Friday 21st September, 2018
Hi
I have to say, after last years poor effort, that the
Awanui cherry blossom trees in our garden are putting on a spectacular display this spring. Last year I had
Awanui envy as I looked around the Waikato and saw everyone else's trees strutting their stuff while ours looked pretty pathetic but this year I'm loving the view.
Now there was no mention of getting rid of them, as they do provide some amazing shade in the garden, the fact is, they look pretty cool where they are but I do like the added bonus of seeing them in flower.
When you are out and about driving around, you cant miss the glorious display that
Awanui makes in that rather gorgeous shade of soft pink. Don't be fooled into thinking that singles flowers won't put on a good show as
Awanui is an excellent example that they do. What they may lose in singleness they certainly make up for in just shear volume of flowers.
Usually Accolade is just behind
Awanui with its semi double flowers of a pink that is a tad brighter than
Awanui but this year seems to be almost in bloom at the same time.
Another tree that is looking pretty fantastic in our garden at the moment is a
Cercis that is commonly called Forest pansy though the common name of Judas tree itself is used for some of the other species. Its interesting to note that
Cercis belongs to the pea family Fabaceae or leguminosae and you will be quite correct in guessing that the flowers are typical of those in the pea family. The bit that fascinates me is how the flowers are seemingly attached to the stems and trunks of the tree.
Forest pansy has purplish pink pea like flowers that are followed by attractive burgundy kidney shaped leaves. Of course there are other forms as well that have green leaves and white flowers and lets not leave out the latest release of a weeping form called
Ruby Falls which as it's names suggests has leaves of a ruby shade and pink flowers in the spring.
Cercis
Ferns are quite cool to have in the garden
Black mamaku, Black Punga or Cyathea medullaris are quite a handsome tree fern with amazing large fronds. I just love the dark, black, furry Koru that roll out to those large classic leaves I reckon that this Punga gives the garden quite the sub tropical look. The other tree fern that Harry picked up was one of the smaller brown Pungas called Dicksonia Squarrosa. This one you see around a lot and is quite tolerant of many positions including full sun and perhaps drier sites than other pungas would like.
We all think of ferns as loving cool shady and damps spots but that is so not the case all of the time and the fern Asplenium Oblongifolium or shining spleenwort is a fern that will tolerate quite a sunlit and dry position. In fact I think that I have seen this fern growing coastal behind the dunes and under pines. Imagine a mass planting of this in the garden and contrast the foliage with Renga Rengas and helleborus.. sometime the coolest mass planting are very simple with the contrasting foliage of just two or three different plants.
Octopus fern or Blechnum Fluviatile is another fern that appeals to me... this one will like more moisture and lower light levels more in keeping with what we would expect of ferns. I like the foliage and again would look really cool mass planted.
Ipomoea Batatas commonly known as Kumara.
Kumara plants have arrived in store.. such an easy crop to grow... My first ever nursery job, we used to grow the kumara in the polythene mulch that was left over from growing rose root stocks. Planting kumara is a simple matter of pushing the slip two thirds into the soil creating a U shape at the end as you do that. Space the slips approx 50 cm apart and just let them do their thing without chopping the ends as they grow. They are quite vigorous, I will say, but anything from that Convolulus family is rampant. Its better that the soil under the mounds is quite firm so that the plants don't form tubers too deeply...
If you don't have polythene mulch handy like we did, create your own beds by firming the soil at the base of your intended area and then dig from the sides creating a loose furrow. Plant your Kumara as above and keep moist until they strike and start growing. It may be a good idea to keep the weeds at bay until the tops cover the ground. You must harvest before the frosts come and before the tops die down. Lift the Kumara carefully making sure that you don't damage the skins... cure them by drying the skins in the sun for a few days. Maybe bring them inside in the evenings and then store them carefully in a dark cupboard.
Kumara slips are produced from slips or growths from the kumara tuber that have been rooted in water and so when you plant these out its imperative that you keep them moist until they get under way in the soil. If they dry out then they may die. If you have a hankering to grow a crop of Kumara then be in quick as these slips don't keep and need to be planted as soon as possible.
Asparagus ... One of my favourite foods
Asparagus Of the European variety which apparently will provide more spears than other cultivars.. Get your in now !!!
Asparagus needs a dedicated bed that is rich in organic matter... Once you have you crowns established them you will be good for Asparagus for some 20 years or more
Plant as many as you can to be able to pick a decent crop.... Dig you site over and aerate the soil and incorporate a whole heap of organic matter like good compost.. Asparagus loves its food so keep the organic matter happening. remulch each winter and keep the bed really fertile..
Dig a trench to about 30 cm deep and then add some soil back to this so that you can splay the roots over the fill and plant the crown below the soil surface approx 10 cm deep and at 30 to 50 cm apart and rows should be 50 cm apart.
Don't pick any spears in the first year and only pick a small number in the second year and let them go to seed and then in the third season you should be in full production.
The fluff has begun...
Spring must be in full swing now as I just saw lots of pretty colour arrive at the nursery and I noticed one of the trucks that pulled in today offloaded a lot of the spring colour. I quite like seeing the colour when it is here as it brightens the shop area nicely and of course what would we do without colour in our gardens. I think I saw different coloured
Nemesia and
Barcopa in the first trolley but there's plenty more to choose from.
Getting excited for
blooms to come
The
roses are really romping away with this warm weather that we have been having and I often suggest that now is a really good time to plant a rose....The roots are well away and leaves should be looking good too as the rose will be coming up to flower.
Take care to be gentle and so that means cut the bag off and plant carefully taking care with all those new roots. Water in after planting and that will probably be all you need to do as I'm sure that we haven't seen the last of the rain yet.. we still have an amazing range of bush roses and the
standards are second to none this year...
My goodness another weekend, daylight saving next weekend and our best friends 60th party to be had as well...
Always have a plan and enjoy being in the garden...
Have a fabulous weekend.
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
