Friday 12th June, 2026
Hi
National Field Days is a big deal around the Waikato as country, and sometimes town, people flock to this event which showcases all things rural and the latest innovations. This year's theme is 'Your Place' which can mean different things to different people. For me, it has the association that you hopefully have the power to make where you live into somewhere you feel you belong, whether what makes you smile is: hanging a photo on a wall; painting your hallway bright yellow; or, planting your favourite plants. Maybe for others it's a shelter belt to protect your stock, or a topper to tow behind the tractor. Whatever takes your fancy, there is sure to be something for everyone.
These guys look forward to their farmers bringing home Field Day goodies
Potting is progressing well with over 14,000 roses root-pruned and potted to-date. There are still a fair few more to go, but the winter storms have delayed lifting some of the plants. We will definitely let you know when your plants are ready to go. Wellington folks will have experienced the full force of nature which has put paid to some ferry crossings and delayed freight movements around the county. Sorry folks, but we are all at the mercy of the weather when it comes to deciduous tree and shrub time. Shortly, we will be sending out links so that you can pay for the fruit trees on your waitlists. These are due in over the next 6-8 weeks. We have a lot of interest in some varieties e.g.
Luisa Plums - there are currently 170 people waiting for them - so make sure to add them to your waitlist so you are notified first. We basically get all our deciduous stock at this time of year, so it's when we have the best variety of
Deciduous ornamental and
Fruit Trees available.
So many Roses
Sometimes when people first come into the nursery they are astounded to see the number of
Roses we have, and sometimes a little overwhelmed with the choice on offer. As a way to help you narrow it down, I asked all the staff here to pick one or two roses which are their personal favourites. It could be the colour of the rose, its fragrance or something else about it which makes it a stand out. After all, some of the staff have been here for many years and have seen many varieties, so they know which are the good doers and ones which perform year after year.
Angela mentioned
Dublin Bay climber which is a really distinctive deep red and you can always tell ever from a distance that it's a Dublin Bay, also healthy and strong but no fragrance. For those who want fragrance, and also that amazing red colour, her suggestion is
Red Flame which is beautiful to look at and has a nice smell. My personal favourite climber is
Wedding Day which is only a once-flowering rose, but very vigorous so it can cover a large area with ease. Not especially fragrant but an absolute picture around the end of November followed by bright red hips in Autumn. It makes me think of my son whose birthday is around this time. I also love
Mme Alfred Carriere which is another white/touch of pink rose, but this one is a repeat-flowerer. It has a nice fragrance and also can cover a large area with ease.
Several of the staff (Tony, Owen, Michelle) noted
Lemon n Lime as one which is a great garden performer. Bunches of flowers are produced in summer and they last well in a vase and its very disease resistant with a nice perfume. One staff member has these as 80 cm standards in their garden. You also shouldn't discount the
Iceberg range which can look amazing
en masse. Ange has grown two of each variety of Iceberg because they complement each other really well when picked for a vase and because they flower so much they can look great together.
Katie loves
Just Joey which is a stand out because of its colour (apricot) and the massive flowers it produces. Several customers commented to Jan recently how they love
Jude the Obscure for the colour and fragrance which is very strong. Anita loves
Auckland Metro for the same reasons - a gorgeous subtle creamy white with an amazing scent. Buster mentioned
Christchurch Remembers for the same reason - it's one that many roses people comment on from outside our entrance way. For other staff favourites, including Lloyd's picks, tune in for next week's newsletter.
Fruit of the week
I was listening to the radio last week and someone mentioned the best fruit at this time of year are sweet
Navel Oranges. As someone who used to own such an orange tree; I can agree with that. There is a certain flavour from a home grown orange that cannot be replicated in the shops. I think most people would also be shocked by the amount of sprays that are sometimes used on commercial fruit to ensure they stay blemish free.
The name orange was given to this plant before the name for the colour came about. It's thought that orange is derived from the sanskrit word for orange tree which is nāraṅga. It traveled through Persian (nārang) and Arabic (nāranj) and into European languages such as French and Old English. After this, people started using this word to represent the colour. Before this, in the 16th Century, English speakers called that colour yellow/red. Then it was a short jump from saying a norang to an orang(e) and
voilà we have a new word... orange. Whatever they are called they are fantastic to ward off winter lurgies as they are packed full of Vitamin C, fibre and potassium and magnesium. We have a whole raft of
Navel Oranges, which generally fruit in winter, and they are sweet, juicy and easy to peel and great eaten fresh or added to salads.
Compare this to the
Valencia Oranges which fruit in the warmer months and have a sweet but slightly tart flavour. These have thin skin and are great for juicing. They also sometimes have seeds. Or for something completely different, how about
Orange Vaniglia Pink? This variety is acid free, ripens between August and December and is very juicy with a smooth rind. Examples of Navel Oranges are pictured below:
Here are images of some Valencia types and the Vaniglia:
Pruning
While we are waiting for the arrival for the new season's deciduous
Fruit Trees we are fielding lots of enquiries about them and also about their care. Although it is a wee bit early to begin pruning, it doesn't hurt to think about how you will approach it when we get into the middle or later part of July. That's the sweet spot for pruning in the northern area of the North Island anyway. The main principle of pruning revolves around the fact that plants fruit and flower better on horizontally growing wood rather than vertical branches and stems. If you keep pruning to outward facing buds, then you will be encouraging more sideways growth and keeping the branches and fruit of your tree within more easy reach.
Winter is a great time to do your research about which varieties you are interested in and figure out whether you need a pollinator. There is lots of good information about pollinators on our website in the "How to" section. You can find info under the names of the various types of fruit trees (e.g. for apples see
here). You should also think about how much space you will need for your trees, and this depends on how you will grow them. Espaliered plants take up much less space, but need support and a warm fence or wall with wire or similar on which to tie the leaders.
Double grafted Apples and
Pears are good value if your space is limited. You are going to be looking at 2,3 or 4 years of growth before a tree begins producing fruit, so the best time for planting was yesterday! There's information about planning a home orchard
here.
Speaking of having enough space for your fruit trees, if you are considering a citrus but have limited space, you might want to check out the dwarf range we have in stock. These guys only generally grow to about 1.5 m maximum in height and width, so are perfect for a courtyard or smaller section where space is at a premium. The way a dwarf rootstock works is that it restricts the flow of water and nutrients from roots to tips. The plant's natural reaction to the stress caused by this restriction is to initiate fruiting earlier than would happen in a full-sized tree. Larger trees spend their early years diverting a certain amount of energy to produce more roots and branches; which is good as a big tree really needs to develop a robust root and branch system before it gets weighed down by fruit. You will therefore often see a young dwarf tree with a heavier crop than a full size tree of the same age.
Thanks for reading, hope you have a great weekend, regards Tracy
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere Team
