Confused Ruapehu garden seasons

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 465, 8 December 1992, Page 10

Confused Ruapehu garden seasons

Back to winter again recently and it is a pity to see all the flowers which have given so much plea>sure over the last few weeks hanging their poor bedraggled heads beaten down by the heavy rain. The earth which has been so parched by the drying wind has really soaked up the welcome moisture and already fresh flower buds are swelling to replace the damaged flowers. This is a good time to lay a mulch on the surface of the soil which will help to retain the moisture if summer decides to return again. Add a little fertiliser at the time of spreading. Aphids seem to be completely impervious to any weather conditions, which can be seen

in their thousands clinging tenaciously to rosebuds and tender new growth. To get rid of the little pests with any degree of success, spray the plant with a good insecticide taking care to spray the underside of the leaves as well as the surface, before they do too much damage to the opening bud. Slugs and snails welcome the moist conditions and will be creeping out from under the stones to make a tasty meal of the lush new growth on the border plants which we have planted with such care.

Time to get out the slug bait and to minimise the damage. Tall rank grass which is holding moisture in its base makes a perfect retreat for these pests and keeping those neglected corners free of such grass and tall weeds will give them nowhere to hide. I was quite amazed when a leaf blade of one of the tall strong growing flaxes was brought to me showing quite large areas of the leaf completely chewed away. I could not think of anything which could do such damage to such a tough leaf and showed it to one of the nurserymen to see if he could explain it. "Snails," he said. "They make their home deep in the damp area at the base of the plant and work their way up the leaf for a good meal." We seldom see snails in our garden but the blackbirds and thrushes manage to find them. Evidence of this shows on the cement paving blocks which they use to break open the shells. The garden has been rich in colour the last few weeks. I have never seen such a wealth of bloom on the lilacs. Huge trusses of bloom, two or three to a stem the blossom so heavy the branches are weighed down with them. I thought the more-than-adequate supply of water must have had a

beneficial effect plus a dressing of dolomite lime which I had spread around the drip line of the trees earlier, but Dorothy tells me it is the spot on the lawn that she always chooses to water and to feed her potted orchids with a special orchid food so perhaps my lilacs harbour a secret wish that they were orchids. One of the plants which has put on a lot of growth and flowered so well this year is the New Zealand lilac Hebe hulkeana. Such a pretty shrub with its polished shiny foliage and long sprays of delicate lilac- j like flowers. I think it is a plant well worth growing. The rockery phloxes and the rubretias have been a blaze of colour for weeks trailing down over the punga logs and have made very large clumps this year. My favourite is a variety call 'wagon wheels' - its petals of pretty salmon pink striped with white rather resemble the spokes of a wheel. It flowers a little later than the others and is at its best as the others are fading. For terra cotta planters I think the lovely rhodohypoxis have no equal. In clear red, white, or bright pink they will quickly increase to completely fill the pot and will bloom for quite a long time.