Friday 2nd March, 2018
Hi
Art Deco, Spanish Mission and Stripped Classical............ and Grapes
Have you ever been to the Art deco weekend in Napier ? Well you will just have to plan to go next year. There is so much to do over there and we had such a good time that another weekend has been planned for the future and not necessarily the Art Deco one.
It was a very spontaneous idea but at the last minute we were using our weekend off to go Napier. The Art deco weekend has the most amazing vibe and the town just hums with many dressing for the occasion in period clothes. So much so, that we had to have bow ties, braces and boater hats, that were consequently purchased to fit in with everyone else in the crowds. Here some
FB links to the
Art Deco weekend.
Cycles hired and a bike trip around some of the winery's for tasting was an awesome way to spend a day. I had never been on a tandem bike before and after the first tastings became really good at getting around.
Too many tastings later, amongst the gorgeous scenery of all the vineyards with their grapes, that were all looking like harvest time (that isn't too far away) and a lighter wallet just because we had to have a few bottles sent home, was the end of a perfect day.
Next morning a city walk was preceded by a film of Napier, prior to and post the earthquake, to look at the early styles of Art deco of which I learnt that there were three styles, stripped classical, Spanish mission and Art deco though I m sure that I heard the word Moderne thrown in there. Apparently nowhere else in the world can you see such a concentration of these 1930 s styles of buildings.
.. of course a walk always get followed by a beer (it was lunch time after all) at the famous Masonic hotel with windows that looked out and with prime view to the vintage car rally outside ... why everyone else wasn't inside getting beers is beyond me.... then cruising with the period dressed crowd afterwards and chilling to various bands, capped off another amazing day.
Last on our list was the visit to Black Barn winery where a musician was playing in the amazing setting sun of the vineyard with all those gorgeous bunches of
grapes looking just ripe for the picking..
The
grapes on the vines looked like they were just on the way to being ready and it was interesting to see how the grapes were carried low and clear of leaves. The upper part was all leaves and almost left all the grapes exposed and I then wondered what style of winter pruning was undertaken.
Spur and cane pruning would seem to be the two main ways to prune grapes and in our garden we do spur pruning, in that I have a main framework or cordon and in the winter I prune back to short spurs of approx 2 to 3 buds for the next seasons growth and fruit. Now we just have a couple of vines that grow along chains across the arch of our office and once the fruit has set I keep the vines pinched so that the energy goes into the growth of the grapes. Once the fruit are about to ripen, we make sure that the bunches of grapes are exposed to the sun and not covered in leaves.. The vineyards seemed to have this well sorted with all the foliage carried high.
Cane pruning is where you select longer canes from the current season and use them. I found this on google that demonstrates this difference really well.
Check it out here.
I did think for a home grower who wants many varieties of table grapes that they could adopt a leaf out of the wine growers method and have many grape cultivars in a small space by training them like a vineyard. Its all in the pruning and seasonal maintenance.
Check out these images of cones and Topairy on Wairere facebook page, as they view as a better pic than in this email.
Cones in the garden and
again of the courtyard and this of the
Juniper kaizuka
Liquidamber Gumball stds We haven't had these for a while and they are pretty cool being a dwarf form of liquidamber grafted on a standard. Being a Liquidamber these have an attractive green leaves Spring and Summer and in the Autumn will change to give amazing leaf colours. They will naturally form quite a dense rounded tree of quite petite proportions compared to its cousins of other cultivars or could be trimmed round to keep more of that classic
topiary look.. Ideal too for a small section where you would want a small tree.
Cones alway look hot in pots or as accents in the garden and Loropetalum Burgundy with its stunning burgundy red foliage will always make a statemement with its pink flowers in the spring. Iceberry is a green clone with attractive green leaves and lighter fresh green new foliage. Creamy spidery flowers will complete the cool look. Keep trimmed to maintain this classic form.
This silver germander makes for stunning subject to be manicured into small standard with its silver leaves and blueish mauve flowers. This is a suitable for pots or in the garden again, as a accent plant. Teucrium grows quickly and as such keep trimmed regularly to keeps its nice form.
Buxus sempervirens std... good ole fashioned Buxus has been used forevever for balls and standards purely for the reason that it clips really well.
Corokia frosted chocolate stds.. some a tad different being a NZ native with a small leaf that really lends itself to topiary work. Frosted choclate has as its name suggests a frosted chocolate flavoured i mean coloured leaf, that starts of green but ages to this darkish brown colour.
Michelia Gracipes and Figo..... have to have a mention here as these also make for fabulous topiary standards.. These are a size up from the likes of Teucrium and could also be used in a small garden where a tree may grow to large as these can be kept to size.
Choiysa ternata or Mexican orange blossom has a glossy green leaf which is very attractive and fragrant white flowers that of course are orange scented.
Ilex crenata hillerii.... balls, spheres, call them what you will, has leaf so similar that I could forgive you for thinking that its a Buxus.. This small leaved holly is perfect for those hot and sunny positions and clips really well just like Buxus does.
The
Sales page... still 30 % off selected plants... come and check them out
Tamarillo red, or tree tomato as many know them, are a subtropical tree that produces oval red fruit at the end of summer. Rich in vitamin C and delicious straight of the tree. Plants that are 1.2 metres normally $19.99 now just $14.99
There are parts of the garden around the pond that have become a tad overgrown as there haven't been the resources to manage that far... after all the nursery must come first.. so armed with a new mulcher and chainsaw the team are into it and the new borrowed landscape is looking amazing...
New resolve is not to let it get away on us again and we will be back onto it again next week.. thats the fun part about having a garden in that there is always a project to do and one can see results for ones efforts..
If you are out and about like we were over in Napier, then have a blast and enjoy your weekend to the max, if you are in the garden and focussing on a new project I hope that the weather is kind and that you enjoy the results of your efforts
As always
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.
Its all in the pruning and seasonal maintenance.
