Friday 26th April, 2019
Hi
Have you earmarked your new seasons roses online yet?
It's that impending time where we start frantically printing labels, rose labels to be sure, and by the 1000's.
My mum gets in on the act and she checks off all the labels from the big list and ensures that they are all in alphabetical order, correctly priced and adequate descriptions on each for an easy glide into the potting season. Cathie is making sure we have plenty of planter bags of all sizes and organising the many cubes of fresh potting mix tailor made just for our roses. I am thinking that maybe we need a faster computer than the one we have for outside use as its doesn't keep pace with the team anymore, they have become so efficient with the whole process.
What rose bloom suits your personality type ????
Now we have specialised in roses for many years, well really since the very beginning of Wairere. I have learnt over the years that most clients tend to be quite specific in their taste, or should I say style of bloom, that they prefer. Maybe its a reflection of their personality or maybe I shouldn't read too much into this as I might get myself into trouble.
If I think about what my fav roses are well they tend to be the more unusual, as in single bloom or species that have either very small flowers or large hips or even huge thorns hmm, wonder what that says about me LOL
Hybrid Teas HT
First up on my list then are the Hybrid tea... in my opinion these are the formal flowers of the rose world. These ones I always relate to those that florists love to put in arrangements or sell as single blooms. Classic hybrid teas often have one flower per stem though this is not always the case, especially these days with many new varieties having some floribunda in their parentage. The buds are large with many petals, tightly packed into a pointed cone shape, which are excellent for floral art work and displaying in a vase. The flowers last longer due to the large petal count. However there is always that member of the family that doesn't quite conform to the norm and
Ellen Wilmott rose is a good example of this being a single HT.
Hybrid teas often have strong upright stems and framework and can often be pruned harder than their floribunda cousins. Though remember if cut back too hard then less flowers will be produced. HT roses often suit formal rose beds and you quite often see these displayed in council gardens. HT's are equally comfortable in the home border garden but need to have some room around them as airflow and good light are important. Planting in groups of three will often bulk up a plant quicker and give a better floral display than one on it's own.
Floribundas FL
Floribundas, also modern roses, are quite often called cluster flowered as they typically have many flowers on each stem. These roses make amazing displays in the garden as they are all show. Now don't think that these don't have those gorgeous buds because many still have some HT genes, but they sometimes have a few less petals but look stunning, as these open, just enhancing the mass effect. These also look pretty cool in a vase.
Floribundas could be described as being more twiggy or bush like but as with Hybrid Teas could be planted in a formal situation but will also suit being grown as a flowering hedge (ie planted at 70 to 100 cm spacing) or grouped as clusters in a more informal garden situation.
Austin roses AU
Shrub rose is a broad name that well... more describes a growth habit. ie shrubby in habit, this group includes old shrub roses, modern shrub roses and Austin roses
Austin roses have been around since the 60's and have been created by crossing old roses with modern roses and they all, typically, have old fashioned style flowers. Austin or English roses have a natural arching shrub like appearance. Very few plants flower as often as a rose bush does, sometime 3 to 4 times in a season, and you can use Austin roses in the garden as you would any other shrub. If you think that a Mock orange or viburnum is a shrub in the garden you could equally use an old rose or Austin rose in it's place or alongside it.
Patio roses are like Floribundas except on a smaller scale usually with more petite blooms to match. They are the compact diminutive version of the larger floribunda roses. These smaller floribunda are great for small areas or for a lower layer of colour.
...and then there are plants that aren't roses!
Pyracantha Brilliant aka Firethorn and you can see why when you see the colour of the berries adorning it from autumn through winter after masses of dainty white flowers in spring transform this hardy shrub that hails from China. It doesn't mind the cold at all and is considered coastal tolerant but won't thank you for a hot dry site. It's evergreen, coastal and cold tolerant and is stunning as a topiary or espalier.
Lagerstromia, anything starting with Lager has to be good right? Well this one is better known as Crepe Myrtle. It takes it's common name from the effect of it's blossom petals being all crinkly just like crepe paper. The colours of the blooms range from white to pinks to reds and they flower prolifically in the summer giving an exuberant show of colour. The ones in stock at present all grow to around 3-3.5m so are suitable for smaller gardens but take a note of their bark as it is very textural and just makes you want to touch it. Choose a site protected from the wind so you can hold onto those gorgeous flowers longer.
Have you made plans for Mothers day
I had better book a date for dinner with the mother for
Mothers Day which is not that far away now being Sunday 12th May. Dinner is always a fun thing to do but if you are looking for a little idea for a little something to go with your dinner date then we have heaps of new seasons
Camellias,
Rhodos,
winter roses or the like. If you are stuck for ideas for a gift check our the pics in our
facebook page for some inspiration.
I know there are many who like to take their mum out to lunch at any of the many cafes that are in town. There are some lovely ones out our way. Come for a browse in the garden and
garden centre afterwards. Hopefully the day is fine.
Garlic, Broad bean and pea seeds back in stock
Its been a tricky week getting plants here and I have to say that we were expecting at least 600 citrus plants including all new seasons
mandarins, lime, oranges, and
grapefruits but at this point on Friday morn its unlikely that they will arrive so I guess it will be first thing next week... But the
garlic and
broad bean and
pea seed have arrived as we quickly ran out from our initial order..
I was checking out my broad beans in the garden the other day and they are not visible yet, I can see the soil beginning to lift from where they are going to emerge. All I had to do was scratch the top soil away and sure enough they are on there way up. We ran out of Elephant garlic but its here now and so I will have to tag some for my garden. I am going to plant it early this year to see if I can get bigger heads than I have had in the past. Apparently it establishes a good root system through the winter in preparation for sizing up large heads in the spring.
I'm a big fan of the
Elephant garlic as its easy peeled and chopped though I'm sure that the
Printanor has superior flavour being a true garlic.
Almost an email without mention of the weather but not quite... we were lucky enough to get 23 mls on Easter Monday ... yahoo but dare I say we still need more but at least that was some.
Another weekend and I guess that it's back to school next week for the young and life around town will return to normal.
Have a fabulous weekend
Cheers
Lloyd Tony and the Wairere Team
