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Thursday 17th November, 2016

Hi

The best kept secret in Hamilton

Do we all know how lucky we are to have the Hamilton gardens right here in the middle of the city and neatly perched on the river banks of the mighty Waikato. I have seen a few public gardens in my time, both here and overseas and I would have to say to all, " don't leave town until you've seen what we have here right on our doorstep. 

Bang on 5 pm the other night, after we locked up the nursery, we raced into town purely to wander around the rose gardens for our treat for the evening. The roses were all looking magnificent and it was so good to see all the roses that we sell actually performing in a garden situation rather than in just a nursery situation. 

Rose breeders keep looking to supersede all of our old favourites with more modern and healthier versions, and there are a quite a few of them out there in the Hamilton gardens flowering right now. 

I was also pleased to see that we have a great representation in our stocks of many of the roses on display at the gardens however there are some there that wont be available to us until they have been grown commercially for retail sale as many are award winners just recently.  Something to look forward to though.

The rose gardens are set in a park like setting with backdrops of some very nice mature trees. I like to look at the trees as well because you get to see the shape they create and the kind of size that they reach. Beneath the trees were some gorgeous clumps of Hostas which are looking quite spectacular at the minute as well. 

As I have said before observation is one of the best skills that we as gardeners and horticulturalists can have as we learn things for ourselves with our eyes.  When dealing with something living its all very well teaching the rules (for the want of a better term) but its really all shades of grey as different plants have different tolerances. Some rose cultivars, technically sun plants, may actually prefer a small amount of shade so that their blooms don't burn or Hosta cultivars may actually like more sun than some others. It's not something that can be taught but you learn by looking and observing. For me plants have always been an instinctive skill but maybe that is because I'm always looking... Oh that's how big and the shape that tree grows, oh so that plant will grow there, and so on.  When I walk through the nursery I'm always looking as to the health and tidiness of all our plants.

We didn't hit on the themed gardens last week but aim to have a wander there over the next week again after work, maybe next time well take a picnic dinner. Its such a great venue to not only enjoy and relax but also extend my knowledge of plants. Its one of those careers where one is always learning something new.

Rose stuff 

What roses have over most other plants is that they could flower three or four times in a season...., Lol show me a hebe that does that!!!

                

If your roses are looking anything like ours in the nursery then they should almost be in full flush and just looking gorgeous albeit that they are around three weeks later than last year here in the Waikato. So how do we keep them looking so good.

Deadheading is the removal of the spent individual flowers from a cluster of flowers but let me clarify here. A hybrid tea rose usually has a single bloom on a stem and if you cut this as in "dead head" it will regrow/reflower from that point and flower again.

Deadhead a floribunda and remove a flower from a cluster just tidies up the rose, cut off the entire cluster of spent flowers then the rose will regrow/ reflower from that point.

In my opinion when a stem has finished flowering then you need to remove the entire flower stem at approximately 3 to 4 buds up from where it has grown from the framework... the piece left would be around 3 to 8 cm in length.  The three to four buds that you leave will regrow a flower shoot each.

In short once your rose has finished its spring flush, prune like a winter prune and the whole thing will be flower again in 7 weeks...... Feed and keep up the water over the summer months and you almost have a continuous flowering. This means that you can plan for a wedding or a special event by cutting a rose bush back to its framework and it will re flower again in 7 weeks.

From now on in the nursery we are deadheading  and if the entire stem is finished we cut it right back into the bush so that it can flower again.

Feed after every pruning, think of it like cabbages, once you harvest the cabbage you have to feed the soil for the next crop, flower flushes are no different.

Downy mildew is a spring disease and affect roses as they come into leaf, its been so wet for so long I imagine that conditions would still be conducive to downy. Remember its almost symptomless and leaves just drop off..

As we move into summer and drier weather, the next fungal infection will be black spot and this as the name suggests are black markings on the rose leaves, again with some yellowing and leaf drop.

I notice also that there are a few aphids around .. you don't want too many of these over your beautiful flowers and they are quick to produce.  If you don't like spraying then get out there with a glass of wine and squish them with your fingers.

If we do get a dry summer then mites suck the chlorophyll out of rose leaves but they don't like wet weather so can't imagine that there will be infections of these critters until its hot and dry..... LOL here's hoping 

Fungal infections of roses are another kettle of fish, some roses are hugely susceptible and then others just don't get them.. some of our favourite older roses are a tad prone and these you will need to spray but most of the new generation of roses are pretty resistant.

                

Good habits make for healthy roses with little work.

You can minimise the need to spray or even not spray by making sure all the environmental conditions are as good as you can make it for your roses and this goes for all plants... 

- Lots of sun and good quality light, roses are sun plants 

- Plenty of air movement around them so don't crowd roses with too many perennials, allow roses to have their own space 

- Plenty of food of all types, compost, sheep pellets, bioboost, and of course propriety rose food whether it be slow release or of the more instant kind,..... re feed after every flower flush

- Lots of water especially over the summer months. roses love heaps of water while they are busy flowering.

Now I'm not a huge fan of spraying but sometimes a couple of well timed sprays are worth their weight in gold. At the first sign of black spot two close sprays may well just stop that fungal nasty dead in its tracks. Use Super shield which is a combined fungicide insecticide so will deal with aphids at the same time. As with Black spot and its the same with Aphids, always do a close follow up spray as these insects are pretty tenacious and you will never get 100 % kill in one spray. They are so clever in that they are able to give birth to live young without a male in sight if conditions are good so you now know why there has to be a close follow up spray... sometimes it takes three!!!

Spraying  before rain and again after rain.. is way more effective than doing the task just because its Saturday or Sunday and if its not wet then you may not need to spray at all.

Roses that are looking fab in flower right now, really there are heaps more and worth coming out just for a look.

                   

Fond memories every year this rose always impresses me with its healthy foliage and beautiful stems of pink  blooms. Its stands out from the general bed of roses with the sheer amount of flowers that it has 

Burgundy iceberg is another great rose with that typical iceberg habit and high health. Masses of typicql floribunda style flowers in an attractive purplish burgundy colour

Lichfield angel is a great rose out of the Austin stable, old style blooms in  soft creamy apricot that fade out to almost white. a good and healthy bush.

City of Hastings a newish floribunda that has attractive apricot flowers in typical floribunda clusters. An attractive shade with a cute ripple to the petal edges.

Mme Alfred Carriere...  a noisette being  an old climber in softest shell pink, almost white and very fragrant blooms. tolerates some light shade 

Aotearoa....perfect hybrid tea blooms with a heady fragrance.. a goodie for the picking garden or for those that just love a formal laid out rose bed. In flower right now and looking fab!!! 

The Daisy Rose  a cute rose with masses of daisy like flowers that has a form that is useful as a small climber or could even be used as a groundcover rose.  

 

Sparkler rose as a standard.   Sparkler has always been a favourite of mine, healthy free flowering with white blooms. Great as a ground cover rose or in the case of the standard has an arching form.

            

The rose market is going to change over the next few years for us and to that end we are sorting the roses we are going to have for next June 2017 now but also 2018 and 2019. its hard work planning so far ahead but if you have a wish list rose then now is the time to see if its going to be available.

I woke the other morn to find the doors in my room were different from when I went to sleep, My first thoughts were there has been an intruder in the room (but surely the dog would have barked). (Mum had been for dinner and we had had a a few wines....  Facebook post from local friends told me that I had slept through  an earthquake . It amazes me that folks in Hamilton felt the shock being so far away and what it must have been like for the poor residents of the Kaikoura, Wellington and all the surrounding regions. My heart goes out to all the locals, residents and tourists whose lives are permanently affected in one way or another. 

And still it rains but as we all well know that we just have to work with nature and the positive of the wet weather is that no drought is imminent and that we can all keep planting. Its approx one month to the longest day so summer and Christmas are drawing closer.

The weekend is on our doorstep so what ever your plans have a great weekend and look after your nearest and dearest.

Ciao

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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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 (23rd September, 2016)

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)

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Xmas Trees (22nd November, 2016)

Holly (2nd December, 2016)

Xmas Brekkie (9th December, 2016)

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HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
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