Venue for Auckland Flower Show decided
Alexandra Park is the venue for the first Auckland Flower Show 20-23 23 November. Paul McLuckie of the Auckland Flower show Ltd believes it’s an ideal venue for the show because of its central situation, proximity to the motorway and to Cornwall Park. Permanent buildings including cafes, function rooms toilets, all-weather paving and good tarsealed parking are all positive features, he says.

Twigland Upper Hutt Closes
After 40 years of business, Twigland Gardeners World in Upper Hutt closed its doors at the end of February. Manager Jeff Jones said the change of attitudes to gardening, rising fuel and freight costs, the chains and changing demographics were some of the factors contributing to the closure.

Media expert in NZ for seminars
Growing Media expert Dr Ted Bilderback who is now in New Zealand on a NZ Peat and Carann-sponsored visit will be running a series of seminars to be held in various locations nationwide beginning mid-April. Invitations will be sent once the venues and timing have been finalised. To register your interest, just send an e-mail to Daniel.mahon@nzpeat.com or visit the NZ Peat and Carann stands at the Auckland Trade Day.

New nursery site for Annton’s
Annton Nurseries’ new nursery site on the site of a former horse stud just out of Cambridge will begin stage 1 of its production in March. Stephen Burton expects the nursery to be fully operational by November or December.

Dry times ahead
Longer droughts are predicted with Massey Professor Tom Barry saying that by 2080 severe dry conditions may be longer even from December to May. This will have a definite impact on agriculture and horticulture practices.

Bumper grape crop expected
This year’s grape harvest is expected to top a huge 24,000 tonnes, up 20 percent on last year thanks to the hot summer, say New Zealand’s wine growers.

Hortec 2008 postponed
The ongoing political situation in Kenya, has resulted in the postponement of the horticultural trade show Hortec. Planned for mid-March but will now be held later this year at date yet to be decided. Although the country had quietened considerably by the end of February, numbers of international exhibitors and visitors were expected to be well down.

NZ’s biggest pohutukawa found?
Plantsman Graeme Platt has discovered what he thinks could be NZ’s biggest pohutukawa – a 1000 year-old giant growing in farmland on the Awhitu Peninsula on the southern arm of Auckland’s Manukau Harbour. The tree’s branches spread over an area of approximately one third of a hectare. Graeme tells of his discovery in Feb Comm Hort, along with some great pictures.

March date set for Ellerslie Flower Show in Christchurch next year
The date for the first Ellerslie Flower Show to be held in Christchurch has been set at 11-15 March 2009. This followed feedback from a meeting of potential exhibitors held late last year.

International nursery consultant – John Stanley
Growing up in Aston, Birmingham, surrounded by tenement houses is not the most promising start for a horticulturalist.
So says international garden industry consultant, John Stanley, who is the subject of our Personality Profile in Feb Comm Hort.
“Up till I was 10, we lived above a garage and didn’t have a garden which made it hard to develop an early love for gardening.” But John has gone on the found a very successful business consultancy with clients around the world. He has written several books and estimates he does some 120 seminars a year.

Growing Spectrum Scholarship
Growing Spectrum has awarded David Foster of Te Awamutu a $3000 scholarship for free tuition at the Growing Spectrum Horticultural Training Centre course for 2008. The course runs for 36 weeks at Kihikihi and students gain Advanced Certificate in Horticulture Level 4.

Wisley medal for Keith Hammett
Dahlia Magenta Star, bred by Keith Hammett of Auckland, was awarded the John Brown Memorial Medal at Wisley Trials, UK, in late 2007.
“Magenta Star is quite tall and has a very vivid colour with dark foliage,” says Keith.

Green roofs: are they just novelties – or a serious trend
International GC consultant, John Stanley, believes demand for green roofs – gardens planted on top of buildings – may be set to grow both for commercial buildings and residential houses and could offer good marketing opportunities for the garden trade. He reports latest trends from around the world in February issue of Comm Hort.

Let’s expand the plant range on offer
“Hopefully we can avoid being caught in the vortex that is occurring worldwide -- the demise of specialist nurseries growing the more unusual plants versus the scary rate of expansion of the mass producer of a limited range . . .” So says Fiona Eadie in her February column in Comm Hort. She is calling for a concerted effort by the garden trade to expand the plant range on offer to the public. And she offers some practical ideas on how this might be done, by growers and by retailers.

Beetle to attack Wandering Jew
A Brazilian beetle (Lema obscura) may be brought into New Zealand to help control the weed Tradescantia fluminensis, commonly known as Wandering Jew or Wandering Willie.
The Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has received an application to bring the beetle in from the Auckland Regional Council on behalf of a consortium of regional councils and the Department of Conservation.

Pressure to lift plant prices in UK
One of the biggest issues for the garden industry in 2008 is what to do about rising plant prices, says says UK correspondent Mark Hotton in his report in Feb Comm Hort. “Until now, UK growers have absorbed most cost increases or found ways to reduce overheads, but it is now thought price rises are inevitable. Factors causing the price rises include more expensive imports from Europe due to a record low pound-to-euro rate; a plant shortage due to booming commercial development in France, Germany and eastern Europe; rising fuel prices pushing up transport costs; and wage increases imposed last year. “
A side effect of this is that UK garden centres are putting sales ability ahead of plant knowledge when hiring staff.

Cindy joins Lifetech
Cindy Barnes, after eight years working with plant breeder Keith Hammett, has joined the Lifetech tissue culture laboratory in Albany.

Divaricating Plants – Part 3
Comm Hort wraps up its coverage of divaricating plants in its Feb issue with comments from retailers, landscapers and councils on their experiences with these unique NZ plants plus advice on their uses and care.

More publications for Weekend Gardener
Weekend Gardener magazine, published fortnightly, is this year to add four new publications called “Our Gardener’s Quarterly” to its offering. The first, in February, is on Roses.

Agapanthus to be banned from sale in the Auckland region
From 1 July, Agapanthus praecox syn. A orientalis will no longer be able to be sold in the Auckland region. The Auckland Regional Council considers agapanthus to be a coastal weed and says it is also proving to be a problem with water tables along roadsides and bush edges. It will monitor growers, garden centres and casual markets to enforce the ban.

New product for control of codling moth and leafroller
Late last year, Delegate, a new product claimed to give greater control of codling moth and leafroller, was launched on the New Zealand market. New Zealand is the first country to register Delegate, produced by Dow AgroSciences, for commercial use.

New roses recognised at Palmerston North rose trials
Five new varieties of roses from top New Zealand and overseas breeders were recognised with awards at the NZ International Rose Trial Grounds in Palmerston North last November.
The top award, the Gold Star of the South Pacific, was won by SOMwarmag, bred by Rob Somerfield of Tauranga and entered by Glenavon Roses.

World Federation of Rose Societies President interviewed
Dr Gerald Meylan, President of the World Federation of Rose Societies, was in New Zealand late last year and gave an interview to Hayden Foulds for Comm Hort. The interview runs in the April/May issue. Dr Meylan believes the market for cut roses will increase since new varieties have a longer vase life. “Garden roses will also enjoy a new expansion, as they now bear more flowers and are much more resistant to disease. Roses will also be more prominent in municipal parks, since new varieties cost much less than traditional flower beds . . .” 

Independent garden centres combine in huge buying group
More than 40 UK garden centres have signed up to a new buying group, called the Growing Retail Organisation (GRO), set up by the UK Garden Centre Association in partnership with Associated Independent Stores, which is the biggest independent non-food collective buying group in the UK with a turnover of around 1.8 billion pounds.

Record year for National Garden Gift Vouchers in UK
Despite a poor Summer and difficult retail trading conditions, 2007 was another record year for sales of the National Garden Gift Voucher (NGGV) in the UK. A massive voucher promotion, which included door drops to four million targeted households, contributed to the record sales.

QSM for Keith Hammett
Well-known plant breeder, Dr Keith Hammett, received the Queens’ Service Medal (QSM) in the 2008 New Year’s Honours list.

The story of Franks Trees
Feature nursery in February Comm Hort is Franks Trees near Nelson. Proprietors are Frank and Tracey Goeddert who set up the nursery only four years ago, and now produce more than 10,000 bagged and bare root trees each year. The nursery has principally focused on grafted specimen trees, mainly deciduous. Frank was only 16 and had no English when he and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1987. Our feature traces his development up to the present day.

IPPS Conference in May
Eight overseas experts are among the line-up of 18 speakers to present papers at the IPPS Conference 22-25 May in Auckland. We publish the details in Feb Comm Hort. Registration and other information is available at www.ipps.org.nz

NGIA Conference in June
The theme for this year’s NGIA conference is “Visions for a Sustainable Industry – What a Cool Idea!” It is set for 26 and 27 June, at the Napier War Memorial Conference Centre. Registration packs will be available in March. For sponsorship opportunities and more information, contact frances@ngia.co.nz, or ph 04 9183511

Plant photo competition open
The Royal Horticultural Society UK’s 2008 plant photography competition is now under way and entries close off 26 September. There are several categories, like best Plant Portrait, Garden View, Plant Close-up, etc.
Details and conditions may be seen at www.rhs.org.uk/news/photcomp.asp

IPPS pre-Conference tour details
Two one-day offshore island guided visits have been organised to precede the IPPS Conference in Auckland in May.
The first, on Wednesday 21 May, is to Tiritiri Matangi Island. and the second, on Thursday 22 May is to Rangitoto.

Bonsai expert closing nursery
“I’ve reached that age when we can slow down and do a bit of travelling,” says Joy Morton of Joy’s Bonsai Studio, Dunedin, one of New Zealand’s leading bonsai exponents.
Joy has been creating, selling and teaching bonsai for 37 years. She will continues with her teaching classes.

Above is a synopsis of articles printed in one issue of Commercial Horticulture - Magazine of the Nursery Industry.

For information on Commercial Horticulture, including subscribing, please visit the Comm Hort Feature Page.