Gardening in North Otago January 14th 2014

Happy New gardening year to all who toil in the soil. With the departure of our UK Daughter, Husband and three young ones( plus cousins), after two full on weeks here with Nana & Poppa gardening took a back seat and our energy levels had sunk very low as we waved them goodbye on Sunday.....But, with the first wedding of this year in the garden on Saturday the show must go on and renewed energy was found! The good thing for me so far this summer is that I have not had to drag hoses around, what a wonderful time saver that has been and I am sure a godsend to those of you who took time away knowing that your gardens would still be fresh and in bloom on your return. Some of my roses are suffering badly from rust from rust on leaves this year. There are roses are always going to be more susceptible to rust attack and I feel these roses succumb when the ground drys out during strong warm winds, they become distressed between watering's. I continue to remove rust effected leaves then spray with a fungicide when time allows. I don't use sprinklers late in the day if overcast, wet leaves going into warm nights encourages mildew. Deep watering around the roots is what I recommend to keep fungus at bay. Remove all diseased leaves from the ground around roots and add compost plus blood & bone or slow release fertiliser because with continuous blooming roses zap nitrogen from the ground. Continue dead heading roses and give then a summer prune. cut a spent flower stem down to an out facing bud on a thick, strong part of stem. There are so many plants requiring a cut back now, my wheel barrow is on the go most days filling up in no time with cut back lupins, munkshood, mignonette, nasturtiums, iris, buddleia and delphiniums to name a few. I have just cut back a plant I grow a lot of which flops all over the place now in the heat, acanthus mollis known sometimes as (Bears britches) or (The oyster plant) cut well back because it will not take long to regrow new fresh growth for autumn and winter. My hydrangea's are wonderful right now, big healthy leaves and large full blooms, and I guess because of the frequent rains the colours are very intense. Petunias are taking center stage now, they are great gap fillers for sunny gardens, but do not preform well in shade. A shady spot can be filled with impatiens which are also colourful when planted in bold groups. Dead heading rhododendrons is really boring and time consuming but worth doing on newly planted bushes to encourage growth into the bush not into making seeds. There is a point where the spent flower seed heads break off cleanly without disturbing the new growth shoots at the sides, once you start you will find that break off point. I have started seed collecting, sweet peas, sweet William, poppies, iris, there is a lot of ripening going on and I have a lot of small paper bags stored away already. Get stakes in around Chrysanthemums now before they get too tall. Tip cuttings can be taken from chrysanthemums now, I find they root well in river sand.Chrysanthemums flower in Autumn. Lawns: I was out with the lawn fertiliser in that last heavy rain and see the weeds have been fed as well so will need to spot spray again, it's never ending when lawns need to look good. Fruit & Veg. I made many pots of black current jam last week and there are still some ready to pick and freeze for winter pies. I cut off the fruiting branches and then remove the currents, this way you prune at the same time. It's one of those jobs I need to find time for but always pleased I did once it is done. The vegetable garden is doing fine,seeds are popping up in no time after sowing, my lettuces seem to be sitting waiting to be picked without bolting, the corn is putting on some growth now but I find myself telling the pumpkins to hurry up as they and corn need a long hot ripening season. Tomatoes are doing well now that we are getting more sunny days, keep glass houses moist through the day because white fly like it dry. Keep planting all veg, seeds & plants (apart from corn and pumpkin) they should have been started long before now. Cheers, Linda.