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Saturday 2nd April, 2022

Hi
Michelias by any other name Magnolias 

Mi key lia or is it Mi she lia, well I have always said the former but I think that the Latin take is the latter. In reality these are all now Magnolias but not all Magnolias are Michelias and there have been some other names changes going on as well. I will continue to call them Michelias because its less confusing but you will see around that some have already begun the name change process.
We will all know the Michelia Figo or the port wine Magnolia that has been around in gardens forever. Depending on your sense of smell whether its port wine or juicy fruit gum as its commonly known. In my head this one is potentially a large shrub though I tend to find that most Michelias are all shrubby in habit. The other species that has been around as long as I remember in my garden centre for years is Maudiae these species are incredibly fragrant though Maudiae has the more showy flowers and Figo, not so.
The late Oswald Blumhardt was one of the first to create some crosses of these desirable shrub trees. Bubbles with it large glossy lime green leaves and fragrant pert cream blushed pink tulip shaped flowers. Then there is Mixed up Miss which I think pays homage to its Figo linage with smaller leaves than Bubbles and has large Figo like flowers as its names suggests, a tad mixed up.
In the past 25 years there has been the introduction of Yunnanensis which apparently should be called (correctly al though I have never seen this) Laevifolia with its olive green shaped leaves and pretty white fragrant flowers. I must add in the other species Gracipes here which in reality is very similar. A quick google search and you'll find that other sites actually say the is is a form of Yunnananesis which is probably why I find it so hard to tell them apart. Over the past decade or so there has been some fun playing around with the different Michelias (swapping pollen) and we have the Jury's to thanks for the intro of Michelia Fairy Blush (which is still coming into stock), Fairy Cream and Fairy White. I do believe these have the correct naming of Magnolia. These selection are fab with a great foliage and respectively attractive fragrant flowers in Blush Cream and white.
Michelias are very tolerant of clipping, cutting and trimming and like Camellias will sprout again from bare wood which make them for excellent choices for topiary, standards hedging and all sorts of creative work. As a stand alone tree then remover the lower branches to create a single leader to form a trunk in time. Full sun, feed with acid or Camellia fertilsers and good average soils.
Thinking ahead 

Strawberries of the Camarosa kind. The best time to get these is in the late autumn or winter and they come as bare root plants in bundles of ten. The best time is to plant these is in the winter so they make healthy root development and then when spring hits they will romp away. The plan is to have these as strong plants that can carry a great crop of strawberries in time for Christmas. So order these now for when they arrive in and in the meantime get the spot where they will be planted ready with lots of well rotted compost, so they can just go in.
Garlic Printanor. Traditionally planted on the shortest day but either side will do. Get the position sorted to plant these with good rich compost as all these crops will produce large heads if they have plenty of food.
Garlic Elephant. Up until a few minutes ago we thought we were out of luck getting this variety but Angela made a few calls and we have some limited stock coming in of these mild sweet cloves.
Shallots. pretty easy to grow and these also go in the ground in the cool dark season to make plenty of root growth before they plump up and make the new shallots that we harvest around Christmas time 
Plants for the plant enthusiast  and just in

Carpodetus serratus (putaputaweta) We have never had such a tall grade before at around 1.4 to 1.6m and they are lovely plants.  An attractive small tree with a very different juvenile and adult form. Its soft leaves are a mid to light green with a mottled marbling, becoming larger, thicker and glossier when older. Small, star-like, white flowers late spring to early summer followed by black berries mid-summer to mid-autumn. 
Rhipsalis Cacti or Mistletoe cactus is a tropical succulent that is native to warm rain forests and its typically an epiphyte meaning that it grows in the crutches of trees and the like. Its pretty easy care to grow in a pot and used as hanging plant looks amazing. Again something that we have never had before.
Senecio Rowleyanus  or  Senecio String of Pearls These are really cool and could be called a trendy succulent houseplant. With its plump strings of pearls they can cascade down over the sides of any pot or can be hung in a basket and left to trail down or along a shelf or windowsill.
Camellia is that a Peony or anemone form flower??

It would seem that the peony form of Camellia flowers is a large and  very ruffled, puckered arrangement of flowers compared to the anemone form. The anemone style tend to have an outer ray of petals and a inner cluster of tiny petals called petaloids, looking somewhat like the formation of a daisy. Both of these are very attractive and usually carried on Japonicas though quite a few are Hybrids which must exhibit Japonicas characteristics. Check out the following to see what you prefer. The problem I had is that I think that some may have some of both forms in their presentation.
Anticipation. Hybrid. This Jury hybrid from NZ has an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. It is a real show off with large double blooms of bright rose pink.
Hawaii. Japonica. Medium to large, double peony form flowers open to soft pink, then delicately fade to blush pink, and show beautifully serrated petal margins.
Volunteer  Japonica. Bred in NZ by Mark Jury to celebrate the 'Year of the Volunteer' this beautiful Camellia certainly a cause for celebration. Large, fully double anemone form, ruffled blooms open to shades of soft pink delicately edged in white and gradually deepen in tone.
Kramers Supreme. Japonica. A very showy Camellia with striking peony type blooms. The creamy white petals are all edged lightly in rose pink. Quite outstanding in full bloom.
Dona Herzilia De Frietas. Japonica. An attractive Camellia with sumptuous, medium sized blooms that are bright coral pink initially and gradually fade to violet as they age.
Brushfields Yellow. Japonica. The antique white outer petals gracefully surround the ruffled inner petals of light, creamy primrose yellow
Sugar Dream. Hybrid. A gorgeous NZ Bred Camellia with fragrant blooms that have warm pink outer petals and numerous ruffled cream petaloides in the centre
House keeping,  Holidays, Stats Deliveries
The way the weeks keep flying past it will only be a matter of time that the school holidays are here and that also means Easter. First up we will be closed Good Friday but will be open for the remainder of the Easter weekend for normal hours including Saturday, Easter Sunday and of course the stat Monday.
Following Easter is Anzac weekend and the garden centre will be respectfully closed until 1pm from which we will be open until 5pm.
There will be a few short weeks for mail order services due to the public holidays and so we will limit dispatch to Monday and Tuesday for the week before Easter so that all parcels get to their destination prior to the weekend. The following two weeks will be Tuesday only for South Island and rural delivery and Wednesday only for local and town addresses.
Mail orders to the South Island and rural deliveries will continue to leave Monday and Tuesday only as freight currently is taking longer to these regions.
There have been delays into Wellington this week but all going well deliveries should be running back to normal from next week.
Gordonton Art and Design Trail 
This has got to be a goodie and mark it off in your calendar, Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May from 10am to 4pm each day.

Trail maps will be available on the day from The Mandarin Tree, The FirePot Café, Woodlands Garden Grove Café and at Bola Ceramics 180 Law Rd. Also maps available online soon on the Gordonton Art and Design Facebook or for more information go to The Gordonton Art and Design Facebook page.  

In the trees
Hi, this is Blair. There I was working in the trees yesterday and it suddenly dawned on me that Autumn was really setting in. Every day as the weather slowly but surely get colder I am amazed by the spectacular change in foliage colours on the trees. The Maples particularly stood out as the changes are so dramatic. The Acer Red Emperor is turning the most stunning shade of deep red and the Acer Sango Kaku is turning a brilliant golden yellow from its normal summer green. We still have quite a few different deciduous tree varieties in stock and its great to see in person how each one of these is evolving and changing with the seasons.

Its going to be a great weekend for in the garden so keep up with the trimming and tidy away of the spring and summer. Organise those planting position for new plants by digging in compost and then let lie until the new stock comes in be it roses, trees, strawberries or garlic and the like. It will really feel like Autumn now, when we wind those clocks back this weekend but we all gain an extra hour in bed. For all those early risers it will suddenly be some what brighter first thing but we lose the longer evenings, can't have it every way. 
Have a great weekend. 
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team

Archived by year 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |

2022 Newsletters...

Autumn already 22 (5th March, 2022)

New Season Camellias (12th March, 2022)

Little Flowered Camellias (19th March, 2022)

Feijoas (26th March, 2022)

..... Michelia Magnolias

Infections (9th April, 2022)

Rhododendrons (15th April, 2022)

Cone bush and Crete pottery (23rd April, 2022)

Wax Scale (29th April, 2022)

Living Fashion (7th May, 2022)

Plants for Hedging (14th May, 2022)

Pumpkin Soup (29th May, 2022)

Banksia names (4th June, 2022)

Reveg project (18th June, 2022)

Hybrid Tea or Floribunda (2nd July, 2022)

Blue roses (16th July, 2022)

Red Roses (30th July, 2022)

Thank you, Muchas Gracias (7th August, 2022)

Busy Time (27th August, 2022)

Spring time... or not? (3rd September, 2022)

Flower addiction (10th September, 2022)

Prunus persica are our peaches (17th September, 2022)

Prunus Armeniaca are our Apricots (24th September, 2022)

Prunus domestica are our Plums (1st October, 2022)

An apple a day ..... (8th October, 2022)

Codlin moth traps (15th October, 2022)

Labour Day Monday (22nd October, 2022)

Pots galore in store (29th October, 2022)

Old Rose, Tea, Myrrh, Fruit or Musk? (5th November, 2022)

Full Moon (12th November, 2022)

Winning roses (19th November, 2022)

Christmas trees (26th November, 2022)

Trim, Cut and Lift (3rd December, 2022)

22 done and dusted (10th December, 2022)



Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: