Plant Forum Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Canterbury Horticultural Society

Monthly Tips & Tasks – April

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Plant Forum, The Flower Garden

The corona virus has made much of what we do very uncertain in our every day lives but our gardens go on following the change of season into Autumn unaffected by this pandemic. This may be a good opportunity to spend more time in our gardens and catch up with projects we have wanted to do but other activities have not allowed us the time. Autumn is a busy time in the garden as harvesting fruit and Summer vegetables will be finished by the end of the month and preparations from the Winter must be well under way.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – June

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Plant Forum, This Month in the Garden, Winter Gardening

June brings the end of the growing season with the shortest day about the 20th of the month. We know also that the coldest time of the year will be with us for the next two months.So there is not a lot of gardening to be done other than pruning and cleaning up plus maintenance of the hard landscape areas.We all find that in our seed storage there will be plenty of used seeds that have passed their use by date or have lost labels. Now is the time to go through the seeds and get rid of any unwanted ones, and make a list of those we will be needing in the Spring.

Herb of the Month – Red Henna

Herb of the Month, Plant Forum

Many of us know henna as a colour long used in art, tattoos, hair dye, paints, textiles, silk, leather and rug dyes. But, have we thought about what it is? The Herb Society was privileged to have a guest speaker from Iran to tell us.

Herb of the Month – Puarangi – Native Hibiscus Hibiscus trionum

Fruit & Vegetables, Herb of the Month, Plant Forum

Puarangi – Native Hibiscus Hibiscus trionum Puarangi, a short lived perennial, was considered to be a native plant but more recently considered to be of African origin, possible brought here by the Maori. Here in the cool South Island it is better treated as an annual. H. trionum grows to 50 – 80 cms high … Read More

Monthly Tips & Tasks – September

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Plant Forum, Spring Gardening, This Month in the Garden

June has been a very frustrating month in the garden with little sun and plenty of rain and drizzle. Because of these conditions I have done little in the outside garden but have spent time in the greenhouses doing maintenance and sorting out plants that are past their best.

This weather pattern looks as though it may continue for some time so we will have to wait until we get some good sunny days for that outside work. There is no need to worry as there is still plenty of Winter to come to get those outside tasks completed.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – August

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Plant Forum, This Month in the Garden

June has been a very frustrating month in the garden with little sun and plenty of rain and drizzle. Because of these conditions I have done little in the outside garden but have spent time in the greenhouses doing maintenance and sorting out plants that are past their best.

This weather pattern looks as though it may continue for some time so we will have to wait until we get some good sunny days for that outside work. There is no need to worry as there is still plenty of Winter to come to get those outside tasks completed.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – May

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, New Zealand Natives, Plant Forum, The Flower Garden

In May we are well into Autumn and Winter is about to start. This means that we will slow down on what we need to do around the garden.

Most of the work involves general maintenance and cleaning up, in and around the garden by removing weeds, crop residues, lifting Summer perennials and bulbs and preparing ground for new plantings later in the Spring.

April Plant of the Month – T-Rex Begonia Ruby Slippers

News from your local Garden Centre, Plant Forum, Plant of the Month, The Flower Garden

T-Rex Begonia Ruby Slippers What a great show again this year for the Oderings School Garden Competition. We love having the opportunity to help encourage the gardeners of our future, and what a stella job they did again this year. Say goodbye to a muted space of green houseplants and say hello to colour with … Read More

Landscape Design in the home garden

Blog, Fruit & Vegetables, Landscape Design Tips, Plant Forum

Kowhai Thompson’s first landscape design instalment Mass Planting One way to create a ‘tied together’ look in your home garden is to add areas of mass plantings. This works both for brand new gardens and for established gardens. Think of purchasing 5 or 10 identical plants at a time of the same variety/colour at a … Read More

Monthly Tips & Tasks – February

Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Plant Forum, Summer Gardening, This Month in the Garden

From Michael Coulter January has been a month of real challenges in the garden this Summer with winds, hot days followed by cool days and some rain. Despite this I have had plenty of good growth and fruit to harvest although some plants are running a little later than usual. Much of the work to … Read More