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Saturday 5th November, 2022

Hi

 Old Rose, Tea, Myrrh, Fruit or Musk?

Hello, how have you been??
I'm Cecilia writing again.(I advise you to read until the end if you want to know our special prices.)
You cannot imagine how much I have enjoyed the Wairere roses this year. I think I have already told you that I am a rose lover. I love to look at them, enjoy their colours, shapes, and perfumes, and enrich my spirit at the same time. 
A very different scenario compared to last year isn't it?
Last year on this date here in The Waikato, we were in Lockdown Level 3 , if I remember correctly. 
We had the garden centre full of daisies, lavenders, and roses, all in full bloom, the exact moment when customers should come to see them and fall in love.
But what to do in this new situation where only click-and-collect was allowed? 
Lloyd and his creative leadership asked us to move the tables with the nicest perennials to the middle of the car park, so our customers could see them. I remember we saved the situation with all our perennials. But, what do we do with all the roses in full bloom in the middle of the garden centre where no one can see them? 
Then, we came up with the idea to make a drive-thru (Like Maccas) so that people could drive-in through the garden centre to see all the roses available from their cars. This idea did not work out very well. The uphill brought complications to the drivers, and unfortunately, the corridors of our place are not designed for cars to circulate.
Well, at least we tried it... 
It was right on these days when we literally were under the pump, running through the garden centre. Showing roses to customers, collecting orders and dispatching, trying to organise and have everything collected every 2 hours, while keeping ourselves far away from each other to avoid getting sick. It was crazy!! 
I am glad all this is over, and it is now another anecdote in the history of Wairere Nursery.
In fact, now we have a little more time to perform other activities. Like me now, taking photos of roses to share with you on social media - I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 
I often close my eyes when I am close to a rose to concentrate on its parfum, mixed with the moist soil after rain that activates pleasant memories in my brain. 
Did you know that rose fragrance has the magical ability to calm you down and lift your spirit?
Rose fragrance can change with the age of the flower, the weather, the season and even year to year. 
Generally speaking, there are five main groups: Old Rose, Tea, Myrrh, Fruit and Musk. Although, within each group, there are huge variations.
First, let's quickly review the rose classification to understand how roses are associated with different perfumes.

Roses Classification

Roses have been cultivated since as early as 2000 years BC (in China). Modern roses have largely originated as hybrids of the species roses which have been grown for centuries. The exact origin of many of our modern roses however is complicated, difficult to follow, and some cases difficult to track down at all.

Modern Garden Roses 

CLIMBING TYPES: Climber (with stiff stems), Miniature, Pillar and Rambler (with lax stems).



NON-CLIMBING TYPES: Floribunda, Grandiflora (an American term not widely used elsewhere), Miniature, Patio, Polyantha bush, Hybrid Tea, Recurrent flowering shrub (various sizes and forms).


The English Roses

An important modern classification - these roses have extraordinary favour with the buying public. They are old world roses crossed with modern roses (mainly by the breeder David Austin).The Old Rose fragrance is also quite commonly found in David Austin's English Roses the classic being Gertrude Jekyll whose truly superb fragrance always reminds me just how wonderful roses can be.

It is found most commonly in the English Roses and in fact the very first, Constance Spry, has a very strong myrrh fragrance as has Gentle Hermione and Boscobel (along with hints of hawthorn, elderflower, pear and almond!). It probably came from the Ayrshire ramblers which are hybrids of R. arvensis, the Field Rose.

Unfortunately, these roses are not easy to find, either because of the rights that Austin gives for NZ or because of the high demand. In any case, we leave you here some suggestions that are from David Austin and that also have a pleasant perfume.


The Myrrh fragrance is divisive; most people like it but others find it unpleasant, reminding them of hospitals. It is reminiscent of sweet anise and in fact has nothing to do with myrrh (as in the three kings) its name coming from the Latin name for the herb Sweet Cicely, Myrrhis odorata.

All the above fragrance emanate from the petals whereas the musk fragrance comes from the stamens. It wafts in the air with the greatest of ease and smells even more beautiful at a distance while close up it often smells like cloves.

It is not just the flowers that smell. The mossy growth around the buds of the Moss Roses is sticky and has a delicious resinous scent. Walking past the Sweet Briar, R. rubiginosa on a warm humid evening will be like smelling green apples..


Old World Roses/Species Roses 

CLIMBING; Ayrshire, Boursault, Climbing Tea, Noisette.

RAMBLER; Multifiora, Sempervirens (wild rose), Wichuriana (wild rose)

NON-CLIMBING; Alba - tall and white, Bourbon - flowers normally large, leaves glossy, Boursault, Centifolia (Province) - a profusion of petals, also called the cabbage of rose, China - usually small, compact and twiggy growth. Damask - open bushes/diverse group. Gallica - very prickly, Hybrid Perpetual - similar to modern roses but better leaf cover, Moss - foliage covered by a moss-like growth, Musk- bred in the UK between 1912 and 1939, all are free flowering and perfume, Portland, Rugosa - dark green, leathery, rough leaves, Tea Rose, Sweet Briar.


The Old Rose fragrance is arguably the most delicious and as might be expected is found most commonly in the Gallicas, Damasks and Albas although each has its own subtle note. The big ramblers with thousands of small single or semi double flowers are the best source.


The Tea fragrance does sometimes actually smell of a freshly opened packet of tea leaves not tea bags! but can also be quite tarry and earthy and with a strong violet character.

Unsurprisingly it is found in the Tea roses like the well-known Lady Hillingdon as well as the rather tender early Noisettes like Celine Forestier.

Moss


A number of the English Roses have this fragrance too the best known being Graham Thomas although Port Sunlight is strongly Tea too.
Within the fruity fragrance you will find just about every fruit you can buy from your greengrocer from apple, pear, banana, raspberry, strawberry, blackcurrant and all the citrus fruits to the more exotic guava and lychee. Roses with either R. chinensis or wichurana in their background are most likely to exhibit a fruity fragrance.

Semi Tropical plants 
And if smelling the fruity perfume of roses evokes savouring their exquisite fruit flavour, I suggest you grow traditional and exotic fruit trees in your garden. This week a wide variety of fruit trees arrived, some semi-tropical, such as Macadamia,  Cape gooseberry, Papaya, Passionfruit, Guavas, Pepino, Pomegranate, Tamarillos, and Curry Leaf trees. They love the heat as long as they are also provided with enough moisture for healthy growth. The ideal would be minimum temperatures of around 10°C throughout the year. Here in Waikato, you can put them in a backyard to protect them from the cold of winter.

If in your locality the cold occurs a couple of times a year, and you simply do not want to complicate yourself protecting the plants, we recommend that you choose different fruit trees such as berries: Blackberry, orangeberry, berry delight, raspberry, longanberry, gooseberry, Worcesterberry, strawberry or blueberry. Some other options are Feijoas,  and Chilean guava (To make Murtado, a Chilean liqueur made from the fruit of Chilean guava, the berries are macerated in a neutral spirit (aguardiente). Delicious but strong!!).

If we continue mentioning plants originating from Latin America, you cannot miss the colorful stock of Alstroemerias and delicious Kumaras.


SALE    SALE    SALE   SALE
Apricots, Peaches, Apples, Cherry, Nectarines, Plum, Quince and Pear

25% off
Marked prices, except double and triple grafted and espalier.

Descansen este fin de semana.!!
Cheer 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 (2nd April, 2022)

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?

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: