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Saturday 24th September, 2011

Whats In A Weeper???

Hi

It was H's birthday the other week and he got this chook book as a gift. Now this book provides information on all the different breeds of hen and in particular how many eggs per year that they lay. I have since learnt that those fancy green egg layers only produce a miserable 150 to 200  eggs per year compared to some of the brown or white egg layers that we have who will manage double that.  And its me who pays the food bill !! LOL

Hylines and Red Shavers top the list at 300 plus eggs a year followed by Wyandottes, Sussex and Welsummers at 200 to 250 per year. Harry favourite chooks are the Campines who lay a grand 250 eggs per year. They are a smaller chook that lays quite a large egg.

Weeping trees or trees that only grow down
Racing past the trees the other day I spied a Cercidphyllum japonicum pendulum (now that's a mouthful)  or weeping Katsura tree and it was looking just stunning with its new spring foliage. Two steps  further along there was Salix Caprea pendula or Kilmarnock Willow with its weeping branches covered with typical pussy willow flowers or just like bunny tails. Sophora japonica pendula or the weeping pagoda tree is another very handsome beast. These trees are more than just pretty at this time of year but just the way that they grow makes for a special statement in the garden. In the winter when they are naked  they have amazing form to look at.

 I think that I need to clear up what a weeping tree is as it seems to be a common point of confusion. To me a true weeper is one that is usually grafted at the top of a long pole or alternatively trained up to grow straight so when it reaches a high enough point can weep back down. These sort of trees or plants have branches that only ever cascade. The only way that they really increase in height is by the new shoots going up and then they fall over but they can get wider. From a landscaping point of view they are just awesome as feature trees like on the edge of a pond or where you want to draw your  eye downwards.

            

Now I have to share that in our garden there is a weeping mulberry in the front potager that came from my first ever nursery job nearly 30 years ago. It was produced by growing a cutting up a bamboo cane until it reached 1.8m and then tipped.  It had a crooked stem so was a reject but I thought that just added to its character. It's a very handsome gnarly tree still cascading in my garden and the birds beat us to the mulberries.

There are some pretty cool weeping and flowering cherries that form neat dome shaped trees like Falling snow and Pendula rosea or if you can get the name out, Kiku Shidare with a double pink flowers. Now where some get confused I think is that some of the more spreading flowering cherries like shimidsu sakura almost looks like a weeper especially when its in full flower but it doesn't grow to the ground but more umbrella shaped making a good choice for a shade tree.

When I was out grabbing some photos this morn I snapped one of a weeping Taxodium or Swamp cypress

Louise Cake

Now we had a meeting the other day with Chris who writes all our label descriptions amongst other things.  She fronts  up with all her notes and a cake tin full of Louise Cake. Now if you had a 30 year old mulberry in your garden you'd remember your mother making louise cake LOl so I dredged out the good ole Edmonds cook book so that you too could taste a blast from the past.  Its meant to be made with raspberry jam but you you could use some of that home made plum jam instead.

65g Butter
25g Sugar
2 Egg yolks
150g Flour
1 tspn baking powder
Jam

Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks, then sifted flour and baking powder. Press into greased sponge roll tin and spread with jam.

Topping
2 egg whites
125g Sugar
50g Coconut

Beat egg whites until quite stiff, add sugar and coconut, fold together and spread on top of the jam. Bake 30 minutes at 180 degrees


Personal columns

Teresas friend Carolyn has a rough or broken coat Jack Russell named Tintin who is hot right now!!   Carolyn is looking for  Jack Russell mate. If there is someone who knows of a suitable playmate for Tintin then please just email back by return and T will pass these on

The true Gardener 'on slug alert the non chemical way"
I was sent this email by a client and did I ever laugh thinking about how true it is, well, its the sort of nocturnal habit that I would catch Harry doing. Its going to rain on Sunday so I know what all the rest of you keen gardeners will be doing this Sunday evening. With this thought in mind, have a great weekend
 
The Mark of the True Gardener:
On a spring night especially if it has rained after a dry spell, the True Gardener is found outside on the lawn with umbrella and torch, dancing delightedly on all the copulating snails, enjoying the crunching underfoot....
And counting the casualties! 581, 582, 583, 584.......

Cheers,

Lloyd and Harry

Make it a Wairere weekend where gardenings not a drag!!!!!

Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, RD 1, Hamilto
07 824 34 30
www.wairere.co.nz

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2011 Newsletters...

Plums (17th February, 2011)

Friends in need (27th February, 2011)

Feijoas Roses Pears (5th March, 2011)

Pear Puddings (13th March, 2011)

Figs and Things (22nd March, 2011)

Hips and Hedges (1st April, 2011)

Lemons and things (7th April, 2011)

Camellias (15th April, 2011)

Hedges (29th April, 2011)

Blueberries (21st April, 2011)

and more hedges (6th May, 2011)

Garlic Asparagus Roses (20th May, 2011)

New Roses (27th May, 2011)

The Rose Story (4th June, 2011)

HT Floribundas and Austins (11th June, 2011)

Winter Solstice (18th June, 2011)

Grapes (25th June, 2011)

Plums and more (2nd July, 2011)

Flowering Cherries (9th July, 2011)

Squally weather and potting (23rd July, 2011)

Key Lime Pie (16th July, 2011)

Bird Seed Cake (30th July, 2011)

Changes in the garden (6th August, 2011)

Magnolias (13th August, 2011)

Fruit tree pruning (20th August, 2011)

Daphne (27th August, 2011)

Lily of the Valley Shrubs (3rd September, 2011)

Judas Trees or Cercis (11th September, 2011)

Chook Sequel (17th September, 2011)

..... Weeping Trees

Shade trees (1st October, 2011)

Roses start to flower (13th October, 2011)

Hostas (21st October, 2011)

Azaleas and Clematis (29th October, 2011)

Garden Visits (6th November, 2011)

Hydrangeas (12th November, 2011)

Dagwood (19th November, 2011)

Melbourne Garden Tour (25th November, 2011)

Tools, Books and Melbourne (5th December, 2011)

Xmas lilies and Lemon Granita (16th December, 2011)

Merry Christmas (24th December, 2011)

HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: