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Saturday 15th March, 2025

Hi

Autumn, Fall or Harvest ???
All of the above are commonly used to reference what we call Autumn here in NZ, but apparently Autumn is an older term than Fall as it appeared around the 1300's. Autumn has its roots in the Latin word of Autumnus, or perhaps an old French word Autumpne (which itself is probably derived from Autumnus).
Harvest is perhaps an even earlier term as harvesting crops usually occurs in the Autumn. However, that term is easily confused with the usual meaning of harvest and so Autumn became more accepted.
Poets of the time who were wowed by the seasons used the phrase "the fall of the leaves" and in the 1600s this was shortened to Fall. I always thought that Fall was an American term for Autumn, but apparently, according to what I read, both terms were born in England and both emigrated to America with Autumn being the more popular term. But by the middle of the 1800s, American English and British English had diverged and so did the terms Fall and Autumn... Our English here in good ole NZ must take after the British, as Autumn is probably our accepted language.

 
Whilst on the path of trivia, Autumn is also one of the equinoxes; the time when the earth's axis is not tilted either towards or away from the sun. The result is daylight and darkness are nearly equal at all latitudes and this year the equinox is on 20th March at 10.01 pm ... or so Google says !!! So, I guess from March 21st the days are going to get slightly shorter every day until we reach the Winter Solstice. Never fear, daylight saving will kick in on the Sunday 6th of April at 3am to even out the daylight period and bring some light back into our mornings.
Harvest time....  coming on are: Pears, Apples, Quinces, Feijoas,  Figs, Persimmons and Citrus 
For me Autumn is Harvest time and I can quite understand how this term could have been used in times gone past for Autumn. The other day I spied some Pears on the tree at the cottage and didn't want them to go to waste and so duly picked and bottled. Preserving fruit was something I watched my parents do and learnt by osmosis (for want of a better word).  It's not that hard, though it never ceases to amaze me how that tiny little bit of rubber sucks down on to the rim of a jar, preserving the contents. One cup of sugar to 2 cups of water to make a light syrup, cook fruit to just al dente and pour into sterilised jars, then close with an agee seal and screw cap. Job done!
Right now I am picking Apples and have been dehydrating them for a dried fruit snack after dinner or lunch. It's a practice thing, but think I am slowly getting it right. Our friends have been coming out to get apples too, for stewed fruit, and they love the way the varieties I have go all fluffy. Quinces are coming ready as well and they look pretty cool in bowls in the kitchen or of course you can make quince paste, jelly and poached quinces for desserts.
   
It's about to be the time of the Feijoa and I note that the first of them have started to fall already.  Again I bottle, dehydrate and make chutneys as well as eating them fresh.
Feijoa are pretty easy to grow in that they don't get much wrong with them, like full sun good drainage and even perform in poorer soils. Feijoa trees themselves have many practical uses and they are ideal as a plant for hedging being tolerant of constant trimming. For a formal hedge you would plant at one per metre. You could always plant further apart, as in 2 to 3 metres, and have like a fruiting, informal border of Feijoas. These hardy plants also make for fab small evergreen trees of around 3 to 4 metres, though you may have to remove the lower branches to create this form.
We have planted quite a few cultivars which will mean that there will be fruit over an extended period. These do benefit from having some different cultivars around them for cross pollination, which is effected by birds and insects, after all we all like a prolific crop.

 
There are quite a few great new cultivars that were released from a breeding program a little while ago such as: Anatoki A desirable new variety that fruits early in the season around March-April. The fruit are exceptionally sweet, large and round. Kakariki This recent introduction has large and sweet fruit that ripen nice and early in the autumn. Kaiteri (due to arrive April) If you love Feijoas then you will enjoy the large and very sweet fruit of this new variety.  It is ready early in season too. 
Apollo has always been a popular choice. This is a vigorous-growing variety which ripens in autumn around April-May. Rough skinned fruit which are large, aromatic and very sweet. Opal star This fabulous fruit has a dark skin with a rich and aromatic flavour. A late season variety ripening mid autumn. Wiki Tu is an outstanding Feijoa with generous crops of large firm fruit that are ripe around about May. Forms a nice tidy evergreen tree.

 
Unique is another tried and true variety that has been around for a while. 'Unique' is a reliable Feijoa that is self-fertile and produces abundant crops of delicious medium to large oval fruit. The skin is smooth along with the pulp and the flavour carries a hint of pineapple.
Check out Golden goose, White goose, Takaka and Waingaro but these days there are so many to choose from and even more varieties yet to come into stock and I'm sure that they are all pretty good clones.
What's come in this week; plants of interest 
Bird of Paradise or Strelitzia Reginae. Elegant and exotic, clump forming perennial with the most unusual, tall spikes of orange and blue blooms that resemble a bird's head. Large, wide swords of blue-grey foliage. Quite easy to grow in  a sunny, well drained position with protection from frost, though more frost tolerant with age.
Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as the Giant White Bird of Paradise or Wild Banana are banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of 6 m and the clumps formed can spread as far as 3.5 m.

 
Miniature toitoi Chionochloa Flavicans is a great plant for adding a bit of elegance to your native planting. With arching foliage and showy creamy green flowers it will add impact and variety. This is a very hardy and easy to grow plant which will tolerate the poorest soil.
Zephyranthese candida or Autumn Crocus This perennial has delightful white crocus-like flowers in the Autumn. They are also known as Rain Lilies because flowering is often triggered by rain after a dry spell.  Attractive grass-like glossy green foliage, not dissimilar to tall mondo grass. They are excellent in rockeries or borders.
Peony prepacks are in and there is a great selection of newbies 
Who doesn't love Peonies with their huge blooms that make for a great display in the garden? And they are so worthwhile to have for cut flowers. They do like full sun and good rich soil to provide an abundance of blooms. They will also tolerate some dappled light. Technically a deciduous perennial which will thrive in the cold. Growing through a frame of some sort should hold the blooms and plant upright. Ang has a great range of these in stock right now as prepacks and these just need planting out into the garden for flowering next spring. Follow this link to see the selection, and this link for growing instructions.


 
New Release Matthews Roses
For many people their parents or grandparents may have been their inspiration to start (and continue) gardening. And once hooked you are pretty well doomed to a life-long interest and dirty finger nails, potting mix spread throughout the car and a shopping list that reads like an edition of NZ Gardener. Matthews Roses, who we mentioned last week as a third generation rose growing and breeding family, have an excellent reason to name one of their rose collections "My Family". The varieties in this group include previously released My Grandma, My Grandad, My Dad, My Mum. Matthews rose breeder Bob Matthews has come up with some stunning new varieties to release this year including Aroha (Love) in sumptuous red and My Daughter - which is a sport or naturally occurring variation of My Mum. My Mum is a popular and top performing rose with a nice fragrance. My Daughter promises to have many of her characteristics. 

 
Also new this year are his selections of In Friendship which was named to celebrate 100 years of Inner Wheel in New Zealand. Inner Wheel is an international volunteer organisation for women whose ideals are promoting friendship, encouraging the ideals of personal service and fostering international understanding. Twinkle is another new release by Bob which is a shrublet rose (smaller more compact form) covered in clusters of small white blooms above deep green foliage.

 
Gordonton Art and Design Trail is back again and will be held on Saturday April 6th, and Sunday April 7th (10 am to 4 pm both days). Entry is free, so mark the event in your calendar. Artists will have work for sale. Correction to last week's email; Anthony isn't involved this year but rather the garden is here for all to wander around that are on the trail. His photo realism style of art does take many hours and so he will plan to be there next year when he has more pieces to display.
I was thinking this morning that summer just seems to have gone in a flash and it's like "Did I miss that?" as we head very noticeably into the Autumn. On that note Autumn is one of my fav seasons as I enjoy the cooler mornings and evenings and it's lovely and warm through the day time. I love the Autumn shades that are starting to appear on the trees. This is usually brought on by a sudden cold snap but probably this year by the stress of it being so dry. I have seen already some pretty fiery orange's on Maples, Claret Ash trees are on the turn, as are all Flowering Cherries, you only need to look. Then there are all the Berries and Fruits that are the result of spring flowering. All there just for the beauty and picking, being the season of harvest.
Another weekend is on our doorstep, so get bottling and preserving to have produce through the winter months, otherwise all that remains is to have a great weekend.
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.

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