Friday 17th August, 2018
Thanks Christie
Hi
There are things that you just have to do.
I have always enjoyed swimming and at one stage used to swim with the group the Hamilton masters but then I let it go because of work and other personal commitments... Then I put off starting again and really one just needs to get get those trunks, googles and now swimming cap out and on, get in the water and just do it.
My cousin Christie, who just happens to be an 09 er as well, is quite the motivating voice as she runs between being a personal trainer, cross fit and mum of 5 month old Georgia. Somewhere a partner and family fit in there as well. Go Lloyd... get back into it....is the voice on my shoulder this morn and so the plan is start it today. LOL that would be after I have finished writing this email newsletter to a point where I can hand it on to Cathie who rearranges and translates my random thoughts into something more readable and adds all those really helpful pics and links that take you to our posts and other appropriate places.
Magnolias
Have I ever said that I just adore
Magnolias or is it just an age where I start to repeat myself. I start right from potting season where every year, when I am trimming their roots, that I just have to crush them a little and sniff the almost eucalyptus fragrance. Of course I only do this to the bits I have pruned off and you might think that is a little weird but the smell is really quite pleasant. You should check it out one day!!!!
Moving right along, apparently Magnoliaceae is an ancient species appearing prior to bees and hence these magnificent blooms are primarily pollinated by insects. I have to say that every time I take up close and personal pics of these blooms, there are always little bugs crawling along the inside of those grand tepals.
Let's not leave out those fat furry buds that split and peel back, showing firstly colour and then opening right out to those gorgeous flower shapes like goblets, cup and saucers styles and the spidery ones.
There are quite a few flower types of these beauties and it's the
Stellatas that are currently blooming away. The Stellatas form smaller trees than most of the other species, some would almost say shrub like. They could of course be maintained to a more tree like form with a single trunk by removing the lower branches . Flowers of these are spidery or consist of many thinner tepals than other magnolias. Classic examples would be Stellata White, Royal Star or Waterlily... just for interest there are some other crosses like Leonard messel whose parents are Magnolia Kobus and Stellata rosea and this one has classic stellata form also.
Another species that forms quite a small tree around just the 2 metre mark, would have to be the
Lilifloras and these have more traditional style flowers though more beaker like than goblet like.. There is liliflora and liliflora nigra which has the darker bloom. As a tree these can be quite multi branched and I think that they are a pretty cool addition to the garden.
Next there are what I call the classic goblet form and
San Jose,
Rustica and
Ruby are what I would call typical of this style of flower. I have always imagined these to be be Soulangeana species or at least have soulangeana as a part parent. These magnolias are what I call mid range in height though I guess that some would call them large once they have attained some 50 plus years.
Then there are the bigger growing trees and they must have other species like
Campbellii in their genes. Some of these have what I call cup and saucer shaped flowers and a couple of favourites of mine would have to be
Iolanthe and
Star Wars. These are the biggest of the flowers and a tree in full bloom is a sight to behold.
Before you think that magnolias are all
white,
pink and
burgundy, take a gander at
Koban Dori which has yellow flowers or follow the
link and check all of the selection out and there are quite a few I think I have to plant some more white ones LOL, they are, after all, my favs. I have posted some pics on
facebook of the magnolias flowering round the nursery and gardens.
Sometimes we have plants to thank for special memories or bonds that we form in our lives. We often get clients who come in and request a specific rose because their mother grew it or it was in a special friends garden.
To Aunty Raine
I have to thank Christie for most of today's newsletter... we had an early morning catch up then she sent me a voice message (my first ever) on messenger. To cut to the chase one of our favourite Aunts aka Aunty Raine bought her a Daphne plant as a house warming present for her first home. When she moved she bought another one for her again as a gift. The next move, the house already had the Daphne plant at the back door. Every year the
Daphne flowers and the fragrance, for Christie, evokes precious memories, just as I imagine it would for others, of that special person in her life.
The classic Daphne that will have those special memories for Christie will be the pink form called Daphne odora
Leucanthe but these days there is a white form called
Alba.
Of course there are many other Daphnes like
Burkwoodii and
Burkwoodi Varigata which are mostly deciduous but still have the classic flower form.
I must make mention of the new
Perfume Princess that will grow into quite a different shape from leucanthe which is quite squat and shrubby. Perfume Princess has bholua in its ancestry and so will grow much taller and is more light tolerant, it is also reputed to be much harder than its traditional cousin.
Plants have made special memories for Christie but its also plants that introduced us to Patsy....
To Patsy
I have to pay a tribute to another very special person in the life of Wairere Nursery... Some 30 odd years ago in the very humble beginning of this nursery as a roadside stall selling herbs Patsy supported our nursery.. The story goes that on her way to work she would stop and buy herbs just to support those two guys who were selling herbs... Knowing Patsy she would buy the herbs even if she didn't really need any more. That was the beginning of a 30 year friendship. As the nursery grew and sold roses Patsy had a love of these and so more plants for the garden. There was a time that she moved her office into our spare room and operated her paper card business from out here at Gordonton. You know the story already but over the 30 odd years she was always there for us as a business and also as a friend... Thank you Patsy
Helleborus or Winter roses are still flowering fabulously, the colours are lighting up the display benches around the shop beautifully. It certainly shows what the garden looks like when these are planted in numbers. Some varieties with good numbers available are linked below.
Something a bit different from what we have had in climbers for a while
Climbing Bluebells is a twiggy climber that will climb or mound as a shrub or trail down a hillside displaying it's gorgeous bluebell flowers as it goes. Although it may look fragile it is really quite tough. Low maintenance, quick growing, versatile plant. Frost hardy once established. Evergreen
Known as Yellow Jasmine because of it’s Jasmine shaped and fragrant flowers. A sturdy climbing vine that will happily cover a trellis or climbing structure. Prolific bloomer. Prune regularly to maintain a tidy habit. Evergreen
This is a tall evergreen shrub up to 3m, with large shiny leaves which look attractive all year round. It has rounded
clusters of tiny pink perfumed flowers in August and September. Hailing from Central America, it is a very tough, drought-tolerant plant for our gardens and is useful as a background shrub or grown as an informal hedge.
We had a fabulous weekend last week! Do you suppose it is too much to hope it will be the same this weekend. I know one staff member said how much she got done last weekend but I could tell she was feeling the effect of her effort so do the work but don't over do it and remember a lovely wine at the end of a hard days gardening goes a long way to helping get over the muscle aches you may feel from the first warm weekend of the season. Hopefully its not going to be wet this weekend but lets not forget that its the rain that makes for all this fabulous growth here in the Waikato.
Have a fabulous weekend and a productive week.
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
