Hmmm.... first day of summer? Well, the second or third by the time this email gets sent out, and to be fair today, at least, the sun has been out and the tap got turned off. One could be fooled into thinking that maybe it's going to change. Though on checking with Cecilia, the first official day of summer is actually the 22nd of December and maybe I'll go with that theory and not the NZ perception, seeing as the weather has been so shabby and certainly not summery.

To be fair I am kind of looking forward to some fine weather as everything is so waterlogged and there hasn't been enough sunshine or heat to get all those summer crops happening. I got to thinking that all the nurserymen are relying on some spring warmth to get their plants growing for the retailers and everything is running late. Then all the farmers whose maize crops are looking somewhat patchy due to where the water has been laying for more days than I guess that they would like. Some of our paddocks have been under water so many times this year spoiling the grass not to mention the display garden pond joining the drainage board creek. The thing is, we can't control nature but rather have to work with what we get, but I'm sure that there are a lot of frustrated people out there.

Hydrangeas are very robust plants and they are really quite tolerant of many spots in the garden, but they do like some dappled light to protect those stunning flowers heads. I guess morning and half day sun is perfect. I know many like to plant Hydrangeas in the shade of mature trees and this is fine but the downside is the lack of humus, nutrients and in the summer water. Of course, one can always continue to mulch feed and add water to improve those positions. 

We are all mostly familiar with Hydrangeas and there are a few different species and flower types that are worth having in the garden. Mop heads are probably the classic and a good example would be Snowball and Pink Bouquet with a full head of individual flowers complete with their surrounding sepals. Lace caps are pretty cool with the centre mass of flowers without sepals and the outer surround of the flowers with ringed with those that do have sepals. A bit like butterflies on the outer edges. Check out Red start and Strawberries and cream. 

Its handy to know that the Hydrangea macrophylla's of which are the lace caps and mopheads, flower on older wood or previous season and so if you are pruning to keep smaller then to get flowers you need to leave previous seasons wood. The other important point is that acid soil will turn pink cultivars to the blue shades. so note to self-Lime for the pinks and reds and aluminium sulphate for the blues and apply in the winter prior to flowering.

Hydangea quercifolia Pee wee... Quercifolia meaning oak leaf like foliage. These tend to be quite hardy and more tolerant of sun, have attractive cone shape flowers in creamy white. The other cool thing about the oak leaf hydrangeas is that their leaves colour red in the Autumn.

Hydrangea paniculata is a different species again and these beauties also have large cone shaped flowers that start as white. These one also are more tolerant of higher light positions and can grow quite large in the garden. Its handy to know that these will flower on current season growth so you can control their size more easily. Have a gander at Diamond Rouge, Tardiva and  Kyushu.

Hydrangea Annabelle,  Different again, different species being Aborescens and has quite the different habit with stems that seem to grow from the ground each year bearing  green balls of flowers that eventually attain a pretty cream when fully out and age to chartreuse green. A must have in my book.

Hostas share the same likes in position as our Hydrangeas and to recap they like adequate moisture through the summer and rich moist humus like soils and dappled light or semi shade. Morning sun is good and is probably the last rays in the days at this time of year, but it's surprising at actually how much sun they will tolerate. Trying positions is everything as it's the only way to learn, and different cultivars will have differing tolerances.

Don't think of Hosta's just being all about those stunning leaves. Leaves that seem to cover the colour and size spectrums possible. Their flowers just add to the pluses for having these in the garden. I love them mass planted so that you get a big effect but we also have them at home in pots and they are just amazing. Large Doppios with 3 or 4 plants and this year they have totally filled the pots and now just coming up to flower. Too many to list here so follow a link and check them out

It's happening, all that Christmas advertising, carols playing, Christmas tree being decorated as we slip into December. With Singles day and the more recent Black Friday heralding that retailers are ramping up the ante, anticipating the Christmas shopping rush. Thought that I would add to the fray by throwing out there some ideas for gardening friends. If all ideas fail then we do have Vouchers which make for a great gift and that gardening friend can choose their own present.

We have received in some great plants over the last few weeks just in time for Christmas, Christmas trees (Picea), Christmas lily (Lilium) and of course NZ Christmas trees/Pohutakawa (Metrosideros Vibrance).

Vouchers can be purchased and redeemed online (or with the team) and are suitable anywhere in NZ as we mail order NZ wide. They are valid for one year from issue and are happy to reissue prior to expiry.

Pots glazed, terra cotta and lite weight,  sorry all pots are not available for mail order or delivery.

Bird baths glazed and also with that oceanic out of the sea look. Same deal as pots above and must be collected from the nursery.

Tools  of the fantastic quality ARS secateurs, Handsaws and Snips or Scissors

Stainless trowels, hand forks with nice wooden handles. Again good, reliable and quality.

Japanese Hoes that every one loves to use. Just make weeding a doddle, Left hand, right hand and long handled so you don't have to bend.

Flax knives always seem to get a following and rave reviews. I have never used one but I do get constant feed back in the shop.

These wire Leaf rakes seem to be the best leaf rake that I have ever used. Look after it and use appropriately and you should get years out of it. Even had one of the team buying for for his home after using it here. 

Then of course there are always the plants and we s have an amazing range of Roses, Fruit trees, berries, perennials, that you can check out on line. Pip and stone fruit trees still have 25% off as do Camellias, Rhodos and Avocados.

I would like to say that the major part of the spring flush has happened but of course if it keeps raining then in all probability plants, shrubs and hedges will keep growing. But for now, it's time to bring the hedges and gardens into some sort of order and remove the all that new growth that is probably starting to harden off. To that end all the hedges are tagged to get sorted, trimmed and into shape before Christmas. There are quite a few hedges here and so it will probably take the best part of a couple of weeks and of course if they are perfectly square, they look pretty good.

The trees need to be dealing with as well as they tend to droop lower than normal with the increased weight and length of their branches.  I know that the flowering Cherries at home are drooping right down and onto the hedge, so we will lift or remove the dragging branches so that they lift up again and sit above the hedge. I find that every year after the spring flush most of the trees here need to be lifted. Otherwise the branches get in the way of the sprinklers and make to much shade.

Your roses are probably like ours after that last lot of rain and so we are mostly cutting the spent blooms off. I think that in the home garden you should do this as well. A small amount of rose fert will push them along. Your roses will then flush over again and will look nice and fresh for Christmas and then in flower again 3 to 4 weeks after Christmas. Usually, its approx 7 weeks from pruning to a full flower flush.  On that note because it's been so wet then there will probably be some black spot around and happening and so pruning will remove most of that. Spraying Super shield after pruning and then again as the new growth starts to emerge should keep them clean. We try and spray before the rain and after the rain here so you can guess that there has been a few evenings out getting the spraying done. The new leaves will have a soft cuticle and so if we don't get some fine weather then you may need to do some spraying as a preventative or definitely at first sign of black spot.

Last orders for dispatch will be the week beginning the 12th of December and final dispatch day is the Wednesday the 14th. 

We don't want to get our plant orders caught up in that last busy week with the couriers just before Christmas. So if you are think of getting anything by courier then now is the time to get your orders in and lets get them out to you! 

We will be open all through the holiday period, normal hours of 8.30am to 5pm with the one exception of Christmas day of which we will be closed. Plants still have to be stood up, watering done, as with all things in life there is always something that needs attending to.

Hopefully we get some fine weather this weekend, my lawns desperately need doing, I have plants to get in the garden, pots to redo and a new garden to complete. Yep I'm one of those... that always has a little stash of plants waiting to be planted. lol so always another gardening task on hand. 

Hope that you all have a great weekend!

Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team

PS, Ang wanted me to mention Alstroemerias, great fillers in the garden and a fab range of plants available right now!!