Issue #298 Letters to Editor

Awesome orchid

We thought we would send this image of our dendrobium orchid (pictured left), one of four we have. It grows outside in our courtyard and never fails to delight us. We bring it into the porch when it flowers.

Joan Enderby, Papatoetoe.

Shell be right

I wanted to get a ready-built raised garden last year with some tax refund money but more pressing priorities arose. Forced to compromise, I came up with using the lid and bottom of my daughter’s plastic shell-shaped sandpit.

I used a drill with a medium-sized bit to put holes about 15cm up around the sides for drainage. Our seven-year-old was happy to see the sandpit used for something other than a sandpit and pool.

After putting the ‘shells’ in place, I lined them with layers of newspapers, and then some stony dirt before topping it all off with compost. I planted a range of veggies, including beetroot, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and silverbeet. In the winter, it was easy to cover my make-do raised gardens with frost cloth.

I am a new reader of Weekend Gardener and love it.

Pauline Dench, Christchurch.

Herb help ‘the best’

I’M new to veggie gardening and just love Weekend Gardener because it helps me with everything I need to know to be a successful gardener. I have five raised beds. One is for herbs chosen for their easy-care qualities and quick growth.

One of the best articles I have read has to be Marilyn Wightman’s ‘Right For Roasts’ in Issue 297 – now I know what to do with all those herbs I have grown. It also introduced me to some more I can plant ( and a couple I will never use).

For all of us newbies, you are a blessing. Thank you.

Cheryl-Anne Percy, Foxton Beach.

Flannel in form

I have a flannel plant that I brought from Waikanae two years ago. It has thrived in a sunny position in front of a deck about a metre high.

Can someone enlighten me on how and when this should be trimmed back? It is above deck level and has very thick growth.

Doug Collins, Picton.

The flannel flower is best trimmed lightly, as needed, after flowering to stop any straggliness. Don’t trim it back hard or so much that branches have no more leaves on them. Pruning may not be needed if your plant is good and bushy, unless you want to control its size. Picking its ‘flowers’ in winter (these keep very well in water) partly prunes bushes and may be enough. – Susie.

Icy mishap

Last week I awoke to a cold, frosty morning and my thoughts turned to the little waxeyes, blackbirds, thrushes and sparrows. Their feed dish was empty so I quickly prepared a breakfast for them before heading to work.

I began to negotiate the icy steps with extreme care – but it turned out not enough.

I slipped on the ice, scattering food in all directions.

Now, with my leg in a cast, I can only watch the birds from the window.

However, I can spend time reading your enlightening magazine which arrived in the mail at just the right time and planning future garden development.

Lorraine Sutherland, Hamilton.

Pruning joy

I just wish to say what a wonderful surprise I received in the mail. Winning a pair of Fiskars Powergear Pruners was just great.

My daughter gave me a Weekend Gardener subscription for my birthday, so now I feel I’ve received two birthday presents.

I really enjoy the magazine and once again, thank you for the wonderful surprise.

Val Knight, Ashburton.

Avian accolade

Lesley Ingham’s interesting article headed For the love of birds (Issue 296) was a fascinating read with such gorgeous photos. The Agnews obviously love our native birds and have devoted much time to caring for them.

I live in the country and for the past 20 years I’ve been privileged to enjoy all the bird species mentioned. Each year we plant fresh groups of native trees for the birds and for future generations.

For many years we had a pair of wood pigeons that regularly returned to one of our large old kowhai trees. They were a real joy.

Tui are plentiful and one year I counted 13 babies in one tree. As a boy, my husband took a morepork to school for a morning talk.

All these birds have provided wonderful memories.

Our native birds are frequently overlooked and taken for granted so it’s wonderful the Agnews have fostered so much interest, care and enthusiasm for these adorable living treasures.

A superb effort.

Alison Harris, Pahiatua.

Reader Letters – Issue #292

Nameless delight

I have had this rose (pictured left) in my garden for many years. It is completely free of thorns, and each branch is covered with blooms lasting for weeks. The blooms don’t lose their petals – when they turn brown I just remove them from the stems.

This beautiful rose delights visitors and yes, they all want cuttings, which I gladly give. It is also almost disease-free and I have not seen it elsewhere.

It flowers from spring to autumn like other roses and the largest bloom is about 7-8cm across. The petal edges turn pink after the second or third week and most blooms stay tightly cupped.

Your magazine is so informative. Since I started gardening five years ago I’ve learned so much from it. I was never interested in planting vegetables but now I enjoy it.

Thank you so much. I look forward to each issue. Good on you, team. Keep it up. Read more

Luscious lilies

I couldn’t resist sending this photo I took of lilies grown by my father Graham of Ararimu (just south of Auckland). The colour is outstanding and taken on a regular old digital camera.

Treena Mullins, Ararimu.

Rose true to its name


It’s as rare as proverbial hens’ teeth to buy something these days that actually lives up to it’s name and its description. Some years passed I bought the rose ‘Everlasting Love’ as a present for my wife on our wedding anniversary (November 21).

It was grown as a standard rose and just on the cusp of flowering with a mere hint of deep red showing. I pinned my hopes on ‘Everlasting Love’ blooming on cue and it did just that. Big, beautiful and perfumed glorious red blooms on long stems greeted my darling on that anniversary day.

I planted the rose outside our bedroom so my wife can have roses when she awakes. The rose is healthy and vigorous and it lives up to its name because it flowers all spring, summer and autumn. A few blooms even make it in our Waitomo winter winds and rain.

Now our anniversary has come round again and the flowers have appeared again for what is our 10th wedding anniversary.

Shane Te Ruki, Waitomo Caves.

‘Everlasting Love’, a rose bred by New Zealander Doug Grant, is also known as ‘Millennium’. It won the 2001 New Zealand Rose of the Year title and was also judged the best floribunda or shrub rose that year. – Susie.

Wentforth remembered

I was browsing through a 2007 Weekend Gardener when I came across an article about Doreen Follas and lovely photos of her garden Wentworth in Whitford.

She and her late husband Colin had spent 13 years building this beautiful country garden. It was sad to read that all those years of hard work were to fall prey to a new housing area. After fighting the property developers Doreen had accepted that she was to lose Wentworth and all the hard work that went into building it. Does anyone know if Wentworth did fall victim to this planned housing area and what happened to Doreen?

Judy Eva, New Plymouth.

 Doreen did sell up 18 months ago. She says land banks secured all the surrounding Botany land which is now tenanted, undeveloped and rundown.

  She bought a five-acre property in Clifton Rd, Whitford, not far from Ayrlies.

 “It has a four and a half acre garden so I am flat out developing it, and loving it,” she says. I’ve already had bus loads of gardeners to visit and some visited us at Wentforth.”  – Editor

Tip for Pieris

Regarding the letter to the Plant Doctor from Dawn Schofield in Issue 273. I have two very happy healthy pieris growing in my garden that are about 10 years old. They are in an area that gets full sun, are mulched with bark and the only attention they get is deadheading. After they have finished flowering, I remove all the stems the flowers were on. This is a time-consuming job, but keeps the shrub in nice shape. I have noticed that if I miss any, they grow scraggly and don’t flower as well next season. I hope this is helpful, as they are so lovely to see in the garden.

Keep up the good work with a very useful magazine. I look forward to mine every fortnight.

Lynn Lees, Kerikeri.

Congratulations and thank you for your letter. You have won a pair of Fiskars PowerGearTM Pruners – Susie