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Sunday 23rd June, 2013
The longest night has passed
Hi
What should you be doing on the longest night
Not only is it the shortest day but its the longest night. and what else do we do on the longest night, (and no I'm not being naughty) but you plant your Garlic, well during the day anyway. Well there are some that perhaps might get out there under the stars and plant their garlic crop but I'm not one of them.Fragaria × ananassa.
Who would guess that we were talking strawberries, the luscious delicious fruit that we all know and love so much. Just gorgeous picked straight of the plant and popped into ones mouth, then theres the type that I know, that add them to Champagne cocktails and the more domesticated, make jam and other yum preserves. BUT it's now that you plant these, smack bang in the middle of winter so that their roots go deep and the plant is well established by spring. We have them in the garden centre so get yours in now so they are cropping beautifully by Christmas.
Austin Roses: The new roses that have old world charm and flower all the time
To complete our series on Roses we end with the David Austin story. I don't think it would be an over-statement to say that David Austin is probably the most important and influential breeder of modern times. David Austin roses have reignited a fierce passion for roses world-wide and introduced a whole new generation of gardeners to this most beautiful of blooms.
Born in 1926, on a farm in the English Midlands where he still resides, David started his breeding programme with the objective of combining "the best of the old with the best of the new". His first releases were crosses between Gallicas and Floribundas producing ‘Constance Spry' in 1961 and ‘Chianti' in 1967. Two lovely roses but only once flowering, the main aim was to produce reliable "repeaters". This was achieved in 1969 with the release of The Canterbury Tales series. Around about the 1980's David Austin started to use the brand ‘English Roses' but such is our association with the man and his roses that these wonderful roses are simply and affectionately called ‘David Austin's' or just plain ‘Austin's'.
International success was achieved in 1983 with the release of ‘Mary Rose' and ‘Graham Thomas'. In 2009, 26 years after release, ‘Graham Thomas' was voted the "World's Favourite Rose" by the World Federation of Rose Societies. Many other awards followed for both the man and the roses. ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent' and ‘Munstead Wood' are two recent releases which have received top awards for fragrance. David Austin has been awarded an OBE, the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society, the Dean Hole Medal by the Royal National Rose Society, an Honorary MSc from the University of East London and a lifetime achievement award from the Garden Centre Association in 2004.
In the family owned rose nursery where David Austin now works along side his son, David junior, roughly 300,000 rose seeds are planted every year in order to find the next magical Austin to delight rose lovers around the world. Modern Austin roses have the desirable characteristics of good vigour and fragrance but to me their very best feature is that they are at their most beautiful when fully open. Simply irresistible!
The weekend is just about over and its been a really beautiful one, cold but beautiful. Im hoping that we are going to get some more of these frosts as thats really going to put a full stop to plants growing and we can all get in and prune our roses.
Make it a Wairere weekend where gardening's not a drag
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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 (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?=
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: