What's News?

- Bonsai workshop
- Photo of the month
- NZ Native Forests Restoration Trust update
- Indoor plants

Bonsai workshop with John Lyall

Our recent bonsai workshop with John Lyall was fully subscribed with several participants and a number of intrigued customers interested to know when another one would be held.

On Saturday 30 April from 2 - 4 pm we will run the next class. John will show you how to use a camera, even a simple cellphone one, to help you decide how to trim your plant, and how you can cut back a plant that has grown too big. You'll also be guided through 3 different bonsai styles, using 4 plants which you take home with you afterwards. The cost is $60.

Details can be found on our website, www.oratianatives.co.nz under the Education Centre, or by clicking here.

Photo of the Month

Our winner for April is Geoff Hare with his closeup of rimu foliage. Taken in the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens it features an Australian dragonfly enjoying a respite from the local flora. Now living in Aussie, Geoff generously donated his $60 plant voucher prize to Meadowbank School (an Enviro School) where he used to work. Perhaps they will choose a rimu.

Speaking of which, we have plenty of wonderful rimu at present. Start your carbon sink with a forest of well-established plants, or grow a specimen to provide a future food source for the currently expanding populations of bellbirds and kokako.
Available in PB3, PB5 and larger.

NZ Native Forests Restoration Trust successfully sells Billy! the horse.

The NZNFRT horse, BILLY!, is the work of concept artist Billy Apple. The auction on Trademe reached the reserve price of $15,750.00, more than twice the price of any of the 17 other fibreglass horses offered for auction.

The Trust also won a hospitality prize worth $9,000.00 presented by the Auckland Racing Club. This package is for promotional opportunities plus wining and dining 20 guests at the Queen's Birthday Steeplechase meeting on the 6th of June. Should you know of anyone, or any corporate, wanting to promote themselves, the Trust would be happy to receive offers. Give Geoff a call on 09 8186467.

Indoor plants

In less clement climates gardeners start to move plants indoors in the autumn. If you have a desire for indoor plants we can make some suggestions to suit your needs. Two species we enjoy for their easy care and ability to cope indoors are Peperomia and Asplenium.

Peperomia urvilleana has shiny, succulent dark-green leaves. Found on shady coastal rock faces, it adapts well to life indoors and its slow growth habit means it usually lasts a long time before outgrowing its container.

Peperomia blanda is a more tropical form from the Kermadec Islands with bolder, lighter-green leaves than the local forms of Peperomia.

For those who enjoy ferns, several different species of Asplenium provide a stunning display indoors. Don't be confined to hen and chicken ferns (Asplenium bulbiferum), try Asplenium obtusatum or Asplenium oblongifolium. Or go off-shore for the Hauraki Gulf form Asplenium haurakiense with its myriad fronds, or the weeping fronds of a hybrid with Asplenium flaccidum.

And for outdoor planting, the arrival of autumnal weather means now's the perfect season to get those new botanical additions established - while it's moist and still warm.

As always, happy planting!

Regards,
The team at Oratia