Saturday 30th October, 2021
Hi
Who would have thought... Drive through plant shopping
Its happening, not only click and collect but drive through shopping. I know, but its part of being in the new normal for 2021 and do we ever have some amazing stock here in the garden centre that we want to show you. We have been doing the order online and collect thing for some time now and its going really well, but we all put our thinking caps on yesterday to see what more that we could offer at level three shopping. I know that if you are like me then you do like to see the plants on offer as well.
To that end we have arranged tables of colour (you know lavenders, geraniums, daisies, and all that fluffy stuff) through the drive through that you can see and ask us for. Now this is the tricky part, as we like to comply with all the Covid rules and as we are not in Level two shopping, we ask that you stay at your car and we will fetch and put your plants in a cart for you. LOL a bit like ordering KFC at a drive through and then collecting at the shop on your way out. We can put the Eftpos out there on a table while we stay in the shop and it's all contactless.
If this goes well then we could potentially increase to include the garden centre itself and even the roses and the plants down the hill could all be seen from your car. Fortunately the garden centre has retained its vehicle access over the years and this means literally the whole centre potentially becomes a drive through. but hopefully for not too long as I much prefer people enjoying our beautiful space on foot
But the rules are to stay with your vehicle and we will grab the plants for you. It may mean that we become a tad congested and slower at service, so we just ask that you also wear your mask and remain patient with us.
Colour it Orange, Colour it yellow
The roses are just looking stunning, thanks to the diligent team who have helped them get here.. Alex has kept them sprayed so that they look perfect and the girls have been spacing them so they are coming up to their first flush pretty quick now.
Theming in shades of orange could look pretty cool and there are some pretty nice oranges (Not of the eating kind) happening out there in the nursery right now. Yellow is such a sunny colour and a bed full of sunshine could be just the way to light up the garden. If you go for a bed of the same roses then it will be spectacular as it will be in flower all at once. If you plant a mix of yellow then it will also look pretty cool and the flowering may be longer or at slightly different times.
Frilly Jilly as its name suggests is a frilly floribunda in apricot orange shades.. a good doer and heaps of flowers repeating well all season
Iced ginger has large perfect looking buds in buff copper. Buds that I always admire when I see them
Fellowship is a floribunda being a vibrant rose with large bright orange blooms that represent the warm glow of good 'Fellowship'
New year is another hybrid tea with nice buds that open to a full flower in a clear bright orange.
Friesia is an oldie but a goodie fragrant and clear unfading yellow blooms
Night light is a newbie from Rob Somerfield this one is a very pretty night light like yellow... something more subtle... Great looking blooms and a healthy bush
Otago university is another by Rob Somerfield Hybrid Tea. Shapely, warm, yellow blooms with a subtle fragrance that never seems to be without a flower through the season. Good for picking,
Diamonds Forever Hybrid Tea. Bred by Matthews Roses to celebrate 60 years of rose growing in NZ, this exquisite rose is shaded softest yellow in the centre gradually fading out to warm cream.
Not Orange or yellow but green for a rose and we have just had our first shipment of Robs
Green with Envy rose. Which we have mostly all sold but I believe we have another 150 coming next month. Be in and order yours by clicking the link
Trees looking great through the Nursery
Fagus Heterophylla Virginia tell me that Hetero means different and Phylla is leaves, put all of that together and you have different leaves and that is true of this beech. A large growing classic tree that will make for a beautiful specimen. Ang found a supply of these and they are quite nice plants at just $29.99
Ulmus lutescens or Golden Elm, we have some beautiful specimens of these high worked, grafted at 1.7metres with great developed heads. These would look pretty cool down someone's driveway and we do have plenty. Great plants all around.
Betula Pendula The Ubiquitous 'Silver Birch' is popular for a reason - its an easy grow and a great looking deciduous tree. Smooth grey-white bark and delicate green lacy foliage on arching branches. It look amazing mass planted as the white trunks really stand out against the drooping green leaves.
Tilia Platyphyllos more commonly knows an a lime tree is not to be confused with the fruit. This large tree is widely used through England and Europe and it makes an excellent specimen tree for those with the room for something grand. Along with its lime shaded leaves it gets fragrant flowers in the summer followed by clusters of berries.
Hostas, Plantain lilies, Giboshi are so cool
I think that I love Hostas more than the snails from the moment that they send up those spears that start out a bit like Asparagus shoots ... then I check with google re the family connection and voila they belong to the Asparagus family. You get a lot of bang for your buck with Hosta plants because not only do they have the coolest sexiest leaves but you get really attractive flower spikes usually in shades of purple, lavender through to white.
With a little more help from google I see that Hostas once belonged to the lily family which I guess could be a logical assumption. They are native to north east Asia like China Japan and Korea. The name Hosta is derived from one Austrian Botanist naming the these plants in honour of another botanist whose name was Host and the rest is obvious.
Its pretty much known that these leafy herbaceous perennials are generally shade lovers to varying degrees. They are particularly fond of good rich and moist to quite damp but not wet or excessively dry soils. Just like any genus or species there is a huge range of size shape and form of both the plants and leaves not to mention the variation in variegation on the said leaves.
There are quite a few to check out on the web site but here are a random few to whet your desire to add to the woodland areas of your garden.. There are a couple of grades happening from $9.99 being the biggest range and then $18.99 which are much bigger plants.
Hosta Dew drop is cute, tiny with a grey green leaf and the finest white line or margins around the edges of the leaves.. this one would be cool as an edging or in a small petite pot
Pandoras box is another pretty cool cutie, blue green margins with quite the white leaf centre.. if you into cute and petite this is another must have
Flemish sky is a blue that went into my garden the other day.. I had an area with quite a few other blues and this one blended really well Mid size with a average or normal sized leaf
Praying hands is really quite different I believe and has tall upright leaves and if you use your imagination looks like upright and clasped hands like praying.. just a classic bluish green distinctive form of leaf.
So sweet.. a mid size Hosta with classic green leaves and yellowish white margins.
Brim cup A beauty that emerges blue in spring with a bright gold margin. By mid-summer the leaves are blue-green with a creamy white margin. Rounded leaves have a very distinct tip that just barely sticks out like a bobtail.
Blue Angel For a large leafed blue grey heart shaped plant this is really eye catching, especially when planted en-mass or as a border. To top off their attractive colour they have pretty white to mauve flowers for that extra bit of interest in the garden.
Fragrant blue If the light misty blue colour of their foliage isn't enough for you, this Hosta has fragrant, light lavender flower spikes which bloom through late spring and summer. Pretty and fragrant is always a winner in my books!
Well that about wraps it up for the week, as we prepare for what is forecast to be a wet week on the horizon. Don't forget to keep on top of your spraying for roses and stone fruit in such wet and warm weather!
Have a great weekend
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team
