The Wood reunion was such a success, a very cool occasion... we worked out that it must have been 16 years since we all were together. It was made very special by the last minute attendance of my late cousins partner and her two boys who are well grown up now and wanting to meet everyone. Then my youngest cousin who wasn't able to attend due to a prior commitment suddenly (such a great surprise) arrived with his two boys and partner and just in time for dinner.
After dinner everyone stretched their legs and walked through the nursery to the display garden over at the office... I popped one of my aunts into the ute and drove her through the nursery as it was a few steps to far for her. Having the gardens makes a common talking point for all as they walked from house to house and garden to garden, remembering back to what was at the nursery all those years back.
It was where they all had reminisced that we had last all been together that 16 years ago. I will add at this point that 16 years is too long and that we must do it all again in just a couple of years.
Did you know... that this is the time of year that you lift and divide those queens of Irises... the bearded ones. Most perennials of all kinds usually benefit from being dug up out of the ground, split up and new pieces replanted. This process seems to rejuvenate the plant and give it more vigour. I guess it forces the plant to generate new roots and then of course the top will respond with new leaves and better flowers which is what we all want!! I will just add here that rejuvenating the soil with compost or organic matter, fertilisers and water will play a big part in the end results.. funny that LOL.. Perennials are plants like the herbs Oregano, French Tarragon,
Cat mint and there is that stunning new
Origanum Bellisimo to just name a few common ones.
In the case with bearded Irises, if you just leave them in the ground year in and year out they tend to get a bit over crowded. Those corms tend to get smaller with no room in between and if you mulch regularly like we do then the corms tend to get smothered and more buried than they should be....
As I write this I'm making a mental note to self to lift our bearded Irises as they haven't been done for a couple of years.
So what do you do... well dig them all up and go through the clump sorting out the biggest corms and discard the smaller pieces. Slice the big corms off so that you get left with a big single corm, then cut the foliage back like an upside down V ending up with a L shape fan. (Golden rule of horticulture. if you cut roots or dig plants up to replant then you must reduce foliage too to lessen water loss) I always also trim the roots back, say a third off, but keep it all relative. Now it doesn't hurt to let these dry out a bit before you replant them, probably a good thing as it will seal the cut pieces.
Replant in good rich soil with all the roots in the soil and the back of the corm out of the soil exposed so that it can have it's back in the sun and your darling bearded Irises should grow back with a whole new meaning in life.
On that note because its time to lift and divide Irises, we are able to offer single Bearded Iris corms in netting bags labelled with colour pictures from one of our favourite iris specialists... click the link to
pre order and we will get these in for you.
Pre orders will all be just $10.99, two or more just $9.99
Like all in life some things just boil down to technique !!!!
There's more to Marmalade than just grapefruit
Its been interesting posting up my first Marmalade recipe as there must be a cult out there with every one having their own blends and techniques. Its really made me think about my next batch of this breakfast spread.
Check out Lorain's friend Felicity with her own special technique of making
Seville orange marmalade which I reckon that you could apply to other citrus. I bet doing it this way you would get one of those really silky clear marmalades with beautiful strips of skin floating through. I think that if I was doing this I would slice all the rinds and process all the fruit as I just love the look of those orange skins floating through the preserve.
Then David writes about a longer soak version and shorter boiling times and I'm guessing that you will end up with a delicious more conserve or fruity like spread. Again I always take the time to hand slice as I reckon you get the best result.
I have my last 4
Wheeny grapefruit all hand sliced and soaking and on that note, I am going to give David's technique a whirl.
Thanks so much to everyone for all their input..... now that I'm on the conserve and jam making path. Harry kindly picked up a couple of kilos of frozen
boysenberries for me. Harry and Anthony were getting Boysenberries for Anthonys sister Yvonne and so Harry obviously thinks that I need to extend my jam making abilities. There is always a project!!
Hibiscus trionum is a plant that I had always thought was a NZ native but it would seem that it was introduced possibily fron Florence Italy??. Though on reading further the New Zealand form is a diploid and the other versions in the world are tetraploids. The scientific world or those that know about botanical taxonomy recognise this Hibiscus as a NZ naturalised form.
This pretty but different Hibiscus is an annual perhaps perennial depending on the climate. That's the thing about plants and horticulture, nothing is ever black and white but rather shades off grey. If its an annual in a cool climate then the seeds should carry it over from season to season.
Chinese lanterns or Abutilons belong to the same family as the Hibiscus that we all know...the malvaceae These cute hibiscus like flowers hang down just like little hats and come in shades of red white and yellow which we have just got in. Orange too if I recollect correctly.
An easy to grow shrub which will respond well to a good cutting back every now and then to keep it in tow and nice and bushy, seems to be always in flower with those cute Chinese lantern like flowers.
Hydrangea Sundae Fraise this
paniculata form of hydrangea has gorgeous flowers that age to a delicious strawberry shade and has caught the attention of many on our
facebook page. To that end we have ensured we have many more plants to meet demand as its different colour is obviously appealing to many. The paniculata forms flower on new wood and this particular beauty is of smaller proportions than most of these species. This one will flower white but quickly begin to age to those pretty pink shades.
Feijoas As I opened a jar of
Feijoa chutney the other day, it reminded me that the Feijoa season is coming up with all those delicious fruit. Ang has made sure that we are stocked up with an excellent range of cultivars to choose from. Feijoas are a pretty easy tree to grow and produce fruit from as they get little wrong with them. The important point to remember is that freshly fallen fruit are the ones to go for, if you pick them they generally don't ripen any further, hence why its hard to buy from the supermarket. Feijoas do lend themselves to a multitude of delicious recipes of
cakes,
muffin and
chutneys..
Oh My Goodness... one whole day of constant rain and (in February too) and another day of rain forecast for today too, that must surely mean that we can keep on planting. I had been getting the garden ready and organised to make some planting changes for when the rains next come. I think that I will just crack on with my replanting ideas and I will just do some watering if it gets dry again. Truth to say its hardly been the typical summer for us here in the Waikato so I'm not expecting it to be a super dry lead into the Autumn.
While we have been lucky enough to have such good rain we should all spare a thought and hope that our good rain moves quickly down to those affected by fires in the Christchurch and Hawkes bay areas. I can only imagine how dry it must be in those places and think that 2 days of constant drizzle would go a long way in cooling and containing those fires.
The weekends roll around so quickly... If its been a while since your extended families have had a catch up then perhaps plan a weekend at your place and in the garden. Suddenly we all find ourselves thinking where did those ten years go.
What ever you have planned, 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.
