The National rose show is being is on now at the Hamilton Gardens from 13th to 16th November
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Thursday 13th November, 2014
Beware of Frisky Gnomes LOL
Hi
You never know what you are going to find on your doorstep, so when we turned up at the the beach the other evening, we were greeted by this cute little fella. Obviously some one was well tuned into our latest TV commercial (you have to be quick as its only 15 seconds long) and with some creative talent put together this cute gnome to meet us. Certainly put a smile on our faces as we wondered who?
Suits dusted off, dresses modelled at posh Waikato Business awards Dinner
Today a week ago was the evening of the Waikato business awards and ourselves and the whole team were attending the very posh dinner and proceedings with quiet excitement. Suits were dusted off, Glamorous dresses modelled and down the red carpet we all walked. Bubbles and elegant tasters started the evening off as we all mixed and mingled with the large crowd of entrants and associated business people. Seated for dinner for a delicious entree and then the evenings proceedings began. Every finalist business had a filmed presentation of themselves shown to all the dinner guests and there were approximately 8 categories before the main course.
Not winners ourselves this time but still pretty pleased with being a finalist at the Waikato business awards. We all had a fab evening out with all the team at the Gala dinner event and with all the other talented finalists. Congratulations to all the category winners and the supreme overall winner. Many thanks to the Waikato chambers of Commerce and all the sponsors for such a fabulous event.
I have to add that it was a great exercise as it makes you look at yourselves and your business operation in some detail and I am looking forward to some feedback to give some insight into how to become a winner. The nursery and its associated mail order of plants has certainly grown significantly over the past few years and so will certainly be doing some more planning to put together another submission for next year...
Million bells is way sexier than Calibrachoa
My goodness, all the years that I have spent in horticulture, I have never really had too many dealings with annuals and perennial other than the basics, Ask me about roses, trees shrubs and general stuff and I generally can produce an answer from my head. So when these cute little Calibrachoas arrived I had to go to my friend Mrs Google.... Well I know all the obvious stuff, like they are a half hardy perennial that grows well in those warm sunny spots and they produce masses of colour all summer long. That they are perfect for pots tubs, planters and even in the garden for that long term splash of colour.
I even knew that they were a type of Petunia but what I didn't know is that they belong to the Solanum family along with Cape gooseberries, Nightshades, potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers... They actually belong to a special sub family of Solanaceae being Petunioideae which isnt hard to forget LOL and my guess is that it includes all these modern day fancy hybrids and marketing of Petunias, Calibrachoa, Littletunias and Happytoonias. We have a stunning new bi colour trailing petunia just arrived today Cascade Rim Magenta.
Double Purple Double Soft Pink Double White Rim Magenta
Million bells is the very apt common name and this week we were lucky enough to accidentally have a fresh batch of new varieties for everyone to get in to fill all those pots so that your place looks ablaze of colour, for, dare I say, Christmas.
For the "Whats New In" Types
Liliums .. we always have a range of these in at this time of year and these are the brightly coloured Asiatic Hybrids
Zantedeschia or as most probably know of them as Calla lilies. Awesome as a clump in the garden and long lasting in the vase as a cut flower with some stunning colours to be had.
Alstroemeria aka Peruvian Lillies or Lilies of the Incas look lovely, are such good value, and keep going long after many other plants have run out of steam. All alstroemerias like good living, so give them plenty of organic matter at their roots. If watered regularly they will thrive; add a slow-release fertiliser in the spring.
Bearded Iris Oh my word are there ever some beauties here I spied Blackware coming into flower the other day and was it ever stunning. A sunny spot for these ladies with beards keeping their rhizomes out of the soil and bake them in the sun. Doesnt mean to say that these don't like being fed as they will thrive with a good helping of organic food/mulch.
Daylilies so tough and hardy and these really suit those hard spots to fill whether it be sunny dry or even wet and the flowers are pretty too. Clumping habit tough and hardy and foliage that is easy to clean.
For the "Something Different" Types
Staghorns. we have never had this one before but have just a few at the moment. To be honest I haven't even grown this myself . Its the sort of plant that you attach to like a piece of Punga and then attach to a shady wall. I'm sure that you will know the look and what to do but if you don't there are some excellent videos showing how on youtube. I have put a link here as one example of how to do the mounting.
Philodendron Xanadu. Again a different plant for us at Wairere as we are a tad cool to have it here but for the beach, or a warmer climate than us in the countyside, a fab landscape foliage type plant that doesn't get too large. Personally I really love the foliage and great for semi shade. Perhaps I might try one inside.
For the "Chef" Types
French tarragon. Dont get any other imposter and you can tell if you nibble its leaves it will cause a numbing sensation of your tongue. Its our fav for cooking with. Harry make heaps of infused oils and I just love it with fish and dressings, salads and veen with butter over fresh boiled spuddies
Stevia The leaves are really sweet and can be used as instead of sugar. I had forgotten how sweet so ched a leaf the other day and they are really sweet. Harry said to me just this morn That Cherie who is picks all our orders used to dry the leaves and grind them up and use them
For the "Collector" Type
Skimmias. The plant for dry shade and they come as girl plants and boys plants, How do you tell? well the its the girls that have the red berries and the males attractive flowers and provide the pollen.
Kalmias or Icing sugar bush called this because they have flower that look just like icing sugar flowers made for those that decorate cakes. We haven't been able to find these for ages so if you have a hankering for one or have anorder then please get in touch so that you dont miss out.
Cornus greenvale 'is a hybrid from Cornus capitata and so is semi evergreen and has attractive classic cream dogwood like flowers. Discovered in Greenvale by Mrs L Patterson.
Meconopsis or the Himalayan poppy. These plants came up from the South island and are more suited to a cool climate but I just have to try one in my garden. These plants are a bit worse for wear but we have them if anyone is interested to gibe them a go.
For the "Gardener" Types
I have half an eye on all my hedges but its still too soon to do them otherwise I will be doing them all again before Christmas but my plan is to have all the garden and hedges up to scratch for Xmas. The garden is looking pretty cool right now and well worth a visit if you have the time.I sprayed my roses the other day just before that wet showery period just to prevent the spread of black spot. Remember its worth spraying before the rain and again after to prevent black spot and subsequent yellowing. Don't forget that when your roses finish their flowering flush that if you cut them back they will be back in full flower in 7 weeks. I always prune back to a bud about three or four leaves up from we here they join the main framework which is the reverse of what most people do who just remove the flower. If you cut low then you will maintain the rose bush to its proper size. remember also to feed the roses after pruning and keep the water on them over the summer. Watch out for mites that love that hot dry summer weather and suck the sap out of the leaves making them look yellowish. Cattle drench at the rate of 1 ml per litre of water will deal to them.
Grape vines don't forget to pinch them back once each shoot has two bunches happening and this will make the grape put its energy into growing full juicy grapes. mine need doing now to keep them in check. Harry did suggest that we could let three bunches happen but we'll see, will depend who gets on the ladder to do the task
Open to public from 1.00 pm to 4.30 pm on Saturday 15th and 10.00 am to 4.30 pm on Sunday 16th. Cost is $5 per adult. Gold Card holders $2.50. Good luck to all those that are showing their prize Rose blooms.
Our roses in the Nursery are all looking fab and is ablaze of flowers, colour and fragrance and so its worth coming on out to just have a look and if we don't have want you want we can put it on back order for next June. Its a good time to just check out the colours for yourself as sometimes pictures just don't do them justice.
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Have a great weekend!
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
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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 (14th February, 2014)
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
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: