At the beginning of December I made my yearly pilgrimage to address the monthly meeting of the Taihape Horticultural Society - something I’ve been doing for the last 12 years. I stayed the night with Toby and Vanessa Schweikert who have the Greenhaus Nursery south of Taihape, on SH 1 between Utiku and Mangaweka, down Mickleson’s Road. Had a wonderful time browsing through their huge range of different plants - for me it was mostly trees. All sorts of things you no longer see in the average plant centre. If you’re in that part of the world, call in and see what they have. On my way home I stopped at the Taruarau River to collect some pumice for the garden. Had a good chat to two 70 year old fishermen on the bridge watching four fat trout swimming below - about to be caught and released.

I spent 3 weeks at Lake Rotoiti fishing in the rain; only 2 fine days. Visited several tree planting customers - Grant Drabble has been planting up about 6 acres of rare and unusual trees on his Rotoehu Road property near to Te Puke, starting 40 years ago. I was meant to visit in the spring as he said in summer it’s only ‘green upon green and more green’ but it is a wonderful collection with mown grass rides running through it so you can stand back and see the trees. And a really nice touch is the occasional chair dotted about so that one can sit down and really enjoy the vistas in the changing light.

Next was Francophile, (French was his best subject at school) pipe smoking and piano playing fellow IDS member Paul McCarthy at Galatea. He has planted up four large spring fed ponds and a large ‘park’ adjoining the house. Again a huge range of the rare, unusual and beautiful trees. All the fence lines on his dairy farm are also planted up. As a friend of Clive and Nicky Higgie, of “Paloma Garden” Wanganui, he has developed a passion for bamboo and says he has now “got over” flowering cherries.

Supplier of many of the plants to both Grant and Paul, Bill Robinson at Tikitere Gardens, only five minutes away from our Rotoiti bach, let me spend several half days wandering through his huge collection of rhodos, magnolias, maples, cherries, birches etc etc etc. The dogwoods were in flower, the vast mass planting of weeping Japanese maples were stunning, and his bulk planting of different hostas absolutely magnificent. I don’t know how many hours I spent wandering and looking but I still haven’t seen it all. And that’s in summer time.

WALNUTS: Then I visited Nick Nelson-Parker, who closed his Cheddar Valley Nursery (south of Ohope), some years ago and is now growing walnuts for the crop and also, long term, for timber. His 67 acre property is very steep – so steep he can spray the shade weakened undergrowth with Roundup in December, so that once the nuts start falling they can tumble, unimpeded to the bottom of the hills where Nick can scoop them up.

ORCHIDS: On my way home I called in to see Jim Gilchrist at his Pottering About Garden Centre, near the Whakatane-Kawerau junction. He has lots of orchids, tillandsias, hoyas, vireyas and he surprised me by saying “Years ago, at the International Orchid Show in Auckland in 1990, you sold me a little book called ‘Growing Orchids from Seed’ which has led to all this.” He does his own tissue culture and sells a lot of plants on TradeMe and via his website www.potteringabout.com

Graham and Tracey looked after everything including the chooks, ducks and Dennis The Cat while we were away.

At Pottering About I got, amongst other things, a Fucraea bedinghausii and F.selloa marginata. I have just looked them up in "THE TIMBER PRESS GUIDE TO SUCCULENT PLANTS OF THE WORLD" by Fred Dortort, which has detailed descriptions of more than 2000 plants and more than 750 colour photos. Written in an easily understood way, it is a nicely presented 344 page hardback. $100.00.

In the December newsletter I mentioned I was reading “THE HUNGRY HEART. JOURNEYS WITH WILLIAM COLENSO” by Peter Wells ($50.00) and was looking forward to reading about his plant hunting and the thousands of herbarium specimens he sent to the Hookers (father and son) at Kew. The book does not cover this in any detail but refers the reader to Ian St George’s work of exemplary scholarship “COLENSO’S COLLECTIONS” – a large 412 page paperback with CD rom, $45.00. Colenso became friends with Joseph Hooker who was with Sir Charles Darwin on the Erebus when it visited Pahia in 1835.

In 1853, Colenso was in a state of despair - his wife had left him due to Colenso fathering an illegitimate child by a Maori maid, his house near Napier had been burnt down, he had been kicked out of the Church, and then he got a letter from Sir William Hooker saying “I assure you that the miscellaneous scraps such as you sent and all so carefully numbered are not worth the time and trouble of looking over.” Despite this rebuff Colenso found his feet again and carried on sending plants to Kew - by 1865 he had sent 6500 specimens at his own expense.

“GROWING TREES FROM SEED” by Henry Kock covers only native American trees, vines and shrubs. The first 70 pages cover principles then detailed instructions for each plant follow. Big format 280 page hardback. $95.00.

“HIGH IMPACT, LOW CARBON GARDENING” by Alice Bowe is a refreshing approach to gardening sustainably. Get rid of your petrol lawn mower. In the US 54 million Americans mowing their lawns with petrol powered mowers contribute nearly 5 per cent of the nation’s air pollution. The English author is an Oxford trained landscaper and has produced a well researched and very readable book. 263 pages, paperback. $55.00.

“HUNT, GATHER, COOK” by Hank Shaw is an American book about foraging for food. Covers wild plants, fish, rabbits, deer, pigs and wild fowl , how to collect or catch , and then cook. Black and white illustrations throughout. 324 pages, hardback. $50.00.

“PLANTING THE DRY SHADE GARDEN” by Graham Rice is a selection of 130 plants that will thrive with low light and moisture. Good colour photo of each plant. 192 pages, paperback. $55.00.

While on holiday I spent much time perusing Hugh Johnson’s new book “TREES” , which is a complete re-write of his “International Book of Trees.” Covers more than 600 species with more than 500 colour photos and illustrations. An ideal introduction to the world of trees by this famous wine writer. Well presented 400 page hardback. $90.00.

While you are on our website visit our list of New Titles. These list, on a monthly basis, titles new to our shelves. Also have a quick look at Diane's specials, there's some good buying there while stocks last.

Recently we have emailed several notices of new titles and cut-price offers to special interest groups. Our offers have included the following topics:

• New Title: "The Garden in Art".
• New Title: "Succulent Plants of the World".
• Seasons Greetings from all at Touchwood Books.
• The Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition.
• Photography, Plant Hunting, Writing and more.
• Native and Exotic Trees in new Zealand.
• Growing your own food, Berries, Fruit and Vegetables.
• Self-Sufficiency, Lifestyle, Sustainable Living and Permaculture.
• An attractive assortment of Reference Books.
• December 2011 Newsletter.
• Christmas Special Offers.
• ........ and more.

Follow this link to view these email Offers.

Follow this link to view our Summer Catalogue.

If you no longer wish to receive my monthly newsletter, or Diane's monthly list of special offers you may unsubscribe here. {tag_unsubscribelist}

Peter Arthur
Touchwood Books
12th January 2012