Flowers from my Cromwell Holiday

Granny Bonnets - they can be a bit weedy

I have been pleasantly surprised to discover the botanical names of the shrubs and flowers we have seen leaping back into my mind. I worked in horticulture for 18 years at a plant propagation and retail garden centre nursery up in Te Awamutu and finished there in 2008. I have forgotten quite a few tree names, but I reckon they'd come back quickly if I worked in the horticultural field again.  I am envious of all Rhododendrons, Azalea Mollis and other cold loving plants that can be grown down here, plants I certainly couldn't grow healthily on the Sunshine Coast.

A rose peaking over the top of a rock wall, covered in a vine

Valerian - has seeded itself along roadsides

Another gorgeous rose

Peony - they come in amazing colours

Rose of some name

Elderberry - Sambucus nigra

Wisteria - isn't it beautiful

Hawthorn - I've seen these in white, light pink and this dark pink

Russel lupin

Russel lupin

I wish I was going to be here long enough to collect buckets of Elderberry flowers and make Elderberry Champagne. I've read about it, but never seen anywhere where there were enough flowers to have a go. Then, when the berries set, Elderberry Jelly.  I used to grow Granny Bonnets in my garden in Hamilton - I do like them, but unless you cut the flowers off before they set and drop their seed, you are digging them out for years to come. They're good in a wild flower area, where they can seed happily. I grew Russel Lupins too and you can get quite a few different colours, but the above are the main too. Unfortunately they have become a weed along the southern rivers, although they do look very pretty when driving over the bridges that span the "braided" river beds and seeing these as far as the eye can see up and down the river.  Personally, I would not grow Valerian, it "runs" and is quite hard to eradicate from a home garden. Down here, Pete thought it looked lovely growing along the roadsides - another introduced plant gone rogue.

Viburnum plicatum 'Rosacea' 

Out at Glenorchy we stopped to use the toilet and get a bottle of water. I found these Viburnum Plicatum Rosacea - they are delightful. Not the easiest to grow from cuttings, but very rewarding when you do manage to.  I used to wish I had a shady stream flowing through my section so I could grow a variety of hostas. Alas, I had to make do with a shady corner and use lots of slug bait, otherwise all I got was holey leaves. I do so miss Rhododendrons. Every year at the nursery we'd propagate them and grow them on to sell in our retail garden centre. It was really too humid in the Waikato for them, and they often got attacked by Thrip, a nasty little sap sucking insect that lived on the underside of the leaves, turning them silver as they sucked the sap out. 

Hosta

Rhodos

 On our drive up the Remarkables (named that because they are only one of two mountain ranges that run North/South) and all around Queenstown, a bright yellow can be seen. At first, from a distance we thought it was the dreaded Gorse, but no, it is Broom, Cytisus. Here, once again, an introduced species as become a weed, a very pretty looking weed, but a week, none-the-less. I much prefer the pink and red varieties of broom in the home garden. They don't seed as readily and I like their colour better.  Hawthorn is also spreading on the lower slopes of the ranges/hills/mountains along with a 'wild rose'. In areas through the Kawarau Gorge and up on the Crown Range, Wilding Pine seedlings are being killed, as they are spreading rapidly and killing out the native tussock grasses, which our native geckos and other insects need to survive. I believe, the wild rose should also be sprayed out, as it is spreading rapidly and in a few years, people will not be able to walk through those areas without being "thorned" to bits.

Broom, Cytisus sp

Hawthorn - a very pale pink seedling

I have really really enjoyed seeing not only native Corokias, Coprosmas and tussock grasses in gardens and growing in their natural environment on the mountainsides but also seeing all the exotic varieties in home gardens - they give such a colourful display. It does make me a little homesick.  I hope you enjoy seeing these photos as much as I did taking them.

1 comment Gardening, Holiday, leisure