Friday 16th August, 2013
Get those winter jobs done now!
Its so mild and dry and hopefully you all have been hitting the garden. Pruning should all be done by now though I have to confess that I have still not pruned my own apple trees or for that matter the fruit trees in my fathers garden. He will no doubt remind me again that they need to be done. I was wandering around our garden, refreshing myself with jobs that I had planned to do and still hadn't done and involved a few plants that I need to shift as they are not in the right place anymore. I think that I will get onto it tomorrow or in this coming week as time is running out and I won't be able to move them for another year. I have to say that its pretty dry this year for the Waikato almost like a winter drought. We have even had to be watering the nursery which is quite unusual and I hope that its not going to be a continuing trend as its our rainfall here that grows us the most fabulous gardens.
Voluptuous is a great word to describe Magnolia blooms!
In looking around the Campanulata cherries or Tui trees are all in flower which are pretty but I have to confess that I just adore Magnolias and their very sexy flowers that have sneaked onto the scene and blooming around town right now. My long term fav has always been Denudata Alba of which I have two and they are strutting their stuff now. Also have Vulcan in the office garden and he ( sounds masculine) has been out for a week or so as well. There are just so many but my personal weakness is for the white ones and there are some that I don't have in the garden just yet and will just have to sneak in a
David Clulow or
Milky Way just to name drop a couple.
Now this is a little known fact and I have have mentioned it before but if you are planting a new Mag then just take the opportunity to smell its roots. Just kinda crush them a little in your fingers when nobody is watching you in case they think that you are a tad weird. They smell nice and camphorous and something I discovered years ago when working in nursery lifting magnolias from the ground, (just so you know that I'm not strange). Anyways enough about their roots and onto their gorgeous flowers which prompted me to get Chris to write this piece on one of my favourite trees!
Magnificent Magnolias
Even the non gardener would find it hard not to be beguiled by the seductive blooms of the magnificent Magnolia at this time of year. Choosing the right Magnolia for the right place in your garden can be a little confusing as there are just so many gorgeous cultivars to choose from. So this week we're going to give you an introduction to the Magnolia* family with cultivation guide-lines and next week we will give you a list of cultivars from the very tall to the very small and everything in-between.
The Magnolia genus was named by Linnaeus after Pierre Magnole (1638-1715) a director of the Montpelier Botanic Gardens, though fossil remains show that Magnolias existed well before this time. Their natural habitat is Asia, Himalaya and Eastern America. Magnolias are described by the Royal Horticultural Society to be "of great horticultural merit" and we couldn't agree more. Did you know that some of the most desirable Magnolias available today were bred right here in New Zealand? The Jury Family from Taranaki have received an Award of Garden Merit for Magnolias ‘
Apollo', ‘Athene' and ‘
Milky Way' from the Royal Horticultural Society no less. Vance Hooper, also from Taranaki, has won an International Best Tree Award for Magnolias ‘
Cleopatra' and ‘
Genie'. Other noted breeders include Ian Baldick and the late Os Blumhardt.
How to Grow Magnolias Magnificently
First choose your site. It should be sheltered from strong winds and have least ½ a day of sun.
The soil should be reasonably well drained and preferably on the acid side though Magnolias can be surprisingly tolerant of less than ideal conditions.
Magnolias prefer a rich soil that remains on the moist side in summer. This can be achieved with the addition of organic matter such as compost, well rotted animal manure or peat moss. Magnolias seldom need fertilizing if they are mulched and manured regularly but a side dressing of acid fertilizer can be given annually if required. Avoid Lime as this will give them indigestion.
If you are planting a lawn specimen be mindful that you will need to leave a reasonably large area free of grass so the above mulching, feeding and watering can be carried out.
Magnolias resent damage to their fleshy surface roots through rough cultivation. Their surface roots should be kept cool, especially during summer with a thick blanket of mulch.
Magnolias seldom need pruning but if necessary do so after flowering on a warm dry day using clean sharp secateurs. They are seldom attacked by pest and disease.
If you do all or most of the above you will be rewarded with an elegant tree that has attractive, tactile, furry buds, masses of voluptuous fragrant blooms and fabulous foliage. Magnificent!
New in this week
Every week there is new stuff arriving and this week has been no different, I had to grab some more fruit trees as we had sold out of some prunes and bits and pieces.
Harry couldnt resist some stunning
Leucadendrons and a few
Proteas to boot. He also grabbed some beautiful lily of the Valley shrubs that were coming into flower.
Delightfully fragrant
Boronias also came in to the garden centre this week with their unusual blooms.
I'm hoping that it is going to rain this weekend and that it's a decent session of the wet stuff. I am going to move some of those plants that I need to shift before they leaf up and a good wet will just help the transition.
Have a good weekend and a great week coming.....
Cheers
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where gardening's not a drag
