Oooooh my goodness, haven't the mornings chilled right down and around 4pm it's time to put that jumper back on. I reckon that it can't have been too far off a frost yesterday morn and I have yet to test the temps this morn. Dad was out there picking a few ripe figs and after yesterdays cool morn reckoned that the leaves had all twisted and it was all probably down to the cold.
If I recollect correctly last year we were knee deep in potting
roses at this time, but this year it's going to be approx 2 weeks later. It's all down to the weather as the team just can't get in and do their thing. This has been a window of opportunity for us, as suddenly at the last moment we decide that we just need to get a drain put in and take some of the water away from our packing and potting shed. This will mean that we won't be knee deep in mud this year lol, but hey don't stop here, we also are in the process of re-doing some of the original plant beds that we made some 25 years ago and if there is time I want to relocate our potting bin, and create some shelter over it so that potting and mail orders can all continue at the same time.
a bit of a tongue twister ...
Everyone comes and asks for the Camellia sasanqua and I have to share the fact that sasanqua is a species of the genus
Camellia. Now that was a big techno intro for one of my emails. It's a name that trips up the best for some reason though I will own up to the fact that I never worry whether I have it right as Latin wasn't a subject that I took at school either. Now there are many
sasanqua Camellias around and I do wonder whether everyone gets confused with a variety called
Setsuggeka which just happens to be a sasanqua. Just for the record there are other species of Camellia that we are all probably more familiar with, like the
Japonica's and
Reticulata's and off course now there are a whole lot of cross breeds that probably have been hybridised by some clever people.
If you have a Camellia in flower in your garden right now then chances are its a Sasanqua, they are the first of the Camellias to flower and are a sure sign that it's Autumn. A big plus that
Sasanqua's have over some of the other species is that they are deliciously fragrant. Now the scent is not like a rose but kinda musky and sweet and typical of a Sasanqua. The classic Sasanqua generally has a smaller leaf than most, but still usually in the classic green that we associate with Camellias and probably Japonicas.
This species of Camellia have the reputation of being quite hardy and are quite tolerant of more sun than say others though in my book most camellias will grow in most places. Having said that they are technically a dappled light shrub.
If you are into hedges and I am, then the
Sasanqua's ( I have to use this name as there is no other) family of Camellias are up there as the best in terms of longevity and hardiness and will create an classic evergreen and dark green hedge.
We have the most spectacular hedge of a creamy white one called
Mine no Yuki,
Early Pearly has a formal white double flower and
Silver Dollar has compact growth habit, awesome dark green leaves and informal white flowers.
Yuletide is a bit of a fav obviously named for it's Christmas colour scheme and in my book one of the best for hedging as it's very compact in it's growth habit and so pretty with it's Christmas red flowers.
Use the fine weekends to get your garden in shape and put it to bed for the winter, weed all your gardens and put mulch down to suppress the weeds through the winter. It's time to spray your
roses and fruit trees with a winter spray programme. Now the traditional way is to spray with
lime sulphur which will really make the last of your rose and fruit trees, leaves fall and will definitely clean up spores and and eggs of aphids that were trying to over winter on your plants. Clean up those leaves and take them away so that the spores are not sitting in the garden either.
Follow up lime sulphur sprays with Copper oxychloride and conqueror oil spray but let a couple of weeks elapse first as they are not compatible with each other. Do several copper and oil sprays. If you don't like using lime sulphur and I will warn you that it does stain and your garden smells like someone has farted for a few days then do more of the copper and oil. Don't prune your roses until July or the coldest month of winter. Then you can be sure that they are not going to regrow.
Hellebores or Winter rose are moving into their own right now. To get the best out of them, remove last years foliage and you will have the new flowers that will take over and look their absolute best and not be hidden by leaves. Once the flowers have finished you will find that a new set of leaves will come on and last another whole year and then the cycle can happen again.
We have touched on the family Ericaceae before of the fruiting kind, well one of my favorite fruits anyways and before you think too much, the blueberry. I love blueberries to eat, but they have a very distinct, well classic Erica like flower. Its time now to have the pretty garden types in as its their time for sex and that is they flower their hearts out.
Erica cerinthoides. Now these are really very cool. There is a huge plant of one of these that I see at Waihi beach and it seems that its in flower forever. Anthony our garden designer always looks at this Erica in flower and comments how cool it is and so when I saw some for sale I grabbed them. The flowers are tubular and hang in clusters from the tip of the plant and in a way look quite unusual but very cool.
Erica Springwood white and Kramers red are both small growing very compact and a mass of typical erica like flowers. Really suit one of those small townie gardens in a sunny spot with good drainage.
Sessiflora Ice green I just had to get as it has flowers in that unusual shade of well Ice green, totally as the name suggests. Winter fire and Lavender mist are a couple more to check out as well if you are looking for winter colour.
Helleborus Ivory Princess has lovely double flowers in icy white. Couldn't
wait to get these into the garden centre, double winter roses and in white are pretty special.. A great plant to mass out those semi shaded gardens and planted somewhere between 50 and 70 cm centres should exclude the weeds from growing.
Rosmarinus Chefs Choice, This rosemary is a culinary delight and has been especially selected for its fantastic flavour. I have to say that its quite leafy if you can describe rosemary like that and I really must get a couple into my garden to replace my ordinary Rosemary. These have never been this price at only $7.99.
Lily of the Valley and I mean the real one, the little perennial that has the very fragrant white flowers
Its been a full on week here and we have just been going for it to get all the new stock in and away before the weekend. There have been so many new plants in, that its really hard to do justice to any one group,
Camellias,
Azaleas,
Rhodos,
Pieris its all here now. Don't forget that you can still sow a green crop if
you want. Its time to get Garlic into the ground and spray your roses and fruit trees. If you had a quiet weekend planned and the weather is fine, then best get into the garden. Shopping online? then don't
forget to check out Family deals, otherwise have a great weekend.
Take care!
Cheers
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
