Its is all done by the wind, well for some plants anyways.

The nursery has been lightly covered in this fine yellow dust lately and as you know we have had a couple of showers of rain and this dust has collected into very thin drifts. I guess it was more noticeable because we have large areas of black weed cloth and the rain had collected it all together..I was wondering what it was as you do and then it dawned on me that I was being a bit slow.

It was pollen from some  of the local trees. I have to own up and say that I haven't worked  out what trees but it is a classic example of wind pollination with the male flower shedding all their DNA hoping to catch some ready female flower. Quite a wasteful method if you ask me but obviously still successful for those plants that use this method. I think that I would be right in saying (Chris will correct if I'm not) that many of these plants have separate male and female flowers  and whilst probably will self  pollinate the aim is to pollinate some other plants flowers of the same type of course.

Plants that use the wind for their sexual activity include Grapes and Hazelnuts and Chestnuts and Im sure that many of the conifer family use this well kind of wasteful method as well.
I know that Catkins or those male dangling bits that hang from the likes of hazelnuts wont be everyones cup of tea as they dont have the flamboyance of a say a rose  but I think that they look really cool.


Bearded Ladies all called Iris..... funnily enough...

In days gone by every travelling circus had a bearded lady who you could snatch a naughty peek of if you had a shiny sixpence. Well here at our Circus AKA Wairere nursery we've got a whole lot of bearded ladies all lined up and looking for a good home and funnily enough they're all called Iris.

I got to thinking about the name Iris (as you do) and thought now this is one girl who could have an identity crisis. Named after the Greek Goddess of the Rainbow but often described as having a ‘beard'. Well I don't know about you but I don't often imagine a Goddess with a beard. Of course the ‘beard' is actually the little fuzzy strip of growth at the top of lower petals (called falls) and this beard is actually quite clever as it is designed to guide the bees into the flower and trap pollen.

The top petals of the Iris are called standards B.T.W. The Iris has been revered since ancient times and the rhizomes (orris root) were sought after for medicinal remedies. The Iris has also been used as a symbol in heraldry for centuries and is known as the ‘Fleur de lis' which literally translated means Flower of the Lily! There are many and varied theories how this came about however the ‘Fleur de lis' is actually a stylized form of Iris pseudacorus not a Lily at all. There is also form of Iris pseudacorus called ‘Bastardii' which I'm guessing was probably named by a lover of Lilies

Click here to go to the Irises, more are still due in

              

New in this week

It was all go last week and there were plants coming in all over the place, dont think that the team new whether they were Arthur or Martha let alone Iris. Its all the stuff that I call fluff or the pretties that make the garden look beautiful. Usually they give flowers for month starting in the spring and almost continulously flowering through to late summer and the early Autumn

Salvias. There are all styles of Salvias and the latest in this week are what we'd called herbaceous shrubby or otherwise soft foliaged shrubby. Give them full sun and good drainage and they should be pretty easy to grow

Penstemons. Another shrubby or bushy style perennial and easy to grow. Lovely tall flower spikes with many throated like tubular blooms

Delphiniums. I just adore these and so do the slugs and they should be coming up and out of the ground about now so make sure you have slug bait about. Tall majestic spires in Whites, Blues and Pinks

       

 

Daisies. I sure that everyone know these and what good value they are. The federation ones are good bushy fillers that flower their heads off all, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Give them a good chop back to keep them bushy but never too harshly into the hard wood. Then there are the other kinds like the Arctotis and the Gazanias with Daisy like flower

Lilacs. Known to the plant buffs as Syringa. These have been popular this year and I have managed to find some more. Check them out here

Lavender The rabbit eared kind and these just never seem to stop flowering. Just love all the sun they can get and make sure that the spot isn't wet either. Now I have to quickly add here that the English kind of Lavenders are still yet to be available

 

Asparagus  These are the biggest crowns that Ihave seen.. Grow your own spears of this delicious spring vegetable and nows the time to be getting in new crowns. Set aside a dedicated piece of the garde for these and compost well to get the most and fattest spears your can. The bed will only provide better as the years go past.

Spuds are back.  Plant now for Christmas and again for a main crop, Swift and Rocket are a couple of quick maturing types, Jersey bennes are an all time fav and so are cliffs kidney. There is nothing like a home grown freshly dug potato.. Sprout them now and dont forget to feed them with proper potato fertilser.

News Flash! The latest ! There are a couple of the new David Austin roses just in and these are The Wedgewood Rose and Lady of Shalott

  

Its been a great drop of rain and if you have fed your garden then they will just romp away with beautiful lush spring growth. Another weekend is upon us and if you are not out at the nursery then have a good one in the garden.

Cheers

Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag