Tag Archives: pohutakawa

“O Christmas tree O Christmas tree you stand in splendid beauty!” Or maybe not quite so splendid.

The need for a Christmas tree became pressing. I admit that when none of the children get home for Christmas, I tend to skip that festive accoutrement. Our three all live overseas these days. But with two of them making it back this year, one with partner and daughter who was a baby last time I saw her in May but is now very much a small child, there was clearly a need for a decorated tree.

Family tradition decrees that said Christmas tree can not be a) purchased or b) a fake tinsel affair. It must be harvested or repurposed from home. This has led to considerable variation in size and type down the years.

We know it as a pohutukawa – the New Zealand Christmas tree but really only in the landscape

In the warmer parts of Aotearoa New Zealand, the pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) is firmly established as the iconic ‘New Zealand Christmas tree’ but it does not lend itself to cutting to bring indoors. It is an outdoor tree. Being one of the few trees that will grow right on the coast, even on crumbling, eroding land, tolerating both wind and salt spray, it is widely grown as a street tree, on golf courses, as shelter belts and generally all round the place. Its flowering season may be short but it always comes in the lead-up to Christmas.

Pinus radiata is the main choice for Christmas trees here – quick-growing, expendable, suitable foliage and the Christmas pine scent. Christmas tree farms supply them as dense, clipped pyramids but wild collected specimens or just branches are generally more sparse. Mark has been known to wire in extra pieces to fill out bare spaces. It used to be a time-honoured tradition that families would head out to the country to harvest a tree or branch from the roadside but I am not sure that still goes on since tree farms made better specimens easily available, albeit at a price. That practice of wild collection had the potential to go wrong, of course.

The falling branch of the rather large Pinus montezumae

We lacked even a wilding pine to harvest this year. What could we use? The first plan was to retrieve some of the huge branch of Pinus montezumae which has split but not yet fully snapped off the tree in our park. I could see it would be messy and we would have to be creative in wiring in extra pieces because it is sparse when viewed close-up. But I felt sure a collective effort would see us equal to the task.

Ralph accompanied me on an inspection of the fallen Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’

Then the Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ fell over. It seems to have root problems and it hadn’t even been windy when we noticed it down. It seemed more manageable than the Montezuma Pine although Mark doubted its capacity to take up enough water to keep it alive when cut off. So far, so good. It only has to last another three days so I think it will make it. It is nicely colour-toned to our pink sitting room; it cost nothing either in dollar terms or in environmental impact. It is just not your traditional Christmas tree. I had to bypass all the small decorations because of the big foliage so the decorative aspects are… restrained, shall I say? Golden balls, feather birds and my glass decorations I made back in the days when I was a moderately competent leadlighter and copper foiler and the remaining Christmas lights.

It matches the colour scheme of the sitting room – or, as daughter described it, the marshmallow lounge. On account of it being pink and white, you understand.
The long term prognosis of the propped up cercis is unknown

Lloyd and Zach took 90% of the foliage and branches off the remaining cercis and propped it back up. Only time will tell if it can recover.

Poor management, allowing the ailanthus to have two leaders at the start

Despite the fact that we have had settled, calm weather recently, we have had more than the cercis and the Montezuma branch fall. I include the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) which lost a trunk last weekend. It is a quick growing tree and something of a weed so it is no loss. But you can see how a trunk split out at the base and it is a good example of why trees should be kept to a single leader from the very start.

That is quite a long straight trunk whn seen lying on the ground, but low grade wood

The wood is too soft and light to be of any use. Lloyd has cut it into manageable lengths and at some stage soon, Zach will create one of his natural compositions in a wooded areas where they can stand as random uprights and start the process of rotting down to return to the soil.

This bird looks as though it may have come off second best in an encounter with a cat but we do not have a cat. Maybe it just had a hard life in the box of Christmas decorations.

May you and those close to you find happiness and congeniality in the festive season. Here, in Aotearoa with our summer Christmas, the country has already started the big shut down when some people at least can breathe out, indulge too much, relax and take time out as much of the country closes down for the next few weeks.

In the garden 18/12/2009

Often called the New Zealand Christmas tree, the pohutakawa or Metrosideros excelsa is flowering right on cue

Often called the New Zealand Christmas tree, the pohutakawa or Metrosideros excelsa is flowering right on cue

In our local city of New Plymouth this week, the sight of the flowering pohutakawa on Currie Street which should gladden the hearts of all but the most determined haters of this wonderful coastal genus. They are flowering right on cue for Christmas. This should mean that both the Patea and Waitara plantings are coming in to their own – well worth an annual trip around to admire this plant which has become an icon of our area.

Got it - Gladiolus papilio

Got it - Gladiolus papilio

Update: By 7.30am this morning, I had received the first phone call after this item appeared in our local paper: If anybody can name this species gladiolus, we would be pleased to hear. It is indubitably beige in colour with a burgundy flare edged in gold inside the bell flower, very pretty and a million miles from Dame Edna’s gladdies. Despite spending some time on Google, we still have not managed to identify it.

So now we know it is Gladiolus papilio, syn. G. purpurea-auratus, also referred to as the butterfly gladiolus from the Cape of Africa. It is a variable species but we seem to have two distinct forms in NZ – the one shown above and a two-toned red form. A kind reader has promised to send me the red form.

A cautionary tale from a disappointed neighbour who tied up his tomatoes with the stretchy stockinette bought in rolls – the wet weather kept the tie so wet that the poor tomato stems rotted off. A timely copper spray may have helped. Tying more loosely, using freezer twists or nylon string instead could have avoided the constant damp.

If you are feeling a tad discouraged by the weather, you are not alone. While it was brilliant during early November, the past month has been all downhill and everybody else is probably suffering similarly. Friends report roses turned to slush, buxus blight spreading rampantly along with blights and mildews on anything and many things. The good news is that we probably will not have a drought this season and the bushfire risk is non existent.

Weeds are the number one priority. It is much easier to kill them while they are small and conditions mean that they are fair rocketing away at the moment. Make the push hoe your friend and keep it at the ready. We shouldn’t need to mention it, but push hoes are better for the environment than glyphosate and if you don’t have one or more, ask for one from Santa.

In the veg garden you can sow most crops but lay off the brassicas until later in the season. It is not worth the battle with the white butterfly. You can still get tomatoes in for a late crop, but use plants now, not seed. Last chance for planting water melons. Keep successional sowings of corn, beans, peas and salad vegetables going. Thin earlier crops and eat the thinning as micro veg.

As Christmas Day falls next Friday, we will not be back for a fortnight which sees us into the New Year. May we wish all readers a happy and safe festive season. If visitors outstay their welcome, you can always head out to the garden with your secateurs and push hoe. There is something infinitely restful and soothing about the repetitive tasks of gardening.