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Friday 24th February, 2017

Daisy Compositae or Asteraceae

Hi
   
 
Its been a bit of a chuckle

Anthony just adores Asters....  I think that his mother and grandmother both grew these beauties of the daisy family known as Asteraceae. The kind that I'm writing of are the annuals ones and these pick and last so well in vases. Anthony has grown quite a few in the picking garden and cuts bunches for family, friends and the girls in the office. They look stunning sitting on their desks especially in the matching colour antique hyacinth sprouting vases.

Harry walked past the desk and saw all the mess the Asters had made on the desk and said  "I must spray the caterpillars" and with that he grabbed the fly spray and sprayed the asters and all the little caterpillars there in the flowers, fell out onto the desk.

Later when Harry walked back in, one of the girls owned up to the fact that the other had been collecting the caterpillar poo thinking that it was seed and had been taking it home to plant.

If you know Harry you would know that this would no longer be a secret and soon the whole team knew and every time he is in the office he chuckles at the thought of someone sowing Caterpillar poo and the admin team dissolve into the giggles. 

I have to say though - how keen is that for someone to save seeds and sow them.  Maybe its time to remind all that the flowers are just the pretty bits for sex and that once the flower dies away then the seed process (which is different in all plant families) will begin to grow. If you want to collect seed then the flowers need to be left on the plant to grow to maturity as they won't once they are picked.  In most cases the seed vehicle will need to dry off indicating that the seed will be mature. 

In the case of Asteraceae the fruit is like an achene that is technically called a cypsela. Often the seed has an attachment like a wing or spines that are the remains of the calyx. ......Imagine a dandelion seed for example where an abundance of single seeds float off with umbrella like floats but only once the flowers have finished and matured and I'm sure that we are all familiar with the flower cycle of the dandelion!!!



Whats Cooking at our place.. Got a glut of Zucchini and tapered capsicums

The other week a client emailed to say that they had lost a recipe
Hello Fellows Last year you had a recipe for Courgette and Bean salad Do you have time to email it to me again. We have just shifted house and I have mislaid the recipe . We love your recipes so much . I think a book at some stage.

Well ???, I think I'm better at growing plants than making recipes but the bean salad was one I made up when we had a glut of beans and zucchini. Its one of those recipes that you take what you need from it and add in all you favourite salad ingredients and dressings.
                
The other week though I found this pork meatball recipe in Dish magazine and then made my own version which was pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I used beef mince mixed with pork sausage meat, spiced up the meatballs and made my own tomato sauce. Layer meat balls in a serving dish, top with tomato sauce and place mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Then the following week I stuffed some peppers with a similar mince mix and threw over the top some home made tomato sauce that we make every year. Delicious.

  
Bit of a deal  on Coprosma Margariata, Black Velvet and Midnight Martini
Coprosma are sun plants and this hot dry summer is just what these shiny plants will love.  Commonly called Mirror bush because I guess of their very shiny leaves. The normal native clone is coprosma repens. It's natural habitat is coastal and is famous for its specialised stomata that conserve moisture loss. There are heaps of fancy coloured ones ranging from bright and fiery yellows and reds to shiny and almost black. Keep them bushy and full by regular trimming.  Now Ang got a bit of a deal on three of these, being Margaraita has citron coloured leaves,  Black Velvet, has black foliage with a contrasting crimson strip and Midnight Martini darkest brown with a hint of orange and green. These dark ones will contrast nicely in the garden against other green shades.

Normally these fancy new hybrids are $19.99 these are now just half price at $9.99
        
Whats New!!!
Cut n paste range... I think that these are going to be a winner with their targeted application of weed killer. Hard on weeds, kind on the environment. No spray, the gel brush makes it targeted, safe, convenient and easy to use. There is a good range of them that you directly apply to the underside of leaves on weeds like dock and dandelion in your garden or paste on cuts to stop regrowth. Simone told me about this range from her previous work and I thought yes these would be perfect for her in the garden and for our customers. We currently have a small selection to deal with the tough plants like Bamboo, broadleaf in lawns, wild ginger and privet to name just a few.   
Salvia Sallyfun  is a new range of salvia that we had for the first time last year and have acquired some pretty nice plants of this range again this year.  These are lovely summer flowering perennials. This range of salvia run from white through to two tone blue and white to that of deep purplish blue. Again a plant that requires full sun to do well and well drained soil.

Echinacea or coneflowers This gorgeous range of Hybrids belongs to that huge family that most would commonly call the daisy family.... used to be called Compositae but now named Asteraceae. I alway think of the Echinaceas as butterfly food, as you often see them with butterflies, and even the stunning monarch butterfly can't resist these cone flowers. If I recollect, bumble bees are also partial to these ray like flowers. Most of this family like full sun and good soil; and are usually pretty easy to grow.  To this end we have a new range from one our suppliers that we havent had before so check the following links to see if there is something new for your place
     
Coming and of note so pre book if your are keen
Passionfruit Panana gold  these as the name suggest have golden coloured fruits that its accepted are probably sweeter in flavour than the normal black ones. There are only 20 coming and not arrived yet so if you are keen then be in and pre book yours.

Ligularia argentea variegated  I just love this one for the shady garden and I have it in ours though maybe need a few more to make a bigger area of this cool plant. The foliage has an attractive white variegation and looks fab mass planted and in between other green foliage plants. Makes everything pop I think. I am trying to make our shady areas less work and fill them up with mass planting of contrasting foliage.

Cryptomeria Egmont green... hard to find these are and are a cloned form of Japanese cedar in a very attractive green.  These would be a top choice for a hedge or shelter where you want to have a bit of height. Hardy and disease resistant. Again limited in numbers and I bought in all they had so if you are after a shelter be in quick.
     

Getting our garden up to speed.

Pleased to say that Simone is doing amazing work in our rather vast gardens. Mostly all the hedges are trimmed and the weeds are nearly all under control. The roadside garden still has to have the dwarf agapanthus deadheaded and the cloud pruned junipers need shaping... lol no different from hedges except you are aiming for a nice ball shape look... perhaps I should do these lol.
Anyways you'd be amazed at the number of paper wasp nests that are attached to the aggies and Simone has become expert at her own technique of Snip and stomp.  I guess improvisation is key when you are not handy to any fly spray. The big plan is to get all the gardens up to speed and improve on them.

There are areas that we haven't gotten to over the years and quite a few pussy willow that have to go and to that end we have bought in the cut n past range. My plan is to cut them down and use the cut n paste so that they don't regrow.. With that timely rain last week I reckon that we can start replanting areas. 

If there is something that you are after in the tree range or perhaps a specific rose varieties then now is the time to put your hand up and order it as all our winter confirmations will start rolling through soon. Making a back order for a plant is a great way to have it held for you, especially for those varieties which we may not have in large numbers.  When the stock arrives we will email you so you know it is in stock.

The next big stock event on our calendar will be Camellias and we will be looking at having these towards the end of March. Some of the species start to flower as early as late march and the sasanquas definitely will be looking to flower in the early Autumn being April and May. Again put your orders in so you don't miss out on the varieties you want.

Facebook...ing 
It has been all go on facebook this week with Cathie at the helm.  She has been throwing up Like and Share Draws for a couple of prizes that we have on offer. One is for a  Garden pack giveaway, this is still open for entry closing 03 March and the other is for a gorgeous new Hydrangea Diamond Rouge, this one closes 8th march so if you haven 't entered you still have time.  She has been featuring Paniculata Hydrangeas, including our new varieties Sundae Fraise and Diamond Rouge. These have been amazingly well received with lots of lovely comments and the competition offering a Diamond Rouge to the winner reaching a staggering 82,000 people, and counting, for our first time on one post. Thank you all so much for you continued support. 
You may also have noticed extra categories on our website for deciduous trees.  Jan has been giving them an upgrade and will continue on to all the larger categories to ensure our site remains simple, fast and easy to use.  

When you have been in one place for thirty odd years you tend to accumulate stuff and we are on a 'tidy up the place' mission. The tunnel house that we no longer use is on it's way out to make a bigger space for the mail order dispatch area, the garden toolshed has been relocated and tidied because we all know the rule that you can find your tools when hung in the right space, so space is what has been made.  The garden centre is looking it's best and so well organised.  

Well I believe a fine weekend is on offer so we are looking forward to a busy weekend and we hope you enjoy yours.  Whatever you are doing at home or out and about, stay safe, enjoy the sun and don't forget to try out some of the recipes on our What's Cooking page on the website.
 

Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team

Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.



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2017 Newsletters...

1st one for 2017 (26th January, 2017)

Grapefruit (2nd February, 2017)

Party time (10th February, 2017)

17 Feb (17th February, 2017)

..... Asteraceae

Autumn Its Official 03032017 (3rd March, 2017)

The Camellia story (10th March, 2017)

Roses Half Price (16th March, 2017)

Clipped Camellias (23rd March, 2017)

Red and gold (31st March, 2017)

Wairere Newsletter 7th April (7th April, 2017)

A wet season indeed (13th April, 2017)

Form and texture (21st April, 2017)

To Bee or not... (28th April, 2017)

Mothers Day (10th May, 2017)

Its Rose time again (19th May, 2017)

Winter colour (24th May, 2017)

Roses blooms (1st June, 2017)

Healthy roses (8th June, 2017)

Birthday brekkie (14th June, 2017)

winter solstice (22nd June, 2017)

Rose Names (29th June, 2017)

Dry July (7th July, 2017)

Dry July nearly half way (13th July, 2017)

school holidays (20th July, 2017)

Tree time (27th July, 2017)

unoffical spring (3rd August, 2017)

Signs of spring (11th August, 2017)

Tui cherries are blooming (18th August, 2017)

Sunshine at last (24th August, 2017)

slugs and snails (1st September, 2017)

Never fail choc cake (7th September, 2017)

Never fail choc cake (8th September, 2017)

sandpaper vine (15th September, 2017)

In the beginning (21st September, 2017)

The Villa (29th September, 2017)

Montanas (6th October, 2017)

Crepe Myrtles (13th October, 2017)

Te Aroha Airport (18th October, 2017)

Kumara plants are in (20th October, 2017)

French Tarragon 2 (27th October, 2017)

Trees (3rd November, 2017)

what happening (15th November, 2017)

Xeronema (17th November, 2017)

Summer Watering (25th November, 2017)

Officially summer 2 (1st December, 2017)

Wairere Newsletter (8th December, 2017)

Xmas Summer Holidays (22nd December, 2017)



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