy geraniums work well in the garden or in pots with the beautiful deep green leaves providing a rich contrast to the colourful flowers.
Garden rambles are great for ideas and inspiration
Taranaki Garden Festival will soon be under way, starting November 1st and ending November 10th. Make your way over to the Naki for its annual garden festival.
The Franklin Hospice Barfoot & Thompson Garden Ramble will take place on 16 & 17 November this year. This year the Garden Ramble will feature 17 gardens in the Runciman, Bombay, Paerata and Harrisville areas.
Purchase your ticket from Eventbrite at https://garden-ramble.eventbrite.co.nz
Lions club of Waihi Garden ramble 9-10th November, 9am to 4 pm. Tickets from Country Dog and Aeroview garden centre amongst other places, or contact Jennifer on 02772040488 or Liz on 021 023 17833.
Just because it's interesting
If you live like we do near a stand of Kahikatea, then I bet everywhere is covered in a like, white dust. I know the stuff is just everywhere here, on our drive, on all the concrete surfaces and it's the pollen from all the trees that border our place. Always seems to me to be a relatively inefficient way of doing the pollination deed, but I guess the trees make up for it in sheer volume of pollen... and of course use the wind to carry the stuff around.
It's also interesting to know that for a member of the conifer family it's unusual that Kahikatea have separate male and female trees and at certain times of the year you can more easily pick out which sex they are. At the moment the male trees have a different appearance which is due to the pollen bearing cones that give a hue to the trees. Later the females will become obvious when they develop a distinctive orange hue due to the orange drupe that holds the seed ... Lol and the flocks of birds that emerge from the trees feeding.
Labour weekend is not just a long weekend but usually signals that the Spring temps have warmed up enough to plant most of those summer veges that we all love to eat. There is a lot happening this time of year, so enjoy it, whether it be appreciating some one else's garden, checking out rose shows, doing your own garden, or just chilling with family.
Have a great long weekend.
All the best from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.
