Cook dinner, have a couple of wines, my night is usually very relaxed, I don't achieve a heap, but last night was different. I cleaned out the office Cupboard and then targeted my room, it's amazing what you find and deal with, old passports and driver licences, old notes and cards, paid bills that should have been filed... or binned ..

You never know quite what you are gong to find when you have a decent clean out, it was rather nostalgic... deep in one of the drawers I found a stack of old Wairere Newsletters that were once mailed to clients ... you know, back in the day that we actually wrote stuff and posted it.  It would take ages to fold them all and put stamps on them, that's how we did it before emails saved us (for those of you who haven't had to deal with the old way of doing it).  Imagine sending those out in the thousands as we do now, not even mentioning the cost of postage, now it flies across the wires/fibres or satellite signal at the touch of a button. Thank goodness for modern emails. (If you are looking to subscribe just click this and fill in your details)

                

San Jose            Stellata Waterlily   Genie                  Charles Raffill     Athene

OMG they were dated spring 1995 so that is some 24 years that I have been writing stuff to a client database....  But wait for it.... issue 9 spring 1995.., the recipe  of that effort was Lettuce soup... yes you read correctly Lettuce soup... a way of using up those excess lettuces that you may have grown.. I'm sure that, back in the day, my good friend Annette and I used to experiment, research a recipe and then cook it for our unsuspecting partners, then I would write about it in my newsletters. Travel down memory lane with me... click here and have a read.

Annette is the real writing talent, she inspired me a whole lot and really taught me the secrets to writing... not that i worry about being too grammatically correct... as long as its readable.... really its all quite simple, write from the heart and just say how it is or write as if you are chatting to someone! I give heartfelt thanks to Annette! Now these days I tell my team to do the same, write and speak from the heart and be creative.  One of them replied to me ... but a pig is just a pig...  but hey, its so much more,... does it have a curly tail, spots, big or small, brown or black .. after all you want people to read the stuff you write if you are going to spend time on it.

  

Back to Annette and her stuff, amongst other things she keeps the local community of Gordonton informed with her local news on Number 8 Network...  You can check out No 8 network, being the local rag, by email these days... of course! Click here to subscribe.

Loropetalum Zar De Doo Std... awesome plants... Zar de Doo, I'll have to ask how this one got this name but its a very robust form of the popular Loropetalum range and in a very dark burgundy leaf which trims amazingly well..  very suited to be an accent plant or will give height in the garden and could be under planted. if you are looking for something special in a pot, then consider this Loropetalum. We have this variety in cone form as well.

Onixotis Triquetra  African water phlox  spied these at trade day and is not a plant I know so, of course, I had to have some to offer here. Pretty stems of flowers and something suited to a damp spot. White to soft pink star like flowers, with maroon eyes, cluster en masse on tall stems amidst narrow, rolled, foliage. Flowers open from early spring and bloom on into summer and make good cut flowers. Grows naturally in damp ground so great for ponds and those soggy edges. 

Hydrangea Piamina is a true dwarf hydrangea growing to only 30cm making it an excellent front of border or edging hydrangea. It is macrophylla variety so it's colour will be ph driven but usually pink so an application of garden lime will help maintain this. Forms a lovely tight compact bush great for container growing as well.

                

Piamina                                            Onixotis                                            Zar de Doo

Seed potatoes and yams are still good to plant now. The yams look seriously appealing in their packaging but don't cook them yet, plant them first and get your crop growing. We have both red and yellow varieties available. Same with the potatoes, there are many to choose from that will cover early, main and late harvest crops. It is noted in the description of each variety which of these groups they fall in to make your selection easier. Click here for a full guide on potato selection.

Also on the edible section we still have a good selection of peas and broad beans. Get your next crop in for an extended harvest. 

Magnolias are really humming with their blooms ... I'm enjoying taking pics of them and hope that you are enjoying them on facebook and or instagram... don't be shy to send in a favourite pic of yours especially if you know its name... we have an extensive selection of these beauties for you to check out.

Roses in the nursery are looking amazing with the patchwork carpet of new season leaf but not quite up to flowering, lol another few weeks now and some fine weather before that but I swear I can literally see them growing!

Check out the Austin roses, and of course the new page Somerfield with all Rob Somerfield roses from Glenavon. 

 

Austins                                                                       Somerfields
                

L D Braithwaite   Pat Austin            Claire Austin       Lemon n Lime     Little Miss Perfect

For those that wrote in and all the many thank yous, on the night I served mine with whipped cream and Ice Cream and I adore good old fashioned custard but Sharon writes in with her tips:-