Dark mornings... a sign that Autumn is on its way...YAY
It is already two months past the longest day. When I wake in the morning it seems pretty dark these days. I lay there and have to listen out for the Tui, and that @#^&* Rooster, who indicate that it's an OK time to get up. It is getting cooler and though only 4ml of rain here, it's enough to start freshening up the grass and indicate that we are on our way to Autumn, the best planting time of the year.
My point being that it is time to be planning for those garden planting jobs. I can't wait to get back planting as I have quite a few projects on the go. One is a Kahikatea restoration project out the back that I want to get stuck into and there's an extension to the display garden I want done for which I have been patiently waiting for Autumn... or at least some more of that wet stuff to fall, not that its been an overly dry summer.
If you have a hedge to put in or a large project like revegetation of a space, a new orchard or a revamp of existing gardens then now is the time to start planning, and especially ordering, what you need. Ordering your plants with us prior to their availability puts them on allocation for you, assuming we have enough of them to supply you, as all stock has it's limits.
Camellias,
Rhodos etc will be due around late March/April. New seasons
roses are due end of May/June and then there are all the
ornamental and
fruit trees which usually come available in July. Of course these time estimates are all determined by the weather and readiness of the plants.
I have even been thinking that its time to get my winter vege garden in as well so that I can harvest through the winter... I know that we don't stock vege plants but I want to put the thought out there, for those that need it, it's almost time to get your leeks and brassicas in. I want to have the best brussels this year, ready for picking in the first frosts, but I never quite get them in early enough... just mind that pesky white butterfly and those ferocious caterpillars.
Pungas, Crown fern, Hen and chicken, silver lady are all... ?
If you guessed Ferns then you are onto it... most ferns love those semi shade and reasonably moist positions as they don't quite have the water transport systems of other plants, which means they are a great filler for gardens on the south and east sides of the house or naturalise them under trees and the like.
Pungas will give you height and there are three that we have to choose from.. Dicksonia squarrosa is the brown punga and is probably the most compact and toughest of the ones that we have. This one will cope with quite a lot of sun as well... aptly named for its brown trunk, it has quite a tough look and shorter fern like leaves.
The black punga or Cyathea medullaris is probably one of my favs with wide spreading, classic fronds and the blackest of trunks with pretty handsome koru that emerge from the crown. The other is the internationally known silver punga, famous for the silver tone on the underside of its leaves. It is the name sake for our National Netball team and used as the emblem for many sporting bodies within NZ.
Hen and chicken fern is really a very hardy fern with a lovely soft look, that also seems to cope with some quite dry areas that are also shaded. In fact I would say that many of the Aspleniums are very tolerant of dry areas.
The other ferns that we have are both
Blechnums, being the native crown fern (discolour) and another species (gibbum) of which we have the cultivar Silverlady. I have this huge desire to mass plant shady areas in our display garden with either crown or silver lady and once the ground moistens up will, perhaps, do this project.
It's worth noting that the
foliage of nearly all ferns will contrast nicely with exotics like the round leaf of the
tractor seat plant,
bergenias,
hostas and the like but do them in big drifts for best effect.
For the plantaholics
Hibiscus mutabilis aka confederate rose, Dixie rosemallow, cotton rose or cotton rosemallow has long been grown for its spectacular showy double flowers. This beauty is originally native to SE China and adjoining countries and must have found fame in gardeners gardens all over the world.
A shrubby plant that smothers itself in masses of fully double, typical malva or
hibiscus like flowers. A point of note for this plant is that the flowers open white in the morning and age very nicely to light and then darker pink as the day goes on... interestingly it could be that the aging colour of the flowers may be temperature related as the flowers stay white whilst refrigerated but when taken out into the warmth they age to pink.
Strobilanthes anisophyllus or Goldfussia. I have always known this plant by its genus name of Strobilanthes and it's a little bit frost tender but perfect for those dapple light protected positions. A shrubby kind of plant with herb like purple black pointed leaves that look really cool when contrasted with the coloured leaves of hostas, the very rounded leaves of tractor seat plants or a mass planting of some lacy ferns.
Echium fastuosum or Pride of Madeira. This one is for a very bright and sunny position and will always delight with its spires of blue flowers that have the bees going flat knacker. This spectacular plant belongs to the Borage family and when you look at the flower you can see why. Again herby and shrubby in style with long pointed leaves that are almost rosette in form. Leave a bit of room for this one of around 1.2m x 1.2m for pride of place at your place.
I have to mention here also The
Japanese umbrella pine with one of those 'how the heck do you say this' names. I usually stick with the common name myself because
Sciadopitys Verticillata is not a mouthful anyone should have to deal with. Holding my hand up as one of those plant fanatics I have a gorgeous one of these at home in a pot and it is now some 2.5m high... though I must admit that it's now time it goes into the ground. This plant is reasonably slow growing so my one must be getting some age on it now, to be so tall.
Just arrived in
There was a real shortage of citrus of late, especially after lockdown, and the following months but happy to say we do have some of the more classic lines available so in stock including
oranges,
Satsuma Silverhill mandarins, and at last, good stocks of lemon
Meyer.
We haven't had a
Feijoa on the place for months so am pleased to say there are now plenty in stock with an excellent cultivar selection to choose from. All are good renown cultivars and cutting grown so that you know the fruit will grow true to type.
A note from Virginia to say that we have an excellent range of Tea tree or
Leptospermums available now. Check the link to see all of the cultivars. She also raved about the grade of the bottle brush
Little John which also hasn't been ready for a while.
I think that I must have dealt to most of the possums that were raiding my orchard as suddenly the fruit has stopped being bashed to the ground and I actually have some plums and nectarine that are going to ripen. I thought to myself that next week I might actually do some bottling for use in the winter so have added sugar to the shopping list.
Sunday is Valentines day and it's worth a google for a giggle LOL. The true story of valentines day as quoted from google. "The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honoured by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day"... makes you wonder!
Then there's the 25 fun thing to do on Valentines day. My list header would be 1. Share a day in the garden 2. Enjoy a picnic in the garden 3. Stroll through the garden 4. Visit some beautiful gardens together... LOL that's my suggestion for the start of the list but google has their own list... however you choose to celebrate it... have an amazing valentines day and a fabulous weekend.
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team
