Friday 17th October, 2025
Hi
No matter how much you enjoy your job, holidays are something to look forward to - time to escape the daily routine and try something new, or just relax and unwind. One of our team is taking a break overseas on a tropical island, and she has been looking forward to this trip for a while. According to her, it's the beginning of the tropical rainy season (November to April) as opposed to the tourist-preferred dry season (the rest of the year). This is quite different to the 4 distinct seasons we get in temperate NZ. In the tropical rainy season you can expect thunderstorms, the occasional torrential downpour and lots of humidity. I have only really experienced this in Northern Queensland when I visited a few years ago, but I loved it.
The tropical climate makes for some distinctly different plants too and that is something to savour when you visit. These often have spectacular flowers and fruit, plants with large leaves designed to catch the maximum sunlight (in the filtered environment of a rainforest) and pointy tips to allow the excess water to run off. Tall and thin is also the name of the game, so they can stretch up towards the light in the canopy. Case in point are the palms, which I will discuss below. If you can't get to the tropics in person, then with careful selection and planting you can create your own lush paradise, just as long as you can provide plenty of shelter from frost and sunny positions with reasonable soil.
Palms
Contrary to popular belief,
Palms are not actually classed as trees because botanically they are more closely related to grasses and lilies. Despite this, they can get big really big: The biggest ones are up to 60m tall! They have a single growing point in the centre (usually) from which the new fronds emerge. They also don't have branches but rather develop long fronds which over time age and fall. They don't have bark, and instead are stringy and fibrous - if you have ever tried to chip one up you will understand what I mean.
For many people palms create the feeling of tropical holidays on the beach with summer cocktails and blue skies. While the reality in New Zealand is a bit more cold and grey, some palms are more suited to our climate than others. NZ
Nikau,
and
Kermadec Nikau have grown and thrived in our wet temperate climate in many places for centuries. Here, under our mature Kahikateas, you will see some massive specimens of Nikau which Lloyd planted 30 years ago.
True palms (members of the Arecacae family) are ancient and have been around for about 80 million years. Other similar plants, such as the
Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta) which is a Cycad (Cycadaceae), have been around even longer, perhaps as long as 250 million years. There are plenty of varieties of palm to chose from, as they vary a lot in shape, size and form. They can be grown in a pot or large container, as long they get plenty of water and are in a good quality potting mix with good drainage.
New this week
Petunias
Perennial petunias give great colour throughout summer and are ideal for hanging baskets, pots and to brighten up your garden. They love the sun, and thrive in well-drained soil, and continue to flower well when deadheaded. They will last through the winter if kept out of the frost and not exposed to too much water (much more likely in warmer areas such as Tauranga, Auckland etc.).
Succulents
Silver Blob,
Purple Blob and
Chocolate blob might not be the most inspiring names someone ever thought of, but these little cuties will be great for that hot dry spot or even indoors on a sunny windowsill.
Succulents come in a huge variety of colours, shapes and sizes and their quirky nature make them a favourite of many. Martian creations, pleasing spirals, mutated plant forms - what ever takes your fancy! These are the ultimate low maintenance plant - you can only really kill them if you overwater them or leave them to get crispy in the frost.
Daisies
Everyone loves a
daisy - there's something about that pretty flower with the cheerful yellow centre which echoes innocence, simplicity and the start of something new and fresh. There's so many sayings to do with daisies because they are so universal (fresh as a daisy, pushing up daisies, oopsy daisy etc.). They are easy to grow and flower for a large part of spring and summer. Deadhead them to keep them looking good or take to them with the hedge shears when flowers have all finished together. Plenty of sun and a regular feed with a
general fertiliser will keep them looking great.
Alstroemerias
Alstroemerias are here - beautiful for picking, stunning colour and long flowering season. Modern varieties don't tend to be the rampant garden bullies of the past. Most these days are happy in a pot and will be well behaved if you can squeeze them into your garden somewhere.
Looks like the weather in Hamilton this weekend will be mostly fine. So, a good chance to get outside and enjoy the spring blossoms and blooms.
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.
