Our weekly email news letter. Sign up here to get them delivered straight to your email in box. See below for previous issues...
Please note that product availability and prices may have changed from when this newsletter was sent. Please check this site or phone us for current availability and pricing.
Saturday 3rd February, 2018
Hi
The Perfect Summer Holidays
It's been the perfect summer I think. I know that once that incessant rain stopped that we all thought we were in drought mode as it did get, relentlessly, very hot and dry... but as I look around the Waikato I have to say that its looking very green for this time of year.
The holiday season on the whole has provided us all with superb, warm sunny weather just perfect for the school holidays, so that there was no excuse not to be outside doing fun things. The beaches have been packed with people relaxing and taking time out, playing in the surf, lying on the sand or just relaxing with friends.
I think that even most of the farmers out there should be happy because just when we all thought that the drought was for real we all got a decent amount of rain ....and the grass grew again.. then we went right back to soaring temperatures and blue skies. There is nothing that makes plants, weeds, grass and gardens grow faster than the sun, warm temps and rain/water and even more so if you have applied fertilisers.
Its the same in our garden, hedges that were looking all nicely trimmed before Christmas, are now needing to be re done because we have had those regular bouts of rain and a good amount too. In a usual summer they wouldn't need doing again until the flush that would come with the Autumn rains.
This year is going to be different and we are back in the garden sorting out the spring flush and are going to re trim all the hedges so that they look good again. If this amazing weather keeps up then I imagine that we will be doing a final hedge trim just prior to winter to keep everything looking manicured throughout the cold months.
The garden is such a perfect venue to entertain and this summer we have certainly had our share of warm balmy evenings where we get to sit outside till late, half naked (meaning top off or in our briefs.. Its been that hot) enjoying al fresco dinners or finishing that bottle of Pinot.
Writing about entertaining outside reminds me of Anthony's family reunion luncheon that was held outside at his sisters place and ofcourse in the garden... An amazing day and lunch that was made all the more special by being with family and friends.. Sliced ham, roasted lamb, new potatoes and many salads was the menu for the occasion but the star for me was the raw Broccoli salad!!!
Omg it was sooooo good that I just had to ask for the recipe. Its my kind of recipe too as its so simple to make and will complement many meal types, besides... salads go with eating outdoors!! The original recipe belongs to Ripe, a deli up there in Auckland and the recipe is included in their cookbook called "A fresh batch" click the link to see the recipe and make it for yourself. When I'm next up in Aucks I think that I need to check out the Deli Ripe itself.
Plant Watch
Caryopteris Dark Knight . If you are into blue then this is a plant for you as it has masses of (no prizes for guessing) blue bristle like flowers. In fact, all its common names reflect that the flowers are blue ... namely Blue beard which seems to be the most popular common name followed by Blue Spiraea and Blue Mist. A smallish but hardy shrub attaining 100 cm to 150 cm preferring a full sun position reasonable drainage but its flowering now in the summer when all the spring hiss and roar is over.
Blue is more of an unusual colour in plants and goes so well with all those other bright colours so would fit in well between roses or even at home with a whole lot of perennials, just remember to give it its own space. If you are into being bee friendly or attracting bees to the garden then this will be one for you as the bees and bumble bees are all over these blue flowers.
Meet the Paniculata Hydrangea's
The Hydrangea paniculata cuzzies are all looking spectacular right now and there are a few of them to take note of. The one that I think of being the original one is paniculata Grandiflora which has gorgeous creamy white cone shaped but typical hydrangea like flowers. Then there is Kyushu and Levana which also have creamy white coned shaped flowers but with more of a lace cap effect but not..
Next on the scene was Limelight which in the early phases of the flower has beautiful limegreen cone flowers that then continue on to be creamy white. The latest on the scene woukls have to be Sundae Fraise and Diamond Rouge that start out being typical creamy white flowers but age to amazing shades of pinks and reds ..just beautiful
There are a couple that we don't have in stock but I see that at some point we will have these also being Tardiva and another newbie called Candlelight.
This is a group of Hydrangeas that do grow into quite large shrubs but can be kept to a reasonable size as they flower on new seasons wood unlike the other mop head style hydrangeas. You could even train this group into a small tree or standard like we have in our office and villa gardens. They are quite hardy and will tolerate quite high light levels or semi shade so will grow in most positions in the garden. If you are looking for summer colour or flowers then these are a great choice, most of them last well as cut flowers too.
The Sales page
Watch this space because over the next few weeks there will be some lines that we want to offer a bit of a deal on to move them along. Perfect timing too I reckon as we seem to keep having such good rain in this last month of our official summer and so ideal for planting now..
To start off, this week we have ...
All Rhododendrons 30% off remaining stock.. There are quite a few varieties left of these dappled light plants that do so well in the passing shade of trees so check them out on the web site. There must be something here for every one from some samller growing cultivars to a range of the largers ones. Dont forget that the Rhodo family like moist but not wet soil and are really at home in peat like soils. They will benefit from a composted mulch around the top of the soil which will help conserve the moisture and provide food. We reccommend slow release Acid fert for newly planted rhodos.
Hydrangea Libelle, Geoffrey Chauband, Blue Wave and White Wave normally $24.99 these now just $12.50
These are large plants that need to be planted as we can no longer carry them in a container but if you want to mass plant an area or plant them as a hydrangea border then these would be perfect at such a good price.
Hydrangea's of the lace cap kind are very pretty with the central part of the flower looking pin cushion like with an outer edge of whirling butterflies in either white, blue or pink depending on the lacecap. Dont forget that Hydrangea's take up aluminium which influences the blooms colour to the blue and purple shades. Hence aluminium sulphate for blue and lime for pink... last tip but these hydrangeas flower on old wood so prune only the canes that have flowered to a pair of fat buds on a dry day in winter.
There are also many other Hydrangeas to check out that were $14.99 but now just $9.99 each.
Bottle brush or Callistemon are a great plant for the sunny garden and we have deals on a couple of varieties
Callistemon McaArthur is one of the larger but semi dawrf reaching approx 1.5 m with bright red flowers Take a gander at Green John which is a smaller growing variety attaining a more demure 100 cm again with the classic red flowers. These are fab bushy plants normally a $19.99 grade but we can do these at just $16.99...
I had a thought that these would make for an awesome hedge as they will trim up really well especially for a hot sunny position. If you had a hankering for something different for a hedge then consider these otherwise eminantly suitable as a shrub in the garden.
Viburnum trilobum or the cranberry viburnum is the one that i just love as after the classic viburnum like flowers come the bright red berries which is a bit of an extra for a viburnum. The plants are a really good grade being large and bushy and are a really good price at $49.99 now down to $29.99
Auckland anniversary week is over and done with, Waitangi day is looming this coming week so I guess that some will be having one last long weekend, many have started back at school and those that haven't will be soon. The working year is back in earnest and that goes for us as well we are planning and sorting projects that we don't get to do at other times of the year. Improvements to the website, system and processes. Irrigation needs it's yearly tweek as we rely so much upon the water to keep all our plants alive and looking good. I think we will look at putting in a couple more 5000 gallon tanks to give us a bigger buffer in case we have any problems... There is always a project.
I hope that the new year is going well for everyone and that you are looking forward to another sunny, warm weekend and if you have managed it perhaps an extra long one.
Have a great weekend.
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
Archived by year 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
2018 Newsletters...
..... Feb already
Gardening friends (9th February, 2018)
fabulous feb (16th February, 2018)
Grapes and Art deco in Napier (2nd March, 2018)
About Ferns (10th March, 2018)
out with willow and in with Camellias (27th March, 2018)
Paddock Trees (25th March, 2018)
Trees for Big Spaces (27th March, 2018)
Sasanquas take 2 (30th March, 2018)
Brrr Autumn is here (14th April, 2018)
Garlic and Winter Roses (21st April, 2018)
Friday Again (5th May, 2018)
Espaliered (12th May, 2018)
always a project (18th May, 2018)
Power Outages and Proteas (31st May, 2018)
Rose time again (8th June, 2018)
Aussie Natives (19th June, 2018)
Roses Abounding! (23rd June, 2018)
Ornamentals (7th July, 2018)
High, Low or Cascading (13th July, 2018)
Daphne time (20th July, 2018)
Spring in four days (27th July, 2018)
Let the blossoms begin (3rd August, 2018)
Tamarillos (10th August, 2018)
Magnolias3 (17th August, 2018)
Bloom time not gloom time (28th August, 2018)
Is it September Already? (31st August, 2018)
Nuts abounding (7th September, 2018)
Its all in the name... seriously (14th September, 2018)
Blossom bloom again (21st September, 2018)
Fabulous Friday 28 (28th September, 2018)
Fluffies and Pretties (5th October, 2018)
October rain with 22mm (12th October, 2018)
Blue October (19th October, 2018)
Its all about roses this week (26th October, 2018)
what about this (2nd November, 2018)
Rose show 2018 this weekend (9th November, 2018)
The running of the balls sequel 1 (16th November, 2018)
Orange Kumara 1 (23rd November, 2018)
scones (30th November, 2018)
Hydrangeas (8th December, 2018)
French Tarragon Hmmm (14th December, 2018)
Happy Holidays (21st December, 2018)
Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: