Saturday 31st October, 2020
Hi
Cluster, formal or old fashioned... that is the question.
"What is a floribunda and how is it different from a Hybrid tea" is a question that I get asked regularly. I know I have written about this before but I can't get through a rose flowering season without putting up some gorgeous examples of these. In fact, I spent some time yesterday arvo wandering around taking pics of the roses just to share here. They aren't the ones pictured below, you will have to click the links to see them.
Floribundas, or FL, affectionately known as cluster flower roses, make for a stunning display in the garden because they have many individual flowers per stem.. all Icebergs are floribundas, and since most know these, it make them a classic example.
Hybrid Tea roses (HT) are, I think, more formal and some may think more stylish. I often liken these to a rose that you would get from a florist and many like these for picking due to a longer vase life. Hybrid teas often have more petals than floribundas and have a much tighter bud formation which is why they last longer when cut. Often these have only one rose per stem which can be why Floribundas are more showy in the garden. Roses have been manipulated by us for centuries and many modern roses today will exhibit characteristics of both HTs and FLs. I have to admit that it can be quite difficult to tell as HTs can sometimes have more blooms per stem and FLs can have quite HT like buds. I guess that those who show roses may disbud surplus blooms so that all the energy goes into producing one magnificent flower for them to win awards with.
Just to touch on the rose show the Waikato Rose Society Dalton's Spring Rose Show going to be held at the Hamilton pavilion for 2 days being 21-22 November.
Then there are the old fashioned roses like the David Austins which have been deliberately bred by crossing old roses with modern repeat flowering types for fragrance and form. David Austin roses are shrub roses but the flower forms that he has created range from cupped to rosette to the fully double. Shrub roses are just that, they form more of a shrub like stature in the garden and so suit being in borders or places where you may wish for a shrub.
Red and Orange Kumara
What do you do when your brother goes fishing and gives you a whole heap of smoked snapper, well I have done all the usual tricks like fish pie, you know... the one where you do a roux and add capers, herbs, boiled eggs and of course the flaked fish and top with mashed potato and grilled cheese. Another time i made fish cakes by adding the flaked fish to mash potatoes or I actually think it was mashed kumara plus herbs, egged, floured and crumbed but I was feeling lazy this time and decided to ask my brother Dave... what does he do?.
So it's Daves version of smoked fish cakes that I made last night with a few tweaks of my own... again I just guess at measurements.. for him its all about the fish and less of the filler, so here goes...
To a bowl of flaked smoked fish, sans bones and scales, add finely chopped red onion (which I first sauteed in some butter), lots of finely cut coriander. I also small diced a couple of kumara, boiled until just cooked, drained and added as well. (My addition to add some sweetness) Salt and pepper to taste. Add a couple of eggs and some self raising flour to bind and pan fry until golden brown each side... Too easy, no crumbing and serve with some sweet chilli sauce or an aioli of some sort.
To that end it's
kumara planting time, and it was a surprise to find the orange kumara had arrived on our doorstep the other morning, so we now have both red and orange in stock. If you have these on order then please call out and collect as soon as you can as these slips don't last long out of the ground.
To plant these, form the row in which you are going to plant so that its has a firm bottom and then mound the soil on this. Plant at 50 cm spacing or thereabouts by pushing the rooted slip in with your fingers. Keep the ground moist until the slips get away and then they should be an easy, no care crop. Keep weeded and harvest before the frosts, cure the skins and store carefully so they last all winter.
Mollis Azaleas
These are looking amazing at the moment and was worth a mention just so I could show a pic of Tangerine pompom that is flowering in the display garden right now. These deciduous azaleas of course belong to the Rhodo family but tend to include the very bright shades of orange and yellow and of course also pinks through to whites. I know that Tony has created an
Ilam azalea walk at home and the colours graduate from yellow to amber to soft orange into strong orange and finally red... I also know that he has sneaked some whites and others into the back of the garden as well! That's the problem when you like plants... you just have to have them all and it's especially dangerous when you manage a garden centre... Just ask Virginia... she can't resist new plants from work, I'm thinking her new garden is now too small!
Mock Orange
Philadelphus or Mock Orange deserves a mention here this week... they have also just started to bloom. If you love simple white flowers, that pack a powerful fragrance, then these are for you. A deciduous shrub, that will fit nicely at the back of a border, with arching branches about to be covered in sprays of white flowers... some are double and many are single and of buttercup shape. Surprisingly, they do last a few days in a vase when picked.
It's always a good excuse to do some extra work in the garden and a little luncheon for mothers, big number, birthday is the best reason. All the cousins will be here so it's got to look good and so the team are finishing the mulching as I write this. Not only will it make the garden look fab but will condition the soil and conserve moisture throughout the summer. So get the garden up to scratch and then mulch it all... It will also help with weed control.
Angelas picks, she says "Go for the pretties!"
Daisies are always a favourite due to their low maintenance and long flowering period. These will give abundant colour from late spring right through summer and into autumn... up to the first frosts as a rule. Great used as container plants, planted as a low border hedge or just dotted around the garden bed.
Day lilies (
Hemerocallis) are another great performer in the garden, called day lilies due to each flower only lasting a day but are produced in abundance over a good long period in lots of hot summer colours and some cooler ones too.
Herbs are now rolling in, with labour day gone and the promise of warmer temps the growth will start rocketing. Great time to get yours in the ground.
I believe that the Taranaki garden
events are all go so if that is on your agenda, do enjoy, Cathie is ex Naki and says to say Hi to the mountain for her.
Otherwise have a fab weekend
Regards from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team
