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Friday 14th February, 2014
Hi
My home tasks and we all have tasks at home, set by bossy partners (while he sat on the couch supping several reds last night) was to go and dig some spuds for dinner and pick the Zucchini's. Picking the Zucchini and Scallopini is a daily task here and then next on the agenda was to freeze the masses of beans that we had grown that needed to have something done with them.
I had already dug a whole row each of Rocket and Heather potatoes and last night I started on a row of that new spud Summer Delight. I have to say the Summer Delight tatties were only just ready so only dug a couple of plants and then left the row to grow a bit more. There is nothing more delicious than freshly dug, home grown potatoes, boiled and finished with lashings of tarragon butter. So good for you!
I always joke at this time of year that we are onto our 6 months of eating Zucchini and I think that we are at least 3 months of our way through it. You can do everything with these veg from chargrilled, boiled, ratatouille to fried in butter, and our fav at the moment is grating them and making these delicious Zucchini fritters which double as food for lunch as well. We don't just have a couple of plants more like 20 so you can imagine that on a small scale it's quite a harvest and plenty to give away.
Our neighbour called in with a loaf of home made Turkish like bread with plenty of rosemary baked into the top, calling it a peace offering and it was the first time that I had heard that. Not sure what the reason was for but hey there you go, but it does make you interested in what other tales there are about Rosemary. A quick little search shows that Rosemary has been around for centuries and quite the herb of love?
Imagine choosing your lover by growing several sprigs of Rosemary in several named pots and going with the lover of the Rosemary plant that grew the strongest and fastest. Maybe there could be some merit in that method LOL.
In the middle ages the bride would wear a headpiece of rosemary and the groom and guests would all have a sprig of rosemary. Perhaps it was this association that led rosemary into being known as a love charm. What about newly weds planting a Rosemary plant on their wedding day and if it grew well was a good omen for the marriage and if it didn't....... ?
Whatever the tales of Rosemary of the days gone past, today we all probably know Rosemary the best for it's use in cooking and we wouldn't be without Rosemary in our garden. Rosemary will go in all manner of food as a flavour and is particularly good in meat dishes.
Where does Rosemary grow? Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean area and loves those hot sunny and well drained positions and is quite tolerant of extended dry periods. There are many forms of Rosemary, from the very upright to those that semi trail and some forms are really quite prostrate. Typically Rosemary flowers are all shades of blue, ranging from quite dark blues to some very pretty pale forms and even white. I would imagine that all forms can be used for cooking but they will vary in fragrance and I personally like the upright types.
Rosemary is good in pots or as a shrub in the garden, upright forms can even make for quite cool smaller hedges or even standards. Prostrate rosemary makes for a pretty good ground cover and if you have the patience train it upright to be a weeping standard.
I've gone on enough, so check out the various Rosemary that we have here by clicking this link. Click here.
Plants for the Collector
Chinese beauty berry or botanically called Callicarpa dichotoma is a sought after shrub because it has clusters of intense purple berries that are really quite stunning. It is in flower right now with whorls of dainty lilac pink flowers that all promise to become those very cool purple berries. I get some every time that I see it available as the floristy types are all after it for flower creations and as well as that makes for a very handsome 2 metre shrub in the garden.
Japanese Umbrella Pine is the much easier name than Sciadopitys Verticillata and if you are a bit of a foliage nerd then this is a must. Now you don't see many of them around but I have to day that I know of two quite decent sized trees around town. They would have to be at least 4 metres high by around 1.5 metres wide and at least 50 years old. Funnily enough they are not that easy to propagate and so the young plants that I have are small but with good roots.
New in this Week
New Roses that are coming in June. 
Well I made a new years resolution that my email newsletter is meant to be out by Wed or Thurs no later but here we are Friday and I'm still writing it. I will have to be onto it next week!
New in this Week
Sophora Dragons Gold is quite a neat dwarf Kowhai growing to approx 2 metres. It can be quite shrubby in form but with a little training could make a fab small tree. These are nice small plants at only $14.99 down to $11.99.
Geranium Black Beauty, haven't had any of these this season and by that I mean a true Geranium. Now true geraniums or cranesbill are deciduous but when they are up and out of the ground flowering, they are quite gorgeous.
New Roses that are coming in June.
I have to tempt you with what's coming this winter and Abracadabra looks so different for a rose. It's a new offering from a supplier and we have a few due to arrive in June. It will be available as a standard and a bush and you're welcome to pre-order by following the links.
One that was around in limited numbers last year and we didn't have was Pacific Glory. We did get asked for it and this year we have some coming. This rose has ruffled pale pink flowers, was bred locally by Rob Somerville in 2012 and was the official rose for the World Federation of Rose Societies Regional Convention in Palmerston North in 2013.
Hope that everyone Valentine's day was what they wanted it to be and tonight perhaps we both should be on the couch supping that glass of red instead of one of us freezing the beans. Have a fab day and weekend!
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, RD 1, Hamilton
07 824 34 30
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2014 Newsletters...
Lily of the valley 2014 (24th May, 2014)
New Year (23rd January, 2014)
Grapes dahlias and more (29th January, 2014)
Test (5th May, 2014)
Fabulous February (6th February, 2014)
..... Rosmarinus
Bottlebrush (21st February, 2014)
Feijoas Feb (28th February, 2014)
Luculia (7th March, 2014)
Camellia debrief (14th March, 2014)
Autumn Planting (21st March, 2014)
Awesome Autumn Sale (21st March, 2014)
Autumn Sale update (28th March, 2014)
Roses Still to Go (4th April, 2014)
Heucheras (12th April, 2014)
Bracteata (18th April, 2014)
test 24th April (24th April, 2014)
Anzac Day (25th April, 2014)
Chefs Choice (2nd May, 2014)
Mothers Day (6th May, 2014)
Sasanquas (16th May, 2014)
and the pot goes on (13th June, 2014)
Strawberries and Daphne (13th June, 2014)
Winter Colour (3rd July, 2014)
Mid Winter (11th July, 2014)
Mid Winter (12th July, 2014)
Its time to prune!!! (18th July, 2014)
Marmalade and Witches (1st August, 2014)
Flowering Nude (5th August, 2014)
Asparagus and Spuddies (13th August, 2014)
Garden Coverings (22nd August, 2014)
Fluff and Stuff (29th August, 2014)
Officially spring (5th September, 2014)
Officially spring (5th September, 2014)
From where I sit (26th September, 2014)
October 3rd (3rd October, 2014)
leaves (5th October, 2014)
Lavender (15th October, 2014)
Its show time (31st October, 2014)
Roses are red pink yellow and more (3rd November, 2014)
Calibrachoa Surprise (13th November, 2014)
Roses In November (21st November, 2014)
Hydrangeaeous (28th November, 2014)
Peanuts (3rd December, 2014)
It's Christmas, Lets get Potty (12th December, 2014)
Its The big day (24th December, 2014)
Its The big day (24th December, 2014)
HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: