Monday 6th February, 2023
Hi
Everything is growing its head off
School is back and Summer, well one could say that its been a wet one to date though there have been the sprinkling of fine weeks too.. On the plant front well normally a dry summer will ensure some sort of what I would call summer dormancy as not enough moisture for continued growth.. Not so this year.. Hedges that were cut before Christmas are now looking to be cut again as they have just continued to grow and quickly too. My big tip here is to cut those hedges as soon as the new growth has expanded as more often is way easier than once year.
Then there is the story of the lawns and it seems a juggle to get in and get them cut, miss the moment and they just get longer and takes an age to dry enough to get the mower out. The big plus is that they are still lovely and green.
What about the weeds, well they just love all this moisture and humidity and grow at the rate of knots . If you had mulched prior, then this would help with weed control and what weeds grow can be spot sprayed or just pulled out. Luckily we mulched many of our gardens and so the weeds havent benn too bad.
The rain is not great for the flowers in the garden as they go off quicker than normal but luckily with
roses, good pruning and then they are looking fab in a couple of weeks and in full flower again in a total of 7 weeks. we have just cut back most of the roses in the garden centre and so they will flush flower again mid March I'm guessing. Think we are now onto our third flowering since Winter.
Normally summer is a time to be more cautious of planting due to it being a hot dry season.. and one does have to be more conscious of watering but perhaps not so this year. It seems the perfect extended planting season. I know with my restoration project of replanting of the kahikateas here has had to be postponed purely because the area keeps going under water so I reckon as soon as it dries out I'm in there planting
There are quite a few newer cultivars of these hydrangeas that all have a typical cone-shaped flower. Easy to grow and they flower on new wood compared to say the traditional mop head kinds that flower on previous seasons wood.
Lime light would have to be one of the more popular with its cone flowers being lime green in the initial stage and then when fully out a creamy white colour.
Sundae Fraise and
Diamond Rouge start out creamy white, still with the classic cone shape bloom of the
paniculatas but age or antique to strawberry pink or darker red rouge as their names suggests..
Candlelight is another in this pretty range that age colour and also has red stems
Tardiva and
Levana are probably not so well know but could almost be described as the lace caps of this species, Same cone shape but with intermittent flowers with sepals and other without.. giving the impression of butterflies
Cone flowers or many will know Echinacea
Coneflowers or Echinacea are technically described as a herbaceous perennial which I guess is the fancy way of saying that they die down for the winter and then reappear in the spring producing those glorious flowers in the summer. It wont be a surprise to know that this genus belongs to the daisy or Asteraceae family. Cone flower because out of the prominent cone that rises from the the surrounding typical daisy like flower. A plant for the sun which goes for most or all of the daisy family and good well drained soil is the way to go.
Echinacea purpurea is one that has been grown for years, usually from seed and is not only beautiful in the garden but has been forever used in herbal medicinal remedies with all plant parts. The other cool thing about Echinacea is that the butterflies and bees just love them and will hover around all day collecting nectar
From the Enrich with Nature there is a whole new series of Echinaceas called
Moodz and these have been bred for compact and bushy plants that will flower quickly from tissue culture. The plants are way more uniform and floriferous than those grown from seed and there is an amazing array of colours. Check out the ones below or click
Moodz to bring up the series.
Awake Course dark green leaves and large rich pink daisy like flowers with orange spiky cones
Cozy Course dark green leaves and large salmon pink daisy like flowers with orange spiky cone
Peace With its light lemon petals and bronze cones, the flowers stand on strong stems above dark green foliage
Satisfy Bears deep pink-orange petals with bronze cone in the centre, on strong stems over Summer months
What else is looking Hot!!!
Gaura So white, If you know your perennials by their common name of Whirling butterflies then "So White" is a stunner with masses of whirling pure white flowers. Great compact habit with heaps of flowers. looks fabulous mass planted and awesome for a sunny spot. Trim after the main flush to keep a tight bush and to bring it all on again.
Cuphea Tiny Mice... Named for the cutest little mouse face and ears in purple and bright red... Always in flower and trim from time to time will keep it bushy forming a smallish herbaceous shrub. Another one for a sunny position
Rudbeckia Little Gold star aka Blacked eyed Susan?.. A tad like a coneflower but smaller, with golden rays and a black eye or central cone. Love a sunny disposition and should give colour all summer.
Hello dear customers, it's me, Cecilia.
Just back from my annual break.As I look out of my office window at the rain, I wonder: Will summer ever return? We should get a summer holiday refund, shouldn't we?. What miserable weather for us here on the North Island.My thoughts are with all of you and your friends in the affected areas.
Malvaceae family..
Abutilon is commonly called as Chinese lantern which is quite misleading because they are not completely Asian in origin. There are almost 200 species of this flower and the majority of them originated from South America. The name of this
Abutilon flower is derived from the Arabic word aubutilon given to the flower by a Persian astronomer and physician Avicenna, who is often referred to as the father of modern medicine. Curious.
Abutilon belongs to the Malvaceae family, it is a free-flowering shrub with maple-like leaves, colorful Chinese lantern-shaped flowers, look like crepe paper.Right now they look full of flowers.
Hibiscus or Rose of Sharon. Another of our favorite shrub belonging to the Malvaceae family are the
Hibiscus. They are considered to be the ancestors of the modern exotic hibiscus originally native to Mauritius, Madagascar, Fiji, Hawaii, China, and India. Recognized for their large and showy, trumpet-shaped flowers, with five or more petals, from white to pink, red, orange, peach, yellow or purple.
Depending on the culture, some general symbols often associated with the hibiscus flower are:
Yellow hibiscus is often associated with happiness, sunshine, and good luck!. The red hibiscus is a symbol of love and passion.The pink hibiscus represents friendship and all the different types of love, not just romantic!
The purple hibiscus is associated with mystery, knowledge, and high class.
Enjoy the little sun that this summer gives us, remember that the body produces vitamin D when exposed skin is exposed to the sun (always with sun protection). Have a nice week.
Cecilia
All
Rhododendrons and
Camellias are 25% discounted of their normal price. Still a good range of these and so if you are looking for some fillers then check these out.
Pip and stone fruit are also on special at 25 % off includes Apples, Pears Plums and so on. There are also a selection of fruit trees that are no longer included in stock being mostly Peaches and Nectarines plus others for just $20.00. These are for garden centre sales only. Ideal for starting an orchard or food forest and its great planting weather.
2023 is the year for projects
New gate .. We are getting a new front entrance gate and those old farm gates that have done us well for the past thirty odd years are getting made redundant.. The new one will be very smart in black and be a tad more security conscious but all good things take time. The contractor can only make one side at a time and we have to wait for the footing to harden before it can be driven over. One side is almost done and then it will be the the of the other side. The point is to take care as you enter the nursery as it will be another few weeks before the full entrance is open.
You may also notice in the Nursery some rather large poles have been put up, being the first stage of our new dispatch and storage shed for the garden centre.. The time had come to upgrade the area where the team work as it was no longer a big enough area and was always tricky when its wet.. lol can't box in the rain or rather get them wet and so collection will also be under cover too
Think I'm a little out of practice as somewhat late late in getting this out as we are already into our second long weekend but hope that most can take some time out. Hopefully all can find some time to relax with friends, family or spend in the garden. With all that rain I can assure you that there is plenty to do
Have a great weekend
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team
