I love dead heading the roses because I get to see all the gorgeous blooms. This year has been especially good as we have so many new varieties to see and to acquaint myself with, many of these I have never seen for real before.  So while I have been working through them with the team I have been taking pics which have been posted on Instagram and facebook. I am probably going to shift all my rose pics to a hard drive and give them to Cathie to use as new pics for our online catalogue and am planning some changes and upgrades to our web site. I have taken many pics of lots of different flowers and it amazes me how differently some colours display digitally, especially reds, not only on the screen of the camera but also on the different screens I view them through and the programmes I use to view them. As much as I think we have some gorgeous pics of our roses and as true to type and colour as possible, if you want to know their true colour you need to see them yourself and now is the time to do it as most of them are flowering and we still have stock of most varieties so come on out and check out the flowers if you can.  If you aren't local just know that often the colour of the flower, especially the red ones are more red than the pink tones the digital display seems to turn red into.

Paree White        Betty Boop          Yours Always    Wonder Our Amelia    Atayla

Planting at this time of year.

The irrigation has been busy this spring because, overall, the rain we have had hasn’t been enough to keep the plants wet in the nursery. As much as we try there are always dry areas since the plants tend to be organised in square areas and sprinkler go around in circles. We do hand water the areas that we know are going to be dry but sometimes trees and plants use more water than what we provide.

Its important when planting a containerised plant at this time of year to make sure the root ball is wet and this is easily achieved by immersing the plant, whilst still in its container, into a bucket or trough, depending on size, of water and waiting for the air space to displace with water. This doesn’t mean leave it in the water overnight! You know when the air space has been displaced as the air bubbles stop. Haul it out and let the plant drain. Ensure you plant to the same soil level it was when in it's container and then water your plant in by wetting the surrounding soil. Remember that a deep watering is far better than lots of shallow watering. This will allow the water to flow between the plants root ball and surrounding soil.

Mulching the soil surface with a shredded bark like product, ensuring it is not up the stem of the plant, will help lessen moisture loss and actually hold moisture and facilitate water absorption.

If the plant is properly moist at planting time and has been watered in then it may not need watering again for possibly a week or two. Of course this depends on the plant and what its water needs are. Quite often the plant will give you cues and its all a matter of observation and common sense. I hear so often that some people water every day, this can be way too much for some plants.

Plants do like to be nearly dry sometimes, then back to being moist and a planted tree or shrub can last much longer in the soil than a plant in a container. Lets face it once the available water in a container is used then its gone. Containers don’t have as much give and take as the ground does. 

Mme Isaac Pereire  Prospero           Radio Times          Scent by an Angel    Purplelicious

Kumaras are in again and not just red but also orange!

Kumara - Orange, Gold and Red

OMG the first time ever and we have managed to get in orange Kumara slips and of course some more of the normal red and we have gold still coming.

They are in the garden centre right now  for you to plant this weekend. We had sold out of the normal red but now have another 50 bundles on hand. 

We had a nice drop of rain, well hopefully you have had that as well, so the soil should be just perfectly warm and moist to get them in right now. 

Kumara are such an easy crop to grow and so rewarding at harvest time if you take care when digging up.

Planting kumara couldn't be easier, just lay the slip on the ground in position, put two finger in the middle of the slip and push 2/3s  into the soil creating a U shape with the middle in the dirt and the ends sticking out. Don't forget to water in afterwards and keep moist for some days until the slip is away.

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. It is best to have the soil under the mounds quite firm so that the plants don't form tubers too deeply.

It is a good idea to keep the weeds at bay until the tops cover the ground. Harvest before the first frost comes 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, dry place away from rodents. 

Kumara slips are produced from slips or growths from the Kumara tuber that have been rooted in water and so when you plant these 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.

Christmas tree in a pot .... Why not

Christmas is, for many, the time of making wonderful memories, family and friends get together and enjoy each other's company, often over a meal. It is well known that memories are often triggered by fragrance.  The smells of spices like nutmeg and cinnamon and pine tend to trigger my Christmas memories.  Especially when I smell them at the same time. I love the structured evergreen, all year round looking fab, so I have Cedrus and Picea in pots at home. At Christmas time these get decorated and lit up. They started as our table centre tree, then they grew bigger and got moved onto a floor position and now they are in pots outside where we can see them through our main windows and it is such a pleasure to see them. Of course now I don't get that lovely pine smell, might have to get a new table top one to start a new one.

Conifers are excellent subjects for growing in pots or tubs and look cool on decks and patios. Conifers cope well with pot culture, tolerating being dry, (dare I say that), up to a point, full sun, and are, well, just easy to grow. You can keep them trimmed to stay in a pot outdoors if you wish or leave them and plant them in the ground to become big trees. Don't keep them inside for longer than you have to though as outside grown plants don't do well when bought inside for long periods of time.

Table top christmas tree ideas

Picea albertiana glauca conica... is the biggest name for the tiniest tree, but so the cutest and so well suited for a pot... this one is only about 20cm high and would suit being in a small pot and with a few minute decorations would look cool as a table top feature for your Christmas table.

Pinus mugo... again a dwarf and this one is a dwarf pine tree. Could be suited to a new hobby of bonsai hehe... again a small pot and a few decs and suitable as a table top feature.

Pinus pinea we have some new ones of these in again being the pine nut pine tree... you could use these temporarily as a table top Christmas tree with the plan to plant them out later or just grow it in a pot until it gets bigger.

Picea abies is a spruce. It's branches typically droop and it gets the largest cones. Currently a good table top size.

Picea Smithiana currently small enough for a table top tree but gets big so would be a good bonsai option if you want to keep it in a pot. If you have the room to plant this then you will have a beautiful Christmas tree for years to come.

Picea Abies         Pinus Mugo          Pseudotsuga Menziesii   Cedrus Deodora    Picea Smithiana

Some bigger subjects for a potted floor Christmas tree 

Picea Sitchensis a bit big for the table now but great in a corner of the room for a few days over Christmas. 

Cedrus Deodara has a slightly different leaf texture to the pinus and picea trees giving a different texture. 

Pseudotsuga Menziesii  or Redwood has the classic cone Christmas tree shape especially as a mature tree, will be suitable for container growing for a few years. This is a very popular living Xmas tree.

What about our own native Pohutakawa, Metrosiderous Vibrance which is usually flowering around Christmas time and looks gorgeous with all the Chrissy decos on.  

Some conifers will need help to maintain a cone shape with the occasional prune and this will also help to thicken and strengthen their structure so they hold those lovely xmas decos firmly.

Remember that outdoor grown plants don't like too much light change so don't keep them inside for too long or they may get stressed and defoliate. 

All the trees mentioned here are linked to our website so you can check out their current heights but also what height they will attain in the next 10 years to help make your tree selection. Just click the highlighted word links.

Abutilon  Chinese Lantern are an evergreen shrub that will flower non stop throughout most of the year. As the name suggests the flowers are like paper lanterns with solid rich colour. We currently have stocks of yellow, red and white varieties. These are not the dwarf plants, they will grow to about 1.5m.

Hibiscus These are the deciduous varieties that are more tolerant of winter cold but they are just as bold in colour as the tropical varieties. A lovely range of colour options available at present but this can change quickly so if you are looking for these you will want to get your order in and if we are delivering them to you then please note the Christmas delivery cut off dates for truck and courier noted below.

Tie Dye              My Valentine        Lady stanley        Midnight Marvel  Berrylicious

Christmas housekeeping

Time is flying by so fast and we all have to be organised and to that end if you need to get any plants delivered, then by my reckoning, there are just four weeks left before those short weeks.

Our last days for dispatch by courier will be the last full week prior to Christmas being the Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th of December. We don't like to leave this to the last minute as the courier services are pushed to the max in that last week so may even cut off on the Monday... Nobody likes to get dried plants delivered after the holidays LOL

There will be no deliveries at all during the two short weeks of Christmas and New Year and delivery by courier will commence again Tue 7th or Wed 8th of Jan depending on the volume of orders. 

Delivery by truck will commence sometime later in January as the truckers tend to take some well earned rest over this period. 

We are placing our indent orders with our growers, getting them to graft out trees and roses so if you have any requests for large number of the same tree for a drive way tree line or want to make a long row of trees of the same type then place your backorder now for next year. Backorders help us plan what number of plants we may need to have grown in order to supply your needs.

Whatever your plans, whether it is coming to see us in person or living vicariously by checking out our garden videos, finding somewhere to visit on our events page, reading this newsletter with a nice wine while sitting in the shade or perusing our range on the website

have the most fabulous weekend.

cheers 

Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team

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