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Friday 15th March, 2013

 

 

Peel me a Grape Please!!

Hi

De leaf your Grapes before Harvest time

OMG I was trawling through all the back issues of all our email newsletters and what a varied collection of events, happenings and stories. Trinity the Italian greyhound pup that Anthony (our garden designer) kept from Galaxys first litter, is now a year old (Doesn't time fly).  I have to say that there is a common seasonality and there is nothing surer that after Summer comes Autumn and we are right in the middle of picking all that fruit and food from our gardens. I grabbed a whole bag (the first crop) full of Packham pears off a tree in our potager that we are shaping into something that Anthony has seen in a classic garden book. Harry was up there picking bunches of Albany surprise grapes for all to eat. Feijoas are just around the corner as I see them swelling and a good thing too as we have nearly finished all of last years bottled ones. Then we will have persimmons which I reckon are pretty easy to grow and have fruit and such a gorgeous tree to have in the garden.

A little tip to help your grapes ripen is to remove some of the excess foliage so that the sun gets onto all the bunches and they really should be sweetening up big time with this summer.

Cheesecake is too easy to make! Mums recipes are usually pretty easy to do and this will be a winner dessert. Pineapple is my favorite but adapt it to whatever you fancy. Just make it ahead of time and not at the last minute so that it has time to set properly. Click here to Whats Cooking! then head to sweets.

THE CENTIFOLIAS  !!! Check our Roses here

It would seem that sneaking a cutting or two into ones hand luggage or bra strap has been a thing from centuries back! It's a different world today. Welcome to the Centifolias AKA  affectionately as Cabbage Roses

While we do not stock many Centifolia Roses at Wairere they are an essential part of the Rose story and introduce us to the first fully double roses. The name Centifolia accurately describes the abundant amount of petals that are characteristic of the Centifolia Group i.e. "rose of 100 petals". The common name also refers to the petal formation i.e. tightly packed like a Cabbage but oh they smell so much sweeter. As these roses do not re-produce naturally from seed it is assumed that they are man made hybrid but originating from where? Records from around the late 16th century show that at the time Centifolia Roses were AKA Rosa hollandica or the Great Holland Rose and that skilled Dutch horticulturists hybridized many of the Centifolia roses that we know today. We also know that the Dutch were great explorers, were the original Centifolia hybrids collected on these journeys and then merely improved by the Dutch? There is no doubt the odd Centifolia rose or two was an essential part of their hand luggage either coming or going so we can certainly give full credit to the Dutch for introducing and popularizing Centifolia roses. Modern science has shown the Centifolia rose to have the chromosones of R.gallica, R.phoenicia, R. canina and R. moschata, a complicated heritage indeed. BTW ( By the way)  do you know how to tell the sex of a chromosome? Look up its genes! LOL.

       

Centifolia roses have been and are still used in the perfume industry. There is a famous historical picture "The Perfume Makers" by Rudolph Ernst that depicts this beautifully. So next time you dab some of your favourite scent or cologne be aware that you are evoking rose history.

Characteristics of Centifolia Roses

• Showy double blooms in clusters of 3 or 5 that appear in summer
• Colour range from creamy white to mid pink
• Usually very fragrant
• Medium in size with a slightly lax habit and arched stems
• Mid green foliage
• Pruned immediately after flowering by about ½

R. ‘Fantin La Tour' is probably the most well known and popular of this group, a beautiful pale pink rose with large full blooms that are beautifully fragrant.

HALF PRICE  Check out the family deals page.  Click here.

Roses and thats all of them, Azaleas evergreen,  Assorted Shrubs,  Hostas, we having a sort out and tidy up before all our new stock starts to arrive in.

Pillar and tall standard roses are all half price too so if you want a feature in your garden then these are fantastic.  A pillar rose has many bush roses grafted up a 1.5m stem and as such will create this amazing colourful feature pillar in the garden. The tall standard roses are mostly weeper and also suit a special spot in the garden

Lack of rain is not the only drought at our place !!! Its been 6 months without a drink for H, Unfortunately or fortunately I haven't been quite so disciplined.

Well! we have had some rain promised and I really hope that it comes, I know that its won't be enough but with the much shorter days will hopefully have some effect. It will take some more rain to really break this long dry patch. When I was back tracking through my emails i see that there have been a couple of droughts, previously over the past 3 years though probably not like this one. I nearly got myself into trouble over a flippant comment thrown in over doing the naked rain dance though which I suspect is not forgotten.

Dont forget that even though its dry there are Autumn tasks that you really must undertake. Check the Autumn task list out here. Autumn Tasks. What ever your plans have a great weekend!

 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 (22nd February, 2013)

The Albas (1st March, 2013)

St Patricks day (9th March, 2013)

..... Cabbage Roses

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: