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Thursday 26th January, 2017
First email for 2017!!
Hi
It only seems like last week that we were faced with Christmas and all the holidays and now we have almost completed the first month of 2017. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time flies, must be an age thing I guess, but I feel there is almost never enough hours in the day.
I have to share how our Christmas brunch went as it was Victoria who sent in her tip for doing eggs for a large group of people. I was looking to change our menu a bit and these eggs were just a winner.
The problem with our brunch is I never know how many are going to turn up from the family, extended families, friends of friends. Its a gamble and I guess that its always around 30 to say 60 people and I reckon this year hovered at about 50 for our brunch.
So its a big thank to Victoria for this easy to prepare egg dish. I did as she suggested and made the cases in muffin tins the night before. I did 48 cases thinking that would be enough for at least one each but they are so good looking that I'm afraid some missed out. I find myself doing these as a preference to traditional bacon and poached eggs, heaps less mess. My only tip to add is make sure that you use muffin tins that are non stick so that the eggs just slide out easily.
Victoria's .....An easy way to do bulk bacon and eggs
Put streaky bacon around outside of a patti tin -cook for 7-10 mins - then you can leave over night in fridge In morning break an egg in then top with half a cherry tomatoe and sprig of parsley Cook for ten mins
I can do 3 dozen at a time, they look Christmassy too
Victoria xx
January is time to plan.... Autumn and Winter are not that far away
I have never been one for new year resolution's but the start of a new year is certainly time to reflect on the previous year, what was planned, what happened and then to build the framework of a new plan for 2017. I am not going to go on about the weather as its the one thing that we have no control over. I am sure that I speak for many when I say that many of the best laid plans in 2016 were well scuppered for many by the inclement weather. From our point of view it seemed that every weekend (LOL and week) was wet throughout the spring and the temperatures were overall quite cool. I'm sure that the roses were some 3 weeks later than normal. Its only the seasoned gardeners that seem to brave all those showers and get out there amongst it all.
All of the team has had a break and we are on a roll for this coming year, we had the start of a planning meeting yesterday and then will follow up with creating an action plan for the coming year. New projects so that we have an even better web site to show with more products and helpful information.
There is a scheduled calendar of arrivals throughout the year starting with the Camellias in Mar/April. Traditionally new season citrus roll in around April and May and then usually the next main arrival will be the new seasons roses in June followed by fruit and ornamental trees in July.
Its a good time for you to be planning too because if you are after something specific, chances are that you will need to pre-order it, for example Roses, Ornamental trees or Fruit trees. We are just in the process of finalising our orders for 2017 and believe it or not 2018, that is how far ahead we have to work. All of the stock that we have coming should be online with an expected arrival date so that you can pre-order from the website or email Jan who deals with all the future orders..... backorders@wairere.co.nz. If its not on our website, still inquire as we may be able to get it in for you.
Get your garden up to scratch because Autumn is the next flush
Its tidy up time in the garden.
It was hard to say when the spring flush had finished this year. Usually we would have all the buxus hedges trimmed before Christmas but because it has been so wet and cool I don't believe they finished growing until after Christmas.
So the general action plan for the garden is
Hedges all trimmed in readiness for the Autumn.
Flowering perennials that have finished may need cutting back to bring them on again. Leave bulbs until the foliage dies back.
Weeding, get everything weeded and reapply mulch or garden mix layer which will help retain water over the summer months. Mulch always seems to absorb water much better than soil and also prevents the loss of water from the garden, keeping in mind that technically we have the two hottest months of the year still to come.
Roses, cut these back if they have finished flowering or looking tatty, they will generally be in flower again in 7 weeks from cutting.
Roses that flower only once in the season are pruned immediately after flowering.
Trees can be limbed up or crown lifted to give them their height back... after every seasons growth they tend to drop.
Recreate the layers in you garden because after every season they tend to merge as the smaller shrubs grow up and the trees droop.
Always be looking at the plants in your garden because nearly always a problem can often be sorted by observation and then consequently remedied.
Most plants will appreciate a sprinkle of some slow release fertiliser after trimming or pruning to help them maintain their health and vigour.
Tips for plants and planting this time of year
Its been excessively windy this year and so watch for the signs of wind damage particularly on new plants and trees as continuous winds can cause general un-thriftiness, even enough for plants to die. How does this happen? Constant buffering by the wind keeps breaking the newly developing roots which in turn prevents the plant from it's uptake of water and nutrients. There is also a burning effect on new leaves and increased loss of water... remedy is to stake properly and/or create wind shelters until the plants become established.
Planting new plants in summer
Immerse the new plant in its container in a bucket of water and wait for the bubbles to stop. Garden centres and nurseries have to rely on irrigation to keep plants going. Whilst this is enough water for the plants basic needs, but when planting the tree or shrub it needs to be well wet.
Add some compost to the prepared hole as this will also help hold the moisture levels. I don't usually advocate compost in the planting hole as in the winter it can hold too much moisture and cause the new roots to rot but in the summer plants need the increased moisture levels, so some organic matter well mixed with the soil will be advantageous.
As with all things living, one has to use common sense and take into account all the variables, for example existing soil structure needs to be considered as sandy soils will benefit from additional compost and heavier clay soil are naturally more water retentive and may not need much in the way of additional organic matter.
Occasionally the root ball of a newly planted plant can dry out independently of the soil around it so watch your new plantings for wilt as you may need to get water into the root ball itself when watering, not just on the ground around it.
Water well after planting and applying a mulch layer around the plant will help conserve water in the soil but of course not around the stem Keep mulch clear of the plant itself to avoid collar rot and ring barking, always ensure clear air for the trunks of trees and for the lower foliage of shrubs. If you are planning on a mulch layer then plant a tad higher so basically the plant still sits at the correct level.
The rule here is never plant any deeper than the plant is in its container.
Just arrived in
New Bougainvillea magnifica Traillii standards... be awesome as a pot plant in a hot \dry and sunny position.
These standards have been Developed with under planting in mind. This standard form of this gorgeous climber from South America will really brighten up a blank wall or trellis in your garden. Deep green foliage and vibrant magenta purple flower bracts throughout summer add some real drama to any planting scheme. Protect from harsh frost. Evergreen.
New Nandina City Lights couldn't resist this Nandina, new out on the market. It is a small nandina, has all of the colour and hardiness of the original. Green most of the year but when the weather cools down City Lights lights up delighting with colours of Green to yellow, orange, pink and red. Perfect low border or hedge plant and looks great mass planted. Sun to part shade, hardy, requires little water once established. Evergreen
Fuchsia Arborescens.. not something that you will see around often but caught my eye the other day as something a bit different. At first glance this plant might not seem like a fuchsia, but this flowering perennial has near year-round blooms of amazing colour brilliance. Large clusters of lilac flowers are born throughout the bush. It has a stately growing habit which makes it a nice ornamental, particularly for the shady garden. Evergreen
Chillies.... I see that Ang found some Chillies, larger grade and well grown and on the way to fruiting. I know that some like em hot so check out this range.
Origanum Bellisimo a gorgeous ornamental oregano with pretty greenish to pink flowers that will do well in a sunny position in the garden. This one would look stunning at the front of the border. Bred as a hardy hot and dry tolerant ornamental plant, Origanum Bellissimo is distinctively different. The aromatic foliage spreads and trails producing deep plum coloured bracts which intensify in colour from late spring throughout summer. Because bracts are responsible for the colourful display it means these lovely ground cover plants will retain their showy display right into the Autumn.
Cranesbill. This plant was awarded RHS Plant of the Century at Chelsea 2013. A favourite of mine as it is easy care and flowers its head off from summer to autumn. Attractive grey-green foliage and loose clusters of long lasting mauve blooms. Likes sun or part shade and well drained soil.
I think that we are mostly back on track with deliveries around NZ, unfortunately some of the trucking companies had a longer break than we anticipated and for that we apologise. However there are also two short weeks happening so dispatch will complete by Wed each week.
There has been some major roadworks going on outside the nursery and we are sorry if they have inconvenienced anyone trying to get into the garden centre. Hopefully they are on the final stretch and will be mostly finished today though they will be moving down the road a bit to do the next stretch. I'm sure that we will have much more pull over road verge space which will make it much safer for those getting into the nursery.
Wishing all of our clients a happy, prosperous start to the new year and hope that all have had at least some holidays to recharge, It would be nice to get some summer weather for the next couple of months and get our gardens all back into shape
Its another long weekend followed by another so if you are out and about take care !!!
Have a great weekend
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
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2017 Newsletters...
..... 1st one for 2017
Grapefruit (2nd February, 2017)
Party time (10th February, 2017)
17 Feb (17th February, 2017)
Asteraceae (24th February, 2017)
Autumn Its Official 03032017 (3rd March, 2017)
The Camellia story (10th March, 2017)
Roses Half Price (16th March, 2017)
Clipped Camellias (23rd March, 2017)
Red and gold (31st March, 2017)
Wairere Newsletter 7th April (7th April, 2017)
A wet season indeed (13th April, 2017)
Form and texture (21st April, 2017)
To Bee or not... (28th April, 2017)
Mothers Day (10th May, 2017)
Its Rose time again (19th May, 2017)
Winter colour (24th May, 2017)
Roses blooms (1st June, 2017)
Healthy roses (8th June, 2017)
Birthday brekkie (14th June, 2017)
winter solstice (22nd June, 2017)
Rose Names (29th June, 2017)
Dry July (7th July, 2017)
Dry July nearly half way (13th July, 2017)
school holidays (20th July, 2017)
Tree time (27th July, 2017)
unoffical spring (3rd August, 2017)
Signs of spring (11th August, 2017)
Tui cherries are blooming (18th August, 2017)
Sunshine at last (24th August, 2017)
slugs and snails (1st September, 2017)
Never fail choc cake (7th September, 2017)
Never fail choc cake (8th September, 2017)
sandpaper vine (15th September, 2017)
In the beginning (21st September, 2017)
The Villa (29th September, 2017)
Montanas (6th October, 2017)
Crepe Myrtles (13th October, 2017)
Te Aroha Airport (18th October, 2017)
Kumara plants are in (20th October, 2017)
French Tarragon 2 (27th October, 2017)
Trees (3rd November, 2017)
what happening (15th November, 2017)
Xeronema (17th November, 2017)
Summer Watering (25th November, 2017)
Officially summer 2 (1st December, 2017)
Wairere Newsletter (8th December, 2017)
Xmas Summer Holidays (22nd December, 2017)
Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: