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Friday 22nd February, 2013

 

 

The Rose Family

Hi

Get your gear off, we need some rain!! 

Thanks to everyone that sent a reply to last weeks email.  It's just awesome to get responses.  The line that I  should have added, for those that are curious, is that Clivia's are named after the Clive family of Northumberland, in particular Lady Charlotte Florentina Clive, Duchess of Northumberland and are therefore pronounced Klie-vee-a.

 

I have to say that its been a mighty hot and rain free February and if you believe in rain dances then it's time to get your gear off and do the naked rain dance as its time that we had some of that wet stuff.  I suggest that you do it in the privacy of your own home so as not to scare  the neighbours, or you may just give them a free peep show. LOL . Having said that, the weather is just perfect for those dry weather projects of which we seem to have a few.  As quite an area of ours is wetlands, summer is perfect for doing those tidy jobs which would be impossible in the winter.

Our other big project,  that we have on is stripping all our  garden centre tables of their plants, water blasting them off and giving them a fresh lick of black paint.  It's probably been three years since we last  did this and some of them are getting pretty old now and so a few repairs are in order too.  We have taken the tall tables away from the entrance and now have laid out these smart new ones. Angela suggested that we should try running them at an angle which, after much discussion and lots of laying them out,  all looks very cool if I do say so myself. It's a brand new look

Rose Ancestry -  Lets start from the beginning.................. 

I was having a chat with Chris (who helps me with all our research) and I had jumped the gun a bit with the piece on the Gallicas and Damasks, so we thought it might be interesting to tell the Rose story from the beginning. After all the Rose has flourished since pre-historic times and despite changing trends in landscape design, Roses, both modern and heritage, remain at the very top of the list of "must have" plants. So whether you believe in creation, evolution or revolution there is no denying that the rose has been with us since time began.

There are approximately 150 recorded species roses that originated from either Europe, America, The Middle East or Asia with names that indicate the place of origin e.g. R. Carolina, R.inidca, R. damascena etc. These roses were all similar in form in that most had single flowers with 5 petals that were followed by a generous amount of hips. Their growth habit would have been untamed and shrub like with plenty of thorns to detour predators. Reproduction would have occurred from the seed bearing hips.

 
Pictorial and written history shows that humans quickly found ways to use the rose for their benefit and originally roses would have been grown for medicinal and herbal purposes. The hips which are full of Vitamin C were used as a food and the flowers were used to make rose wine and oils to treat all manner of ailments. No doubt the rose was so valued that in ancient times crusaders and traders took either the hips or plants with them on their journeys ensuring the distribution of species. These would have inter-bred naturally, forming aesthetically pleasing hybrids which form the basis of the ‘garden' roses that we grow today. Purposeful cultivation of Roses is thought to have begun in China approximately 5,000 years ago and the importance of this cannot be under-estimated, a story that will continue when we cover China roses.

I have always just loved specie flowers of many plants. they have a simplicity which is eleganty beautiful. We do have some species rose that will be available come winter. Check them out here... Species Roses.   Next week we will explore  The Albas....

Deals this week

One of my supplier had Hostas on special this week so I grabbed a couple of my favourites normally $19.99 these here just for $12.99. If you order these on line then you can have five of them at $9.99 each. If you want me to see if they had any other bulk lines of Hostas then send me an email directly to lloyd@wairere.co.nz

Hosta Purple Heart and Silver Knight. Purple Heart has grabbed my attention as I really like its green colour and of course its purple heart namesake. Now whilst I havent grown it in my garden it has performed really well in the garden centre. Its leaves have remained fresh and I haven't seen any slug holes in them. Now this is not to say that it wont attract the attention of slugs but I am tempted to plant these in my garden.

Rhododendrons all half price. These need to go to make space for new seasons plant so out they go. They are all good plants and are in good condition. Grab them at this great price.

Vireya Rhodos, I spied these in flower in the GC and there aren't many but I grabbed a pic of each and thought that they may interest someone here

      

Salvia Silver Sabre, a fancy name for a sage but here it is stunning foliage and  its a plant thats just gonna love a hot dry sunny spot.

Herbs like Parsley Chives and Basil are just $2.00 reduced from $3.99. These dont have an online presence but if interested call on out or email us 

I think that its going to be another hot weekend, remember if you are watering your garden do it for a long time rather than a shorter time and maybe not quite as often. If you're like us and have dry weather chores then get them done as the weather will eventually change. Otherwise have a great weekend.

Take care

Cheers, Lloyd and Harry and the team

Make it a Wairere weekend where gardening's not a drag

Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, RD 1, Hamilton
07 824 34 30
www.wairere.co.nz

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

2013 Newsletters...

New Year and Crepe Myrtles (8th February, 2013)

clivias and Roses (15th February, 2013)

..... Roses in the beginning

The Albas (1st March, 2013)

St Patricks day (9th March, 2013)

Cabbage Roses (15th March, 2013)

Hirsute Roses (22nd March, 2013)

Portland Roses (28th March, 2013)

Bourbon Roses (4th April, 2013)

Big boots to fill ... (11th April, 2013)

True Love and Large Hips (11th April, 2013)

Happy Birthday (10th May, 2013)

Tea Roses (17th May, 2013)

Hybrid Perpetuals (24th May, 2013)

Planting and caring for your new roses (29th May, 2013)

Polyanthas (31st May, 2013)

Hybrid Teas (8th June, 2013)

Floribundas (14th June, 2013)

Austin Roses =?utf-8?Q?e298bc?= (23rd June, 2013)

Different Coppers (29th June, 2013)

Pendula or weeping (5th July, 2013)

All in a days work (19th July, 2013)

Daphne (26th July, 2013)

Hydrangea Secrets (2nd August, 2013)

Maples high worked (9th August, 2013)

Magnificent Mags (16th August, 2013)

Mags Part two (23rd August, 2013)

Hedges (30th August, 2013)

The fluffy stuff (12th September, 2013)

Fluff and Stuff (12th September, 2013)

PC Irises (20th September, 2013)

Beardless Irises (27th September, 2013)

Lavender (4th October, 2013)

The Ilams (12th October, 2013)

Maples (17th October, 2013)

Maples (18th October, 2013)

Maples Part two (24th October, 2013)

Maples Part three (1st November, 2013)

It's Rained (8th November, 2013)

Busy week (15th November, 2013)

Hydrangeas (29th November, 2013)

Its rained some more (6th December, 2013)

Who's pinching my Peaches (13th December, 2013)

Merry Xmas (24th December, 2013)

HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: