June / July 2009 . . .

From the files of Commercial Horticulture – NZ’s Nursery industry Magazine 

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Home gardeners face a major threat as psyllid takes hold
A newly discovered psyllid which attacks members of the Solanaceae family, especially potato and tomato plants, could prove to be one of the most serious pests ever for New Zealand home gardeners and commercial growers. A native of North America, the Bactericera cockerelli psyllid, now being referred to as the tomato/potato psyllid, has already established itself from Kerikeri to Timaru in a period of just two years. 
The pysllid causes reduced vigour in plants and yellowing of leaves. It also injects a toxin which affects potato tubers. At harvest tubers are rarely more than 5cm long and are misshapen. They may also show ‘zebra chip’ symptoms. These are dark stripes that appear inside affected tubers.
In tomatoes the psyllid causes plants to produce numerous small, poor-quality fruit or prevent fruit forming. Once established on a crop it is usually too late to control.

We have pictures and full details on this new and serious pest in Comm Hort June / July issue, along with suggestions on how to combat it.

Auckland Autumn Trade Day – “Really fantastic . . .” says retailer
We at Commercial Horticulture are naturally firm advocates of the benefits of the Trade Days we run – but we could be accused of being biased . . . 
So it’s great to come across some unsolicited comments from an independent Trade Day observer. These were published in the newsletter of Nextgen, a group set up for younger people in the nursery industry, and they gave us permission to re-publish the comments here: 
“Really fantastic’ would be the words I would use to describe the Auckland Autumn Trade Day 2009. We retailers had plenty to see with over 80 nurseries, suppliers and service providers showing off their best. Autumn is always a great time to plant and I certainly purchased a fair bit for our branch – Palmers Gardenworld Remuera.
“There was a huge range of new product at the show. Among these was the new Eco-Range from Tui Products. This included new seaweed fertiliser, fungicide and insecticide and the all-new Rain Garden Mix from Living Earth (a mixture of sand compost and topsoil mix). This is going to be great for the home gardener and should really sell well. The growers’ stands were really great with the bright and extensive visual displays. Growing Spectrum topped my list with its Coprosma Lemon and Lime display. Lemon and Lime Coprosma with lemon and lime bitters for the punters. Absolutely awesome!. 
“There were new plants on other stands too, with the new Coprosma Emerald Spreader from Totoara Grove and two new plants from Annton’s Nurseries: Coprosma Pina Collada (pictured here with Jenny Cowan) and Hebe Marylyn Monroe.
“Certainly the most unusual plant there was the Bat plant on Gellert’s stand and since Trade Day these have certainly sold well for us. The customers love it!
There was certainly a lot of business going on and on a lot of networking, which was great to see.
“In the future I would like it see more retailers coming through to Trade Day – not just garden centre managers but the actual staff who are on the shop floor all the time. Meeting suppliers, seeing new products and getting display ideas make all the difference
Ben Adams
Nextgen Committee 
Palmers Gardenworld Remuera

PS There are full reports on both Auckland and Christchurch Trade Days in April/May Comm Hort.

TV garden series set to run again from September
Following the success of the TV garden series The Road to Ellerslie (an estimated 1.1 million viewers over the 13 weeks), the production company Leggework has presented the NGIA with a concept for a 26-episode series to be screened from September this year. The first 13 weeks would focus solely on gardening while the last would follow the same format as The Road to Ellerslie. TVNZ have confirmed they are interested in screening a new series and are considering a more favourable time slot.

Mothers Day brings joy to mums and tills
It was a ‘yucky weather’ Mothers Day in most parts of the country, but garden centres reported good support from the gift-buying public. Here are comments from two of the retailers we talked to:
“Mothers’ Day went really well,” reports Gillian Thrum of Havelock North’s Green Door Plant Centre. “We ran a promotion: buy one of our big fat cyclamen and go in the draw to win a $150 voucher for a meal at Clearview Winery. We sold swags.”
Felicity Thomson, garden manager for the Mitre10 group’s Nelson megastore, was “very, very pleased” with their results. There’s still a huge interest in Mothers’ Day. People like to give a living gift,” she said.

IPPS Conference 2009
In Comm Hort June/ July issue we have an extensive report on the IPPS Conference held in Hobart in late May, a combined affair for both the NZ and Australian regions.

Six enter Nursery of the Year Competition
The NGIA has announced that six companies have entered the Daltons Nursery of the Year Competition for 2009. They are: 
Allenton’s Tree Nursery, Nelson. 
Ambrosia Nurseries, Christchurch.
Colorworx Nursery, Tauranga.
Kiwi Colour Ltd, Pukekohe.
Tharfield Nursery, Katikati.
Trents Nursery Ltd, Christchurch.

It’s off to the USA for Robert and Jeanette
Robert Bett, of Lyndale Nurseries, and his wife Jeanette, of Multiflora, are moving to Santa Barbara, California, where Robert takes up a new position at PlantHaven Nursery.

Gardens of South America tour
Australians, Warwick and Sue Forge, of Bloomings Books, Melbourne, are offering an 18-day tour of the gardens and cities of South America in October 2010. Details of the tour are being finalised, but for those interested the contact is warwick@bloomings.com.au.

Landscape Conference 2009
The 27th Conference of the Landscape Industries Association of NZ will be held at Tihoi in the central North Island from 10 to 12 July. For more details, phone Steve Martin 07 378 7808.

Bill Chun of Zenith GC
William (Bill) Chun, founder of Lower Hutt’s Zenith Garden Centre which closed in 2005, passed away aged 86 on 12 April, only three weeks after the death of his much-loved wife, Marie. 

Sad passing of Alastair Turnbull
The sudden passing of Alastair Turnbull of Talisman Nurseries in Otaki on 10 April was a sad one for family, friends and the industry he loved. Alastair was in his 80th year.

135 year-old nursery to close
One of New Zealand’s oldest nurseries, Jordan’s Nurseries in Tinwald, a kilometre from Ashburton, has joined the ranks of businesses either closing or planning to. Ken and Jenny Jordan will close the 135 year-old nursery when the last of their plants are sold, hopefully by the end of December they say. 
Other recent closures include Goldpine Garden Design garden centre in Nelson which closed at Christmas, and Colorscape Nurseries’ Motueka retail outlet. Oaklands Nurseries, also in Motueka, will call it a day later this year.
Palmers Cambridge on State Highway 1 is still trading but is now in receivership.
However, on the positive side, the Palmers group in March opened a new garden centre in Hobsonville, Auckland, and report it is doing well.

Landscaping a Steel Mill
Take a 120ha steel mill site and make it beautiful – that was the task Fiona Macdonald took on back in 2002. And she has tackled it wonderfully well. There’s a 4-page feature on the transformation Fiona has brought to the forbidding Glenbrook Steel Mill site at Waiuku in the June/July issue of Comm Hort. The Glenbrook site was a difficult one, very windy and with little topsoil. Fiona shows what can be done with careful plant selection (about 80% of plants used are NZ natives), along with sound planting and cultural practices – a difference is that she uses slag from the mill as mulch. There are now around 300 individual plantings around the site.

Organically-grown plants come in from the cold
Vegetable and flower seedlings are among the latest organically-produced items now being able to command their own separate featured displays in mainstream garden centres and sales are good. One of NZ’s few growers of completely organic vegetable and herb seedlings is Monica Stoica, who runs the Oakdale Organics Nursery at Paerata in South Auckland. We feature this nursery in Comm Hort June/ July issue.

Growing horticulture skills inside prison
Our second featured nursery in June / July Comm Hort is Rimutaka Prison Nursery, one of several nurseries being run by the Corrections Department through NZ to provide training and rehabilitation services.

Feature Plant – Coprosmas
In June / July Comm Hort we begin a mini series on the NZ native coprosma, grown by many nurseries throughout the country and used extensively in amenity planting and by the home gardener. We talk to production nurseries about their experiences with this plant, their recommendations, and ask them to name their favourites.

Things you can do today to become a “Smart Retailer”
International nursery industry business consultant, John Stanley, comes up with some great ideas on what retailers can do to combat economic downturns.

Saving the seed of our threatened native species
This paper in June / July Comm Hort, describes recent research at Massey University on long-term seed storage strategies for three endangered New Zealand species. 

Crop damage claims – what happens when things go wrong
Horticultural consultant and nurseryman, Andrew Steens, looks into the complexities of seeking compensation for crop damage or loss and has some advice on what to do when things go wrong.

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April / May 2009 . . .

From the files of Commercial Horticulture – NZ’s Nursery industry Magazine 

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Pilot scheme for plastic pot recycling to start in July
The Nursery & Garden Industry Association of NZ has announced that a pilot scheme to collect and recycle used plastic planter pots and other containers will start this July. The NGIA says this is a step along the way to a national roll-out of the programme by end of June next year. To be known as ‘GardenWise’ the pilot programme will involve a cross section of industry members from growers through to retailers in two locations, Christchurch and the Waikato. 

Living Earth sets up new plant in SI
A state-of-the-art 3000sq m Organics Processing Plant to convert garden and food waste into organic compost, was opened in Bromley Christchurch on 11 March.

Goji berries - a new offering for the grow-your-own market
Glucina’s Tropical Exotics Nursery at Matakana, near Warkworth, has begun distributing its new Goji berry plants (Lysium barbarum) to NZ garden centres.
“Goji juice, dried berries and chocolate-coated gojis have been the latest health trend around the world,” says Kevin Glucina. The plants are deciduous long-living perennials which develop a trunk not dissimilar to an old grape vine. They can grow to 3m with multiple fruit-bearing branches which can be pruned for small gardens.
We have more on this in Comm Hort April / May issue.

Nursery Round-up
The recession is affecting nurseries, but not that much. This was the message Comm Hort’s editor Kerry Johnstone got from growers in his ring-around in late March.
Phil Dunn, Ribbonwood Nurseries, Dunedin: “The recession is affecting us but not drastically. We’ve got fewer forward orders for Winter than usual but we are picking up a few now. The media talking it up doesn’t help because it makes people more nervous about spending.”
Kristin Parkes, Fantail Nursery, Auckland: “It’s been a little quiet but it’s picking up now with Autumn coming on. We’ve had good weather and 3 degrees this morning (24 March) so it’s getting nippy . . .”
David Fletcher, Moores Valley Nursery, Wellington, was less optimistic: “We’ve certainly noticed it (the recession). I don’t think it’s that good out there for anyone in the horticultural game. It’s the worst we’ve seen it in our 14 years. . . . I think if we have a Spring like last one which was not too flash, we’ll be lucky to get out of it. There’s a tightening everywhere and people out there are struggling. I’m realistic about the outlook. We do both wholesale and retail and these have both slowed. 
I prefer to brace for harder times and have things turn out better, than the other way around . . .”

Trade got good vibes from the Ellerslie Flower Show
The Ellerslie Flower Show, held in Christchurch for the first time this year, was a huge bump on the radar for nurseries in the South Island in early March and it remained a big talking point for weeks after. Greg Tod, Parva Plants, Christchurch, said: “The whole Ellerslie thing has been great for the nursery industry in Christchurch. The keen gardeners were humming before Ellerslie and it’s carried on. We’ve had a faster response to our new catalogue than we have had for previous catalogues. We hope it continues.”
Libby Benfield, a merchandiser from Marshlands Garden Centre & Café, Christchurch, had attended the Show. “I found it very good, particularly the strong edible displays. For a first time event, they did very well,” she said. With respect to the Show’s impact on the garden centre, Libby laughed and said “it stole (that) weekend’s trade. We were abnormally quiet those two days.” However she felt sure their business would benefit. “It will stir along trade, especially the edibles.”
Brent Gardner from Oderings Philpotts Rd, Christchurch had been looking forward to the inaugural Ellerslie, believing it would be huge. Attendance figures (some 75,000), seem to have backed his predictions. “The whole event was huge and we’ve certainly noticed a positive spin-off. We’re busier in what is traditionally a quiet time for us. Even while the Show was on, over the weekend, our numbers were up, and we’re probably up 50% this week, although it may well be a fairly short-term effect.” 
A self-professed “newbie” to the industry, Tiffany Vaughan, owner of Kaizuka GC, Christchurch, was excited by the impact of Ellerslie on both her business and the city. 
“It certainly affected trade. I went (to the Show) and I saw everyone there,” she laughs. “We’re new here, only 8 months. After the Show we’re invigorated and we’re fresh. For its first year in the south, it was amazing.”

Comm Hort’s April/May issue carries a 5-page pictorial review of the Ellerslie Flower Show.

Rakaia’s Millwood Nursery to close after 15 years
Richard Wisker is winding down his Millwood Nursery and will close it in about 18 months time. He says that after 15 years the business model he mapped out at the start is nearing the end of its cycle. 

Rose Convention for Vancouver
The 15th World Rose Convention is being held in Vancouver, Canada from June 18 to 24 this year. For further information see www.worldrose-vancouver2009.com

NGIA Conference set for July in Palmerston North
This year’s NGIA Conference has been re-scheduled for 29-30 July in Palmerston North. Members felt the original Queenstown venue may have been too expensive.
Invitations are being extended to associates overseas as well as those in the landscape industry. Phone 04 918 3511 for more information.

Trade Show for Sydney in August
The Nursery & Garden Industry Association of NSW and ACT is organising an industry trade show in Sydney 25-26 August this year.
Called Green Expo Sydney 2009, the show will be held in the Grand Pavilion in the Rosehill Gardens at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Garden Centre with a difference
A breath of fresh air is how international nursery industry consultant John Stanley, describes Terrain at Styer’s, a revamped garden centre in Philadelphia, USA. “If you’re going to Terrain at Styer’s expecting to see glitz, you’re going to be very disappointed,” says John. “This journey is not about capital investment in retail fixtures. It is about taking existing buildings and making them work for retail in a more effective way . . “ There’s a 3-page feature with pics about this unique garden centre in Comm Hort April / May issue.
Our picture shows one of the unusual display fittings that caught John’s eye.

Feature Nurseries
We have illustrated articles on three nurseries in April / May Comm Hort. 
1. Nelson landscaper Richard Blaikie, pictured, has started a business called No Mow. This offers attractive low-growing, mat-forming, groundcover plants produced and sold in polystrene boxes. The plant blocks are tipped out like a Christmas cake before being cut into small plugs for planting out. They are being used for erosion control, rock landscapes or on areas near paving where it’s difficult to maintain grass.
2. Weird and Wonderful Plants Ltd. This is a nursery set up by Richard Morten on a 7 acre block at Hinds, south of Ashburton. The “weird” are succulent plants pollinated by flies and the “wonderful” are natives such as phormium, hebes and flaxes – the unusual combination of products the nursery produces.
3. GreenLinc is the name two Christchurch brothers, Thomas and Philip van Zijll de Jong, have called their new nursery, set up to grow the bread and butter plants they constantly need in their landscaping work.
There’s plenty more on these nurseries in Comm Hort April / May issue.

Loss of Bruno Torfs’ remarkable garden
The bushfires that ravaged the hills north of Melbourne on 7 February, also almost completely destroyed a very special garden. This was the Art and Sculpture Garden created by painter and sculptor, Bruno Torfs, whose stunningly lifelike terracotta sculptures and lush landscaped garden at Marysville has attracted many thousands since it opened 12 years ago. Before the fire, the figures and animals, some realistic, some whimsical, some fantastical, were strategically placed throughout the garden in clearings by pools, rising from or surrounded by lush fernery and eucalyptus and ash trees. Most were lost in the fires – but Bruno has vowed to rebuilt to gardens once again. We have pictures and all the background about the Torfs gardens in Comm Hort April / May issue.

Fiji and its Magnificient Kauri – Part 3
Plantsman Graeme Platt here concludes the report on his 11-day trip to Fiji in search of agathis macrophylla, the Fijian kauri. After reviewing the many fine specimens he encountered Graeme finishes on a gloomy note. “Overall, the state of Fiji’s natural environment and the long-term prospects for much of its indigenous flora and fauna is not greatly different from the rest of the world, which at best can be described as extremely bleak. While Fiji’s traditional village subsistence communal living with its hunting and fires caused severe environmental damage in the past, the modern consumer society with its addictive demand for luxury commodities has created devastating economic pressure on what little remains,” says Graeme. 
“The ultimate time bomb hanging over the environment of all the Pacific Islands, and the entire planet for that matter, is the uncontrolled expansion of the human race. Fussing about the loss of trees and birds is not going to achieve anything while the human population continues to expand uncontrollably towards its inevitable ruin . . .”

One of New Zealand’s finest plants — the Poor Knights Lily
Guy Bowden, of Tawapou Coastal Natives Nursery, Whangarei, discusses the Poor Knights Lily (Raupo Taranga, Xeronema callistemon), in a 2-page feature in April / May Comm Hort. He says is one of our finest flowering plants and ranks as one of our best horticultural subjects. He backgrounds its history and provides planting and cultural advice. 

Defence mechanisms – the many ways plants fend for themselves
In Part 3 of botanist Fiona Eadie’s examination of this subject she looks at role roots have to play in plant protection.

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

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South Island Trade Day was a BUZZ!
What a great day South Island Trade Day was on 25 February at the Pioneer Stadium in Christchurch – probably the best we have had. As you can see from the pictures, the industry turned out in force to see the latest and best from the garden trade in the South. It was just a pity exhibitor numbers were less than they should have been – but the 46 exhibitors who were there made a great show and would have cleaned up because they had the market all to themselves. Good on them. The plantlife on display, we have to say, was absolutely superb, so good in fact that buyers were offering to buy the entire stands of several nurseries and we know of at least four that were sold.

The two new drawcards added to this year’s Trade Day – propagation demonstrations from IPPS experts and three presentations from international business consultant John Stanley – really went down a treat and were responsible not only for bringing in a lot more visitors, but also keeping them at the Show longer. There was little drop-off in visitor numbers during the afternoon and those we spoke to in our informal “exit poll” said what they had learnt from the demonstrations and presentations was of real value to them and they came away with plenty of ideas to help improve their businesses.

The John Stanley Approach
John Stanley is a real pro when it comes to public speaking and a treat to watch. He’ll stalk up and down in front of his audience then suddenly plunge in amongst them to pick on a startled person and involve them personally in what he’s talking about. And what he was talking about was how to think outside the square when it comes to reaching today’s changing market and how to get more people into your store. In a series of questions he was quickly able to demonstrate that most of the audience had no idea of what really motivates their customers, why they come to a garden centre, what they are really looking for and what will make them buy — scary. 

Among other things, John spoke about a new way of marketing by means of cell phone texting (but you’ve got to be careful) and how to use the “tipster” technique to build store traffic. This is where you get other people to recommend you and your services. “Do you realise your local ladies’ hairdresser salons are potential powerful tipsters for your business?” he asked. “While they’re doing their customers’ hair they’re talking, talking, talking. Why aren’t they talking about you?” John told his audience to invite their local hairdressers into their garden centre for morning tea and a guided tour every now and then “Give them something to talk about and they will repay you many times over,” he said.

We won’t give away more of the great ideas John trotted out because we want you to come to Trade Day next year and hear him for yourself – yes, there’s a chance we can get him back again. No promises, but watch this space.

By the way, John is available for one-on-one consultations. Just give us a call and we’ll put you in touch with him. We know some South Island companies are contracting him later this year so you might be able to hook in as well.

Propagation experts on show
Out thanks to the IPPS members who gave their time to put on some really interesting and valuable presentations on propagation techniques. These are true professionals and in some cases world authorities on what they do so Trade Day was very much the richer for having them on board. Thanks to Grant Hayman of Headford Propagators for coming up with the idea and bullying, sorry, encouraging the four presenters to come along. 
They were:

Denis Hughes of Blue Mountain Nurseries who covered propagation and breeding from seed, especially azaleas and rhodos.
Eddie Welsh of Starter Plants who dealt deal with bulbs, corms and tubers. Our picture shows Eddie in full flight at Christchurch.
Ian Williams of Appletons Tree Nursery who demonstrated aspects of budding and grafting.
Jeff Elliott of Elliott’s Wholesale Nursery who demonstrated cutting techniques and tissue culture.

These workshop presentations will also be a feature at Auckland Trade Day 1 April.

February / March 2009 . . .

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The closures keep on coming
We seem to be cataloguing business closures more and more these days in Comm Hort. Noted in our February/March 09 issue are 100 year-old Fryers Nursery which closed in Invercargill. “We just weren’t doing well enough,” said owner Robbie Gilchrist. “It was a struggle to get through last Winter and since October/November the trend looked as if it would continue. I think everyone is feeling it a bit.” Also closing was Bell Roses in Auckland, following the passing of Laurie Bell’s wife June at Christmas. The Plant Shop in Blenheim has closed as has Etherington’s Nursery in Richmond, Nelson, although Geoff Etherington is keeping his extensive aloe collection and will continue to work on it. The Etherington’s have sold their “Gardens of the World” public display gardens as well.

While not closing, Alastair Turnbull has put his Talisman Nurseries in Otaki on the market. Talisman grows an extensive range of NZ natives, mainly of them of the rarer or more unusual species and cultivars, so it is to be hoped that this will continue under whoever takes over. We don’t want to keep losing specialist nurseries. Alastair, now 80, says he laments the fact that there are fewer plants now available for the serious gardener. “As garden centres will tell you, ‘if it doesn’t sell tomorrow we’re not interested in it anymore.’ Of course, there are many factors which come into it but it is a shame.” Our picture shows Alastair in his nursery.

The Greenery garden centre closed in Ashburton without fanfare at the end of last year and that snuck under our radar. We hope to have more on this in our next Comm Hort issue, April/May. The Greenery was the front end of Millichamps Nursery which closed a year or so back, having been an Ashburton icon since 1886. It would be interesting sometime to compile a list of the old-established nurseries, garden retailers and suppliers who were still around hale and hearty in say the 1970s, but who are no longer with us today. But that would probably make us all too depressed.

The vegetable seedling boom continues
In our Feb/March issue we publish the results of a little survey we did at Comm Hort trying to gauge the extent of the return-to-home-vege-growing trends that seem to be sweeping the country, indeed the world. And everyone we spoke to reported big increases in vege and herb seedling sales, also fruit trees — the biggest lift in year-to-year sales being 211% noted by Pacifica Garden Centre in the Bay of Plenty. 

Metallion changes hands
Aluminium high-class ornamental pot and planter manufacturer, Metallion Ltd of Wellington, has been sold to Metal Art Ltd also of Wellington. Comm Hort has had a long association with Metallion’s Trish and Alan Brown and will certainly miss them. They were regulars at Trade Days and their innovation, not only in their designs but also in their quirky ways of doing things, was challenging and inspirational. They named one of their pot ranges Karaka, because they launched it at one of the Trade Days we were then holding at the Karaka horse stables in South Auckland. Alan has now joined the Wellington City Council’s Waterfront Ltd as property manager. Good luck to the Brown’s and also welcome to Tracy and Carl Longstaff of Metal Art. You can see the combined ranges of Metallion and Metal Art on display at Auckland Trade Day 1 April.

Bits and Pieces
Plant breeder Keith Hammett has had his dahlia ‘Woodbridge’ (see pic) nominated for an Award of Garden Merit by the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society.

An importer in Victoria Australia brought in seed of what he thought was harmless Stipa lessingiana but it has turned Mexican feather grass, a major threat to the country’s livestock industry. Bio Security officials are busy trying to recover some thousands of plants that have been sold.

Margaret Russell, former owner of Riverview Nurseries in Auckland, a specialist in ferns and daylilies, has popped back up in the industry after a 4-year absence as accounts manager for compost people Living Earth.

Some of the public have been complaining that their swan plants have been killing the very Monarch Butterfly caterpillars they were purchased to feed. That’s because they may have been sprayed with insecticides by (probably only a few) of the nurseries growing them or the garden centres selling them. Responsible growers and retailers say they don’t sell swan plants until spray withholding periods have elapsed.

Entries are now open for four major industry awards organised by the Nursery & Garden Industry Association. They are the Scotts Innovation Award recognising inventions of unique systems, practices or equipment; the Hortfert Young Achiever Award, open to contestants under 30 years old; the NZ Gardener Marketing Awards for excellence in advertising and promotions; and the Dalton’s Nursery of the Year, which is a two-yearly event. Have a look at the NGIA’s website www.ngia.co.nz for more details.

Work together to survive “My priority is to see our industry working together, networking and capitalising on the opportunities that abound,” says NGIA president Peter Fraser, talking about how to survive the current recession. “Gardening is the new buzz word,” he says. People today want “fresh, chemical free, flavoursome home grown products. Our industry has an opportunity to lead the recovery by advertising self-sufficiency, fresh-grown and the associated health benefits of gardening. Members of our industry need to be attracting as much attention as possible to gardening through media, family and friends.”

The first authentic Chinese Garden in the southern hemisphere opened in Dunedin recently. Eight years in the making and costing some $7.5 million, it celebrates the long association the region has with China dating back to the Gold Rush days when many Chinese came to NZ to try their luck.

We have more on all these stories in Comm Hort Feb/March issue. Why not subscribe today?

Nurseries busy potting up
“We’re busy potting up,” was the most common comment Comm Hort editor Kerry Johnstone heard when he rang around nurseries in late January for a report in our Feb/March issue. And while all were pondering an uncertain future as the economy continues to decline, most said they were just head down and getting on with things. People commenting were Guy Bowden of Tawapou Coastal Plants, Whangarei, whose into making timber sculptures these days (see Pic); KV Rao of Auckland Racing Club Nursery (“We sold out of vegetable seedlings completely. We’ve never sold so many. It was like a property boom!”); Paul Clark, Clark’s Nursery Christchurch “Everything is selling well. Touch wood. It must be my turn . . .”); Karen Hall of Islington Gardens, Blenheim; Cary Middeldorf of Signature Plants, Auckland.

Retail roundup
800-900 people turned up at Palmers Garden Centre in Whangarei to witness the draw for a new car on 18 December, one of several promotions manager Damian Lutten (pictured with car) was running over Spring to increase store foot traffic and raise money for charities. Customers had to spend $150 to enter and in the end there around 700 entries from 600 individuals, some entering up to five times. In her retail roundup in Comm Hort Feb/March issue our correspondent Trish Hosking also talked to Rhys Gibbs of the Nichols Garden Centre Group, Dunedin; Helen Brown and Graham Haslam of Wanaka Garden Centre; Wendy Schick and John Davies of Tumbleweeds Coastal Plants, Matakana; Bill Robinson of Tikitere Gardens, Rotorua; and Vicki McInerney of Westflora Nurseries, Westport, who is finding a special vegetable display garden she set up is proving very successful in promoting sales.

Bromeliad Man – Andrew Maloy
We’ve got a great 4-page profile in Comm Hort Feb/March issue on specialist bromeliad grower, Andrew Maloy, who is pretty well known throughout the trade for his work with the IPPS, the RNZIH, industry training Trusts etc. Andrew traces his roots back to a tiny village called Saltcoats on the west coast of Scotland which he says, attracts only those holidaymakers who like ‘cold swims.’ In 1973 while managing a raspberry farm north of Inverness, Andrew had a chance meeting with a Kiwi girl who would become his wife and lead him all the way back to NZ. When he’s not growing broms Andrew likes nothing better than to jump into the couple’s camper van and head for the wilderness. You’ll enjoy this story.

Nursery Profile – D.J. Scotts
In our Feb/March issue Comm Hort profiles an unusual entity on the NZ nursery scene – D.J. Scotts, founded 20 years ago by Dennis Scott on bare farmland out of Whangarei. Since then this operation has grown into an amorphous mix that now employs resource management consultants, ecologists, landscape architects, urban designers, rural planners, and implementation specialists – as well as running three substantial production nurseries.
Our feature covers 4 pages. A feature of the nurseries is that most plants are grown on raised beds “for root-pruning and staff health and safety.” Our pic shows one such production areas.

Fiji and its Magnificent Kauri – Part 2
The inimitable plantsman Graeme Platt continues his trip through the tropical forests of Fiji in search of Agathis macrophylla, the Fijian kauri. This is a continuance of his lifelong ambition to visit every member of the aracauriacea family in its natural habitat. His 3-part report concludes in Comm Hort next issue. Picture shows a Fijian nurseryman with his crop of Agathis macrophylla and mahogany Swietenia macrophylla.

The Charm and Challenge of Wineberry Hybrids
Eugenie Ombler of Cromwell has been working with wineberry hybrids for more than 20 years and is now focusing on making six selections commercially available. In Comm Hort Feb/March issue we background over 2 pages this work and describe the selections chosen, with good pictures. Eugenie’s Pioneer Collection of wineberry hybrids, some of which bear fruit, are suitable for home gardeners and landscapers and can be used as hedging or for revegetation. Our picture shows Wineberry Kingsley Butler.

Regional Convention of the World Rose Federation
NZ rose man, Hayden Foulds, brings us a detailed report of this Convention, held in Adelaide, and of the nursery tours that surrounded it in a 4-page feature in Comm Hort Feb/March issue. Great stuff for rose lovers. Our picture shows part of the the K&V Trimper rose garden which was on one of the nursery tours.

The Vertical Garden
There’s an excellent book out about the unusual practice of growing gardens up the walls of buildings, and Touchwood Books’ Peter Arthur reviews it for us in Comm Hort Feb/March issue. French biologist Peter Blanc, complete with green hair, is a pioneer of the new form of landscaping and goes into the subject in detail, accompanied by some wonderful pictures. You would love this if you are a landscaper. Some of our NZ buildings could do with a good coating of plants. Are there any of these vertical gardens in NZ? Give us a call if you know of any.

Defence mechanisms — the many ways plants fend for themselves
In Part 2 of her examination of this subject in Comm Hort Feb/March issue, our botanist Fiona Eadie delves deeper into some of the more sophisticated methods plants use to protect and defend themselves. Some of this information is very new, she says, as research is only now beginning to bring it to light.

What’s Coming Up
Comm Hort April/May issue will be covering the Trade Days in both Christchurch and Auckland, also the Ellerslie Flower Show being held in Christchurch for the first time. We’ll start the first part of an indepth look at Coprosmas and Graeme Platt will conclude his report on Fiji. Plenty more as well.

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

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