October Field Trip 2018

This field trip had something different for everyone. We started with a visit to Natives Plus in Whakamarama. A family run operation, these days they are more ‘plus’ than natives as they now focus solely on cut flower production rather than the original nursery production of native plants for retail trade. They purchased an existing flower growing property over 10 years ago & have made significant changes. They removed all but the hydrangeas and have since expanded their hydrangea area.

Janice has recently put in a small block of annuals in light of the ‘flower farming’ trend & to provide some income in the hydrangea off season. Everyone queried the 3m tall plants which Janice called her triffids – they were exceptionally well grown Queen Anne’s Lace.

After a cuppa there was a hands on flower arranging workshop run by Shontelle Bayer from Sweet Pea & Jasmine. Shontelle showed us how to make a hand tied bouquet with an in-built water holder. Everyone had brought along flowers & foliage to share and we had a great time being creative.

Our next visit was to the Katikati Iris gardens, a large area with over 1300 varieties of irises and very few weeds. They breed their own varieties but the actual breeding takes place in the US. Their bulbs are available online and direct from the gardens.