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Saturday 10th March, 2018
Hi
What to cook when you don't know what to cook.... ??
Nothing to do with plants but handy if you want to make an out of season Christmas cake/Wedding cake !!!
Around here Christmas cakes abound ... you can never have too many Christmas cakes as they only get better with time.... apparently!
I know Christmas has just passed and we are nowhere near the shortest day .... thank goodness, but the latest "Harry craze" is all about making Christmas cakes (or I suppose Wedding cakes if you like). I swear that I have seen at least 4 bottles of brandy come and go from this house recently and these are no little cakes either. The cake tin is a huge at 31 cm square and 10 cm deep.
Every cake is a tad different as he throws in every dried fruit imaginable, some with nuts and some that get things accidentally left out, but they all seem to turn out... maybe that has something to do with the amount of Brandy that gets poured over them once they are out of the oven.
There is so much cake mix that it has to be mixed in a stock cooking pot and he usually ends up mixing in the dried fruit at the end with his bare hands as the beater can't cope any more... I know, I have watched this performance a few times now..
The recipe of choice that he 'vaguely' follows is Annabel Langbein's and it slow cooks at a low heat for many hours, supposedly all night. The first one he did overnight did turn out a bit dry but once lubricated with some liquor, well, it was pretty OK and was put in the staff room for the team who seemed to devour it over a short period of time..
The next few cakes were cooked in daylight hours so that he could actually use a skewer to check to see when ready (our oven must be hotter than some)
Our house now has many tins of cake hanging around so they can start to age just like fine wines (or us) I'm guessing..
Standards or feature plants
If you'd like to grow your own standard, its not that hard, you just have to have time and of course some plants grow quicker than others and so take less time. The concept is that standards are just that and have to be trimmed into that lollipop shape but this is not necessarily so.. you may choose to buy a standard simply because it is formed already with a clear truck with the intention of letting it continue to grow into a normal tree. In other words the training or development has been done for you. If you purchase a smaller grade plant, in reality, you will spend the next three years limbing it up to create the same trunk so that you can get under your tree!!!
There are a couple of ways used to create a standard and the most predominant is probably harder for the home gardener as many standards are grafted at the top of a long rootstock. The most obvious example of this is the standard rose in which the root stock is grown first and then the rose is budded onto it.
Rosa Multiflora is the stock of choice by most and is grown as a crop by commercial growers. It is then harvested, band sawn into appox 90cm lengths, blinded, callused and inserted into polythene mulch to grow roots and left with a single multiflora bud to grow. Once growing, and usually in the summer, the roses of choice are T budded into the rose stock, usually two but some growers do three buds and then the Multiflora bud is headed back to allow the scion wood (desired rose) to grow. It's a minimum of two years for this type of production once you have the rootstock and the scion wood. Now the other quicker option in this case is to pre order ones already grown for delivery this coming June. Check the standard roses out here.
Absolutely Fabulous Avalanche Blackberry Nip Boscobel Glamis Castle
Now we have had some beautiful citrus arrive here as standards and my guess here is that many are grown up to be a standard while others are budded, just like the roses at the top of a root stock. There are some gorgeous weeping orange Cipo in pots at the nursery and they have been what I call high worked. grafted at the top of a root stock. Now citrus make for pretty cool container subjects as they not only have gorgeous foliage but sweetly scented flowers followed by attractive fruits which in the case of Cipo are quite tasty oranges. Now these High worked standards don't come up very often and there some goodies to choose from. Limequats that have smaller but still very tasty fruits, some Mandarins and those with the sexy foliage like Corsica no 2, Thorny and still to come Beauty of Glen Retreat. The ornamental Kumquat Chinotto that I never see available (like the ones down the path in our garden) and now we have some small standards of this iconic Kumquat... must be one for the plant nuts like me. Also some kumquat Meiwa, which is a fruiting one, of which the fruit are good to eat skins and all.
We also have some pretty nice standard Lisbon and Meyer lemons as well as Tahitian and Sublime limes which have been purpose grown from cuttings.
Limequat Eustis Kumquat Meiwa Mandarin Thorny Mandarin Corsica Lime Tahitian
Last week I wrote of some Liquidamber Gumball standards that had just arrived and these are rather nice plants too and I'm sure that these have also been grafted at the top of root stock.
Camellias would be a grand example of plants that are purpose grown from cuttings and these will take some time to become awesome plants, I'm thinking some 6 years!!! That's quite a while to gain a return on your time.
Now from a growers point of view, once they have made the cuttings for the plants that they are producing for sale, some of the cuttings will be singled out for creating standards. The reason for this is to create a standard from scratch you need the growing tip to keep growing straight upwards but to make a shrub you would pinch this out so that the cutting bushes out.
I imagine that the growing tip would need to keep being trained upwards for some two to three years, or more, depending on the plant subject, until it reaches some 90 to 120cm which is usally the desired height for a standard. Often these stem would be tied to a stake to get them nice and straight.
Once the desired height has been reached then, like the plants that became a bush, the growing tip is removed and the standard will start to bush out. The more trimming that you do at this point the bushier the head will get but for a decent standard this may take another couple of years. (Usually when you are purcahsing plants the more dollars for the plant means that it has had more trimmings in its life).
If you are keen to grow your own standards then either start from cuttings or choose a plant that has a straight single leader stem. Sometimes you can find them in a garden centre already tall, chances are that they will have been tipped at some stage but as the stem thickens this may almost disappear. If you are keen to try your hand with some Camellias we have some Transnokensis, Silver column and Early Pearlys that would suit being standardised otherwise look at the standard Camellias that are coming soon and get them already pre formed.
Ferns
Ferns are amongst the oldest of living plants. They are flowerless and seedless which means they do the sex thing differently to flowering plants.
Ferns have a vascular system comprising of both xylem and phloem which transports water and nutrients so most ferns need a moist environment for fertilisation to occur.
It would be fair to say that we all think of ferns being plants for those damp and shady positions and this is mostly true but perhaps for different reasons than we think. As with many plant genera, ferns have evolved to suit differing environemnts and whilst a fern may grow quite happily in a dry or sunny position this environement may not suit its reproduction cycle. Ferns generally like the protection of a canopy which will protect them from frost and keep them in the moist environment that they love.
Hen and chicken fern or for those that want the Latin Asplenium bulbiferum aptly named because it carries little bulbils on top of its fronds like a hen and chicken scenario... this is an additional method for reproduction to the the ferns normal method of spores, how cool is that, two ways of reproduction... What I didn't know is that this one is actually a NZ native fern. It has really attractive leaves that are finely dissected giving a very lacy look. This fern would look really cool in a dappled light area, possibly contrasted with larger or rounded leaves say like renga renga lilies or the tractor seat plant.
Asplenium Maori Princess is a cultivar of the classic Asplenium Bulbiferum but not with such a divided leaf but rather a more lush and broad frondlike leaf. I have these mass planted down a bank in the nursery and under some large Totara and they look quite cool. Its actually quite dry there and they have done really well, a really good fern.
Blechnum discolour or Crown fern is a classic native fern, and I m guessing here, but its form could give its name Crown fern, maybe for a King rather than a Queen though lol. This beauty has a leaf not unlike that pesky ladder fern but in a rosette or crown shape. Something diferent to add to those under trees garden or the shaded side of the house.
Blechnum Silver Lady is a cousin to the the crown fern and has a similar rosette form but this one over time will grow a small trunk, now we are not talking anything like a punga but something that just lifts its foliage a little higher. Attractive lime green fronds similar to its cousin and suited to the shaded garden under trees or against the house protected from the frost as most ferns like.
Pots, pots and more pots, many at 30%, 50% off and others as marked
15 pallets of pots have just been unpacked and put away, gotta say that takes a while but the pots area is looking great. Heaps of fresh new pots have just arrived in and we have just put them all away, some of these are seconds and end of lines and as such have been marked to 50 % down from their normal retail price.
Then there are others that we just got a deal on and have been priced accordingly. There are a few that have sat here for a while so have marked these down 30% or their normal retail.
There just had to be some nice new urns and pots as well so the whole pot area has had a tidy up and is looking pretty full with some good deals going on.
Its best to come and look for yourself as we dont have the facility to freight these pots around.
Gosh there is always plants arriving here and I just have to mention that big grade of some citrus have just arrived in and these have quite the head start on the normal grade that we have. Of couse these are the regular lines like Lemonade, Yen Ben and Meyer lemons, a Satsuma Okitsu and a couple of oranges like Harwoood Late and Fukumoto and a Lime.
I look at all the leaves on the trees now and see that they have mostly done their job of making food and they do look so distinctly tired and aged. I imagine that the trees will be setting up that leaf abscission layer in readiness to fall this Autumn.
The days are so much shorter, Autumn is on it's way. Hopefully you are all enjoying these gorgeous summer days while they are here.
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.
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2018 Newsletters...
Feb already (3rd February, 2018)
Gardening friends (9th February, 2018)
fabulous feb (16th February, 2018)
Grapes and Art deco in Napier (2nd March, 2018)
..... About Ferns
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
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