I remember when I was a child, seeing my friends having fun outside and I couldn't go with them. Today I got the same feeling; working in the office and getting the admin work done when all the fun is in the garden centre. 

There is a lot of activity over here. By far the most entertaining time of year at Wairere.

The bays are filling up with trees and plants everywhere, the car park is full of cars, and our shop is full of customers waiting to pick up their orders or pay for their plants.

The staff - including the newcomers - with the best attitude trying to find the supplier, price, and rootstock of the tree that the client has paid for. This is not an easy task among the thousands of fruit trees, ornamentals, roses and plants that have arrived lately. And we haven't been able to put them all in alphabetical order yet since COVID has been going around here, causing havoc and delaying our tasks.

On the flip side, the Dispatch Team don't stop packing plants; with the Care that characterizes them, they put every plant in a box to protect them during the journey to your home. Printing tickets, assigning deliveries by courier or trucks according to the size of the order, and carefully checking that your personal information and plant are correct. These are some of the tasks they perform day to day.

Picking-List, either for collection or dispatch is a daily task that requires the time of two or three people, always paying the greatest attention to choosing the right plant and best quality.

All this is happening right now, and I'm sitting here getting the office work done, which is also extremely important.

Answering the phone, notifying customers about pending orders that have arrived, receiving and adding plants into our system, and checking that all the information on our website is correct.

Planning orders for next year's season, printing posters to easy find your plants in the garden centre and writing the newsletter of course.

Many tasks to do... but honestly, I consider myself more of an outdoor person than an office person, especially when the weather is nice and the perennial summer flowers start to arrive. I can't wait to go out to design new displays to make everything pretty!

Daisy Barbie

Daisy Butterball

Daisy Cherry Harmony

Daisy Coral

If I could have been outside, I would surely be receiving the last trees of the season, an activity that the team is doing today. Gay ( who prunes and labels more than 7 hundred trees per day), keeps the boys busy during potting.  What a Superwoman!!

Nectarine Goldmine

Nectarine Red Gold

Nectarine Snow Queen

Nectarine Flavourzee Dwf Std

I always remember my childhood enjoying fruit preserves. There is nothing like the sweet smell of delicious jams or preserved fruits in Winter. Quinces, cherries or peaches are my favourites. My mum used to make peaches in syrup, and we weren't allowed to open them because they were destined for special occasions or guests visiting us. My sister and I always discovered where mum stored them and quietly tried to open a jar. Unfortunately, we always struggled to open them; they were vacuum sealed Lol. It was quite an adventure!

Quince Pineapple

Quince Smyrna

Quince Taihape

Quince Van Dieman

Cherry Compact Stella CT

Cherry Dawson

Cherry Lapins

Cherry Summit

Peach Blackboy

Peach Golden Queen

Peach Springcrest

Peach Red Haven

When I think about fruit trees, I always remember climbing the old apple tree on my grandfather's farm in the Andes Ranges in Southern Chile, where I spent hours eating delicious apples, or eating plums while riding horses. My grandfather "Tata" used to tell us off because we stained the saddles, Lol!!), incredible how aromas and flavours connect us with good memories and feelings.

Now, I try to create memories with my children. It's a family task when we make preserves and jams, so they will remember Mum when feeling the aroma of quinces or plums from New Zealand.

When I say plums from New Zealand, it's because of those delicious Plum Luisa that Lloyd shares with us every summer. I've never seen it anywhere else. I was curious about its Latin name "Luisa", so I started researching its origin, and this is what I found so far:

"The Luisa plum originated in Nelson Street, Hamilton, New Zealand. My friends Doug and Maria purchased the property about 30 years ago from Polish people and cut pretty much all trees down except for two. One of them was an apple tree and the other an unknown species. They decided to observe it until they knew what it was. It blossomed and then grew fruit they had never seen before. They approached MAF who proceeded to search the world and their finding was that this tree was the only one in existence. They worked with an arborist in Cambridge who sells the trees. The plum was named Luisa after Maria's Guatemalan grandmother.

 And this is the lovely story about the Luisa plum :)"

Taken from it original source;

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1490840/luisa-plum

Apple Braeburn MM106

Apple Fuji MM106

Apple Granny Smith M27

Apple Pacific Rose MM106

Angela reminded me that it will soon be Father's Day. It's a funny thing. In different parts of the world, Mother's Day is always on the same date - in May - while Father's Day in Chile, for example, is in June and here in September.

Anyway, I think a fruit tree it's a great gift alternative  to celebrate this special day. 

We have double and triple grafted fruit trees, which means you have two or three varieties in one tree, ideal for small gardens, or to make trellises or simply to grow in a large pot.

Apple Dble Red DeliciousGranny Smith

Pear Dble ConferenceDoyenne du Comice

Cherry Dble SummitSam

Nectarine Dble Red GoldSnow Queen

I went for a quick walk outside the office. Lloyd advised me to do so. It is incredible to see how the leaves of roses have grown. You can see the different colours and even some flowers are already showing timidly.

The recently arrived Climbers and Old fashion roses come to complete our central bays.

Maybe, it's a good opportunity to give you some tips on how to look after your roses.

Winter. The spray programme will provide a good base for the start of a new season. Alternate your sprays so that disease resistance doesn't become a problem. Full dormancy:  Lime Sulphur. This organic spray cleans up, scale, fugal pathogens, etc, and kills lichens which attach to old roses. Bud movement: Oil and copper.

Spring. The first leaves of the season are delicate and can be susceptible to infection due to the climatic conditions of Spring. From leaf, burst apply Gild or Shield and alternate them at approx 14 day intervals. These are good sprays for general use. Gild and Shield are systemic sprays that control both fungal and insect problems.

Summer. Powdery mildew and mites tend to be the problems. Keep up with Sprays of Gild, Shield, Super Shield and or Bravo, Mites are a real nuisance and the sprays to control them are quite toxic. However, you can use Spraying oil at summer rates which will help, you can use an insecticide called Mavrik which controls both Mites and Aphids.

Remember to feed your roses each month, use well-rotted organic matter or an artificial fertilizer of your choice; Maintain deep waterings to keep your roses flowering through this time.

Spray for rust when you notice it, with Mancozeb or Yates All Purpose Rose Spray.

Have a nice weekend. Que tengan un lindo fin de semana. ;)

Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.