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Friday 23rd September, 2016
Hi
Hirsute, Bearded, Hairy... Grow some sexy flowers complete with a beard!!!!
I don't know if you have noticed but it would seem that hairy has become quite fashionable again with that plucked and shaved look taking quite the second place in men's grooming. From where I sit the look is pretty damn fine and perhaps that is why bearded irises would have to be among some of my favourite flowers. Just in case you are wondering as to where the beard is hidden, its the fluffy bit at the top of the the petals called falls. The upright petals are, what those keen on Irises would call, standards.
Now there is more to know about these irises, other than their falls, standards and rather appealing beards but they do come as dwarf, median and tall. Dwarfs are really quite small growing (10 cm) and I find them quite stunning.. they look so cute and could imagine them planted in shallow bowl like containers or naturalised in a plant rockery. These puppies are usually the first to flower of the bearded irises being Sept or early October.
Median Irises are next on the Calendar to flower, blooming October to November depending on cultivar. You have probably worked out that these are of medium height sitting between 30 to 70 cm tall.
Lastly we have the Talls and these tend to be the last to flower though still sit in the period of October through to December and reach the grand size of 70 to 100 cm.
Bearded Irises grow from a Rhizome which loves to feel the sun on it's back so when planted correctly, the rhizome top should be exposed to get the full benefit of the sun. Iris's love lots of organic matter so - good rich soil that is well drained, Rhizome in the sun, - well you cant go wrong. Some Lime to sweeten the soil and Potash to encourage flowering completes what they love.
As with all perennials, they will always do better if you lift them each year or two to divide them and replant the strongest bits. The proper time is after flowering where you can sort out the best rhizome pieces and trim the foliage. I have some in the garden that I really need to divide as once they get cluttered growth the rhizomes get weaker and the flowers become less.
What to do in the garden
If you have been lucky enough to get out in the garden and do some new planting, well you hardly have to water new plants in with all this rain.
I have to say that all this wet weather will be creating its fair share of problems and fungal infections in the garden will be rife. Its perfect for spreading new infections of downy mildew in the roses and so if you begin to see large leaf drop on new roses then you really need to spray in between the showers with a fungicide or rose spray. Plan around this constant rain and get some on before the next shower and then after the rain has stopped. The aim is to get a protective spray on before the shower and then clean up any germinating spores after the rain. The spray must dry to be effective so you can use Raingard to make the spray stick especially if you get caught short and a shower appears out of nowhere.
Your hedges will all be growing at the rate of knots now and if anything like my Box hedging will have a complete flush of new growth on. Resist trimming these just yet and wait for the new growth to harden off or change to its all year round colour which is usually late November and December. If you trim too early then chances are you will have to do the task twice.
By the end of November or early December the spring flush will have finished (though this can depend on how wet the season is) and you can trim back the complete garden. Hedges to be done, trees crown lifted (removing the lower ring of branches), shrubs trimmed back and recreate the layers that may have merged with this current spring growth.
Mulching the garden with a shredded bark or coarse mulch will suppress the weeds which will be growing at a pace with all this wet warm weather.
Labour weekend is the traditional time to really get the vege garden or potager cranking as usually the ground has warmed up enough by them for the more tender plants that we love to grow.
Potatoes should be in the ground ASAP so if you are needing to get these in we still have a good selection but limited numbers available but this is most likely the curtain call for orders on these.
We also just received in a new supply of Codling Moth traps if you need to get those pesky worms out of your apples.
Whats coming and Over and Above
Over and Above at Wairere Nursery page allows you access to plants that are not usually stocked by us due to the large number of varieties available. Just enter how many of any variety you want and enter your contact details at the bottom of the page and we order them for you and will let you know when they are ready by email. These items are only available for a short period of time so don't take too long to put in your order. Currently available through the over and above site are bearded Iris's and Vireya's.
Kumara.... Its time to place orders for these firm favourites..... Bundles of 25. We need to know ahead of time if you require some as they sell out quickly so get your forward order in now.
We will have the classic purple skinned Kumara and Ang has even managed to get some of the gold one this year so be in and make your orders as there will be limited numbers particularly of the gold strain.
Wistarias Standard plaited and non plaited. These are some that Harry managed to obtain and are even coming up to flower. The secret to Wistaria is to create a framework that will flower whether it be along a fence or as a tree. Once the flowers have finished the vine will send out runners and these will have finished running about Xmas time so trim these off leaving a small piece of about 4 bud so that flower buds can initiate. There is nothing more gorgeous than Wistaria in full bloom in the spring.
Clematis, we have some very nice varieties of Clematis in stock. Clematis have different pruning requirements and they as a rule fall into one of these 3 groups. The group should be listed on your clematis label when you get it.
Group 1 These plants flower on last years wood so no spring pruning
Group 2 These plants flower on both new and old wood so light prunning in spring and heavier pruning after flowering
Group 3 These plants flower on new seasons wood and so are cut back hard in spring to encourage as much new growth as possible.
Rhubarb and not just any sort but striking red stem Rhubarb... choose from Ruddy Fool, Claret Cobbler and Ruby tart. These will look gorgeous in the potager garden but imagine planting clumps of these as feature plants with striking foliage in the flower garden. I reckon you could even use Rhubarb in a subtropical garden like you would use the tractor seat plant as it has similar large leaves with the bonus of those red stems. The extra bonus would be being able to go out and harvest the stems to cook with!!!
Family Deals
These plants were available from the closing down of a Nursery and so there are some good prices happening here. There is a range of Canna, Hydrangeas, Clivia, Boston Ivy, Rosemary Tuscan blue, Azalea mauve, Rhododendron Everest and Elegans and lastly Spiraea's.. check out the most recent family deals here.
Carex Virgata, a wetland green grass that does grow into quite a decent clump of around 100 x 100 cm an excellent grade for mass planting. Great value plants at just $3.99 each.
Carex comans Red is a much smaller growing grass that has an attractive tufty arching like habit in a soft reddish brown colour again a good grade that would suit mass planting at just $3.99 ea
Leptospermum Scoparium is UMF tested for it's nectar content of manuka for honey. Bees love this tree and it will help bring bees for pollinating your fruit trees. By planting this tree you reduce feed stress on bees by supplying a loved food source. It looks amazing mass planted with it's mass bloom in spring. These are $5.99 and has a multibuy of 20+ plants for $5ea or 50+ plants for $4.50ea.
Notice Board
BOP Iris show, Sunday 6th November 2016 10 am to 4 pm
Venue: Hotel Armitage ... cnr Park and Willow streets, Tauranga
Entrance $3.00
Keen on Irises then this will be the event to check out.... I don't know their secrets to getting the perfect bloom especially in this wet weather. Perhaps they use umbrellas over their plants like the rose enthusiasts.
St Josephs Garden Ramble - Sunday 6th November 2016 10 am to 4 pm
Coming up fast as October is sprinting past . There are 13 wonderful gardens and Ticket Prices at $40-00 include a cut lunch.
Gardens this year are River fringe on the East side and then out west to smaller plots and beyond to Te Kowhai / Horotiu to some pretty fantastic lifestyle gardens. Some owners will be offering home propagated plants. Our two Cafe Gardens are in Woodstock and Vintage themed, with fine china and embroidered cloths. Beautiful baking with tea and coffee to accompany.
Tickets can be purchased by emailing stjosgardenramble@clear.net.nz and bank account details will be emailed to you. Tickets are limited and are selling fast.
Waikato Rose show....... Waikato Rose society inc Rose show 2016
Hamilton Gardens Pavillion, Cobham drive, Hamilton
The Waikato Rose show is coming up fast. I thinking that with all this wet weather that there will be many an entrant covering their prize winning blooms with umbrellas this year.. If you have a hankering to see roses at their absolute best then get yourself down to this years rose show
Saturday 12/11/ 2016 12 to 5
Sunday 13 /11/2016 10 to 4.30
Adults $5.00 gold card 2.50 children under 16 free with adult
Huntly Wearable Arts Awards Show....... and what a fabulous night!!!!
With local lad TE RADAR as MC, who was just amazing. What a funny guy and great MC !
There were lots of fabulous designs, and some exciting stage performances, including local MAIPI WHANAU, DANCERS and LIQUID HIP HOP dancer MAYO. I took a few pics as one of the sponsors for ourselves and Garden Graphix to put up on our respective Facebook pages. clink the link above to check them out!
Another week done and dusted and the last weekend to spend with the kids as the school holidays draw to a close. It would be nice to have a fine weekend and let the ground dry out a tad so that we can all get in the garden and get it all sorted.
PS don't forget that we have in stock right now Hybrid clematis which have amazing huge and colourful blooms. Hybrid clematis often look better planted in partnership with a climber rose or they can look quite cool and English like in an Obelisk
Also we have had some lovely feedback from our Prunus Awanui posts on facebook so thank you to everyone who is following our page and keeping it interesting with your comments. I have posted some more flowering cherries for you to view.
Have a great weekend!!~!!!
Cheers
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
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2016 Newsletters...
Picnic....ing in the shade (28th January, 2016)
Wairere Newsletter 5th feb (3rd February, 2016)
To Run or Not to Run... (19th February, 2016)
Wairere Newsletter 02 Mar (1st March, 2016)
Camellia time (11th March, 2016)
Magnolia or Michelia (17th March, 2016)
Easter weekend (24th March, 2016)
HW or LW Trees (3rd April, 2016)
Evergreen Trees (13th May, 2016)
All about shrubs (20th May, 2016)
Rose Time (27th May, 2016)
Frosty Friday (3rd June, 2016)
Tiny Camellias (9th June, 2016)
Gorgeous Trees (24th June, 2016)
wet wet wet (1st July, 2016)
Burgundy foliage (8th July, 2016)
Fruit trees abound (15th July, 2016)
Fruit Tree Pruning and Flowering Cherries (21st July, 2016)
Cider apples (29th July, 2016)
August already (4th August, 2016)
wood pigeons (7th August, 2016)
Feed Time (19th August, 2016)
Magnolia's and Cider Apples (20th August, 2016)
its Official (2nd September, 2016)
Spring shrubs (7th September, 2016)
Spring Shrubs2 (7th September, 2016)
Spring Shrubs 2 (7th September, 2016)
Tricky Tasks (16th September, 2016)
climbers (23rd September, 2016)
Wairere Newsletter 23 Sep (23rd September, 2016)
..... Beards are in vogue
Gin Oclock (14th October, 2016)
????Kumaras are in (20th October, 2016)
summer is coming (27th October, 2016)
Plants for eating (2nd November, 2016)
November 11 (10th November, 2016)
Hamilton Gardens (17th November, 2016)
Xmas Trees (22nd November, 2016)
Holly (2nd December, 2016)
Xmas Brekkie (9th December, 2016)
Merry Xmas (16th December, 2016)
HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: