I am not a horticulturalist, nor am I an avid gardener. I have, however, dabbled in gardening both indoors and outdoors with pot plants and the traditional veggie patch sticking to the easy stuff like potatoes, tomatoes, silver beet, carrots, cabbages, lettuces etc. I must admit there’s always been a great sense of satisfaction as … Read More
I was born and bred in Rochdale, an industrial town in Lancashire on the outskirts of Manchester nestled under the nearby Pennines. Like Christchurch it suffered from chronic air pollution as its natural tendency to winter inversion layers laden with dirty smoke from “those dark, satanic mills”. Despite this my curiosity to know what was … Read More
View from the Deck Alan Jolliffe Over the weekend we were able to have lunch on the deck and I reflected on the talk given by Prof Dave Kelly at the CHS last week. In a nutshell he told us that birds are really important in spreading native plant seeds and shifting pollen from one … Read More
What is the National Flower/Plant of these countries? France Holland Ireland Japan Switzerland
“Demonstration gardens” is one of four key CHS strategies. It will require committed and ongoing leadership from the Society and its members. Of necessity it will create an interface with community groups and local authorities and it potentially could become a rich source of new members. The strategy has parallels with the “Britain in Bloom” … Read More
How lucky our members are with the number and quality of events our volunteers are giving their time and energy to organize. In the last month we have had the first of our new Speaker Series with Professor Dave Kelly giving a fascinating power point presentation on how our native birds and native plants rely … Read More
In a recent newsletter I outlined the Society’s changing strategic direction. Articulating a strategic vision is relatively easy. Achieving it is, however, a tad more difficult.
What is the National Flower/Plant of these countries? England India Australia Austria Canada
Recently I was able to be part of the Edible Gardens Awards in two City Community Boards – Lyttleton-Mt Herbert and Shirley-Papanui. Great evenings and wonderful to meet these people who put so much into their plots of land. BUT like all evenings it got me thinking. We live in changing times.
Meyer Lemon This lemon is the perfect, cold hardy variety ideal for Christchurch conditions. With Autumn being “nature’s planting time” plant a lemon now so it can establish for a huge burst of growth come Spring. Lemons are one of the easiest citrus to grow. Purchase at any Oderings store or online at www.oderings.co.nz