New Seasons Roses!!

The year is going by so quickly, its July already and we are definitely in winter mode at the garden centre with our thoughts turning to weather patterns, new trees and shrubs, winter crops to plant and Roses!

Yes, we have unloaded the new season’s roses with some interesting new additions to our selection.

Winter roses (hellebores) are in store now and will add plenty of colour to the garden at this time of the year, so come into the garden centre and see what we have on offer.

In this issue of the newsletter, we take a look at changing weather patterns and how these can affect the plants in your garden. We also give some useful tips on the sorts of plants you should be choosing for your garden given the very damp conditions we are currently facing.

Our Hot Shopping List features some great gift ideas as well as things you can do in the garden, including planting strawberries now, so you can be eating delicious, plump strawberries by springtime.

WHAT'S GROWING ON...

Weather patterns affect many plants…

We’ve descended into winter earlier than the past few years and already we have experienced our first frosts at the Garden Centre! Frosts do have the advantage of dealing with late colonies of insects that chew holes in many leaves, but some of our more exotic plants need protection and careful positioning under tree canopy or other shelter during winter.

This year we are trialling Vapourguard, a spray-on protective layer that we feel should reduce frost burn on tender leaves. Bottles of Vapourguard are $12.95 each and frost cloth is available by the metre. If you are unsure whether some of your more exotic plants are frost tender and may require protection, bring in a leaf and we’ll help you look after them through the winter.

Hail storms have occurred more often in 2005 with pretty devastating effects on some prized plants; fleshy leaves of succulents have been marred by the heavy falls of hail and many clients report that their hydrangea leaves are peppered with large holes! The latter will drop their leaves soon and fresh green leaves emerging this spring will be flawless! Unfortunately damaged succulents need heat and dry conditions to recover and grow their spectacular foliage – try moving them under the eaves of your house (if you can) to reduce further potential damage.

Regular rainfall this autumn has followed two very damp years for gardeners. Coupled with less wind around at the moment we are finding soils are very water retentive. We advise caution when selecting plants with low water requirements, such as lavenders, plants with silver foliage and succulents: try planting them in the garden in a raised bed, or a site with very rocky or free draining soil. Use Gypsum, a natural product, to assist drainage in puggy soils.

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NEW SEASON’S ROSES
This year’s delivery of Matthews Roses is another crop of strong, healthy, multi-branched plants. We have chosen a wide selection that encompasses a good colour range, strongly perfumed varieties and some classics that we cannot do without!

Here is one of our choices that we feel is a worthy new garden variety:

Burgundy Iceberg

We couldn’t begin to add up how many White Icebergs we have sold over the past 11 years! There are two main reasons why it is the most preferred rose for Wellington; it is unbelievably prolific and it copes well with the vagaries of Wellington’s climate!

Two years after its launch we feel sure that Burgundy Iceberg has the same characteristics as its parent and are just bowled over by its rich colour and petal texture. Only two weeks ago Anne observed it growing in a large pot with a huge number of blooms on it.

We can see Burgundy Iceberg in the garden growing with complementary perennials. Create a tapestry with flowers and foliage using Achillea ‘Beacon’, Astrantia ‘Habspen Blood’, Alstroemeria ‘Cherry Days’ and Scabiosa ‘Midnight’. Mix in plants with accents of red foliage such as Heuchera ‘Green Spice’, Euphorbia martinii, Euphorbia ‘Chameleon’ and Hebe ‘Red Edge’. To lift it all and enhance the red flowers use good silver leaved plants like Artemesia ‘Powys Castle’, Plectranthus argentatus, Santolina chaemacyparissus ‘Nana’ with our native Astelia banksii for drama.

Suggestion: Plant Burgundy Iceberg in a bright lime green or metallic silver pot for a fashionable accent in the garden this summer!

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“HELLEBORE HEAVEN”

It would not be an exaggeration to say that we are ‘completely potty’ about hellebores! They brighten winter gardens with a long display of flowers and all have good foliage texture. Many of our hellebores are from the renowned Clifton Homestead Nursery, where Ken & Kate Telford have managed to build up a selection of species and hybridised plants that offer many different colours.

This year we have:

Hellebore orientalis: unbelievable tolerance to our clay soils or almost any soil type. Sun or light shade. Clusters of flowers in gorgeous colours, often with a speckling of dots around the centres.

Dark Hybrids – Ever wanted one of those almost black flowered ones? This year they are available in 1.0 litre pots (or later in the season in flower) at the very reasonable price $8.50 each.

Yellow Hybrids – A soft yellow shade that Ken & Kate have selected that works well with euphorbias and the emerging leaves of spring perennials such as hostas. Available in the same pot size as the dark hybrids or in flowering grade later on.

Clifton Mix – a selection of all the colours they grow.

Hellebore sternii ‘Clifton’: a selected form of H. sternii with even more marbled foliage, giving an effect of being ‘dusted with icing sugar’. Fabulous foliage plant that blends with a huge number of plant combinations. Attractive pinky green flowers in spring.

Hellebore ‘White Magic’: a niger form whose flowers are held 40/50cm above the ground. Pure white flowers with outward facing blooms – 10-15 per plant. Good as an indoor pot plant over the winter months. Very cold tolerant.

Hellebore ‘Moonshine’ : Pat Stuart’s famous cross from H. sternii and H. ‘White Magic’. Tall outward facing lemon yellow flowers above strong foliage – the plant can measure up to 1 metre across when mature! Great in a sunny garden bed or in a pot. This NZ bred plant has growers in Europe very excited!

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Anne