Tiny leaf emergence heralds spring

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 601, 29 August 1995, Page 16

Tiny leaf emergence heralds spring

One day of bright sunshine can convince us that spring is round the corner and we can't wait to get out into the garden. Every day shows future signs of new life emerging. Tulips and daffodils are thrusting strong shoots up through the earth and flower buds are swelling on the magnolia and the cherry trees. I noticed yesterday the first pair of tiny leaves emerging on the hydrangeas. Some of the earlier camellias and rhodo's are already in flower and the fat buds on camellia 'Amazing Graces' are just beginning to burst. Exciting new stock is arriving in shops and garden centres — flowering and fruiting trees, wisteria and clematis, hydrangea etc, and soon to follow will be the flowering cherries and the trees noted for their leaf colour like the lovely golden nyssa sylvatica and the claret ash which gives a glorious display of brilliant red foliage in autumn. One to look out for is the weeping flowering cherry, princes Kiku Sabusa trained onto a lm high standard — all the beauty of a lovely weeping cherry in a size to suit the smaller garden and a perfect specimen for a small lawn or a broad border. A fruiting peach tree bearing fruits similar to that of golden queen so good for bottling is 'Golden Glory'. This has the added bonus of being highly resistant to leaf curl, the disease which so plagues some of the prunus varieties in this area. A

good fruiting apple is the variety called 'Labo' which will do well in this area. A very old variety, it was apparently widely grown here years ago. A delightful ornamental tree of smaller proportions is malus 'Starbright'. This little crab apple grows only 2m or so, has a semi-weeping habit and masses of starry white flowers in spring. In autumn tiny red apples no larger than a cherry clothe the branches and last well into the winter. Ours has been in the garden two years or so now and is something we look forward to in spring and autumn. For the flower garden gladioli are available in a profusion of lovely rich colours with some new varieties in both the tall and miniature varieties. These can be planted in sequence to give a flowering period from December through to March/April. Not forgetting of course the new seasons dahlias just arriving. There are exciting new varieties with a colourful descriptive photograph of each variety on the pack. One or two of these have taken my fancy and I must achieve the impossible and find a few empty spaces in my garden. An anemone type called 'Honey' has a large centre of bright yellow tubular petals with an outer ring of bright pink daisy-like petals — a real charmer. In the cactus varieties there is 'Tusiki tori no Shisa' with rich cream really shaggy petals. The colour deepens towards the centre. 'Tutu' which is a sparkling white calls to mind the tutu worn by aballet dancer. 'Cha cha cha' has a white base with a deep splash of cerise pink on the tips of the petals. Of the decorative types 'Smokey' isquiteoutstanding with each petal splashed pink and white and 'patty' is a lovely clear bright red. In the ball dahlias look for 'big scout' a vibrant deep purple red and among the pom poms 'Little William' is a charming

rosy pink tinged with white. If you want something special for the dahlia show next February begin your search for it now.