Whats in a name ????? hehe...

Hi

Bishops Balls

We have a whole bunch of Asclepias Fruticosa ready at the moment, Now that name is surely a mouthful and really how do you actually pronounce Asclepias!! Far safer and easier to use the name Swan plant and yes is the host plant for those gorgeous Caterpillars and Butterflies of the Monarch Butterfly. Now this reminds me of a little story that I just have to share. A client came into the shop a while back and waited patiently until I had finished serving and the last customer had left the shop and asked very quietly and shyly, "Look I am after this plant but I don't know what it's called, as in its proper name but back in England I have heard it called Bishops Balls." I then got a description that I'll leave to your imagination........ LOL.  Well ! After a good chuckle and no it wasn't a common name that I knew. I then brought up Google and tested its search engines with, well,  Bishops balls prefaced with the word plant just so that there wasn't any confusion with what we were searching for and Voila up came the plant that we all know as the swan plant.  There were a few other common names and I won't ever forget that one again. You just had to laugh !!

Blueberries

Now the interesting and probably quite confusing thing about the Latin names of plants whilst most plants people always use the Latin name, there are many plants that are only known by their common name unless you're  really a plant geek and hopefully I'm  not! For instance I didn't know the Latin name of the Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) or now that I think about it did know it but just get so used to calling them Blueberrys. Enough waffle.

Well we all know size doesn't matter and a good example would have to be the Blueberry.  For a small berry they are full of Vitamin C and antioxidants and Im sure a whole lot more that's good for us.

There are two main types of Blueberry here in NZ, the Highbush and Rabbiteyes. High Bush are native to the northeastern areas of the USA. They are the earliest berries to ripen and start fruiting from mid November and continue through to mid February.

 The rabbit eye bush differs in several ways from the high bush, they are evergreen, more vigorous and tend to have larger crops. In N.Z. these  the main producer of late season fruit, starting production early January and continuing to mid April.  To get the best crops of berries you should have different cultivars of the same type so that they can exchange pollen or more technically correct cross pollinate

Whilst they make for quite small and informal shrub they could be used as stand alone shrubs or even as a fruiting hedge. They are self fertile but will definitely benefit from having a mate close by of the same type. Click here for more info care maintenance etc,  or here for the varieties Six cultivars that would normally be $21.99, this shipment at just $19.99 each

Neem Oil

Check out your roses for scale. It appears as while scaly look on the stems of your roses and there seems to be a bit of it happening at this time of year. Scale will suck all of the green out of the stems especially if there is a lot of them and they have covered the whole stem. Neem oil is the answer and will control not only scale but a whole lot of other pests in a variety of growth stages by suffocating the pest and preventing them from getting oxygen to breathe. Its important though to get good coverage and to do follow up sprays as you wont get all the pests in one go! Most importantly its safe and friendly to use. If you want to know more on organic gardening then we have the famed Wally Richards book Organic Wallys Garden Guide.

Your Feed Back

Lisa from Ngatea writes
Just writing to say that I tried the Zucchini loaf, it was devine! but my son wouldn't eat it because he saw green bits, so today substituted the zucchini for carrot and apple and it was probably even better than zucchini but you have to put the walnuts in, they really make the recipe. Thanks so much for sharing this lovely recipe.

Barbara from Galatea Writes
Once again I have read and really enjoyed your newsletter and in fact can't wait until the next one I get so much pleasure that am going to send it to my garden friends. This afternoon will try the Zucchini loaf. I also really enjoyed the write up in the March New Zealand Gardener magazine. My recipe for Zucchini slice...

1 cup of self raising flour
Half cup of oil
1 zucchini grated'
1 onion grated of finely chopped
3 rashers bacon finely chopped
5 or 4 large eggs
Grease tin or container, mix all ingredients well and bake at 140 degrees for about one hour. This is  just magic!

I have got to give this recipe a go as it just seems so easy to make

Melbourne flower and garden show

Its not too long till we are off to Melbourne for the flower and garden show. I cant wait! must be only a couple of weekends away now.  Four days of visiting gardens, garden show and Im sure that we will mange to fit some shopping in, not too mention some good vinos. If there is anyone still interested email us back pronto and I will get you in touch with Denise. I'm pretty sure she is still taking bookings though not for much longer.

New in this week

I have been buying Flatto peaches from the supermarket and do they ever taste good but you can now grow your own and this is the best time of year for planting Last year we had sweet cap, we now have Peach flatto sweet bonnet and the Nectarine Flatto button bright as well, Click here

Easter is Looming

Goodness how time flies, we are closed Good Friday, open Saturday, Sunday and Monday as normal  from 8.30 to 5 pm and Anzac Day from 1pm to 5pm.

Its a stunning day here, Hoping that it continues into the weekend!!

Have a good one

 

Cheers, Lloyd and Harry