Dale Harvey Quarter Acre Paradise

January in New Zealand is known as High Summer or Mid Summer. The sunlight and day length along with the warmth and growth rates have all reached their peak and begin to simmer and percolate. Weather extremes can produce very dry and/or hot conditions.

West facing sunset gardens not only face the sun, most face extremes. Throughout much of New Zealand north, south and westerly winds are the most ferocious and continuous.

Primula Obconica is a reliable bloomer for Winter colour indoors and even outside in very mild and frost-free climates. This pretty Primula is a native to China where it flowers throughout the Winter and well in Late Spring.

Climate Change is an inevitable consequence of life on Earth. Humanity is a product of climate change.  Modern Humankind is a cold climate species developing from the most recent Ice Age. Now Earth is in the midst of Interglacial Warming Interval (IWI).

Auckland plantsman, Dale Harvey, says restrictions on plant imports are really holding back horticulture in New Zealand. Our industry could be a world leader - if only we’d let it. (Commercial Horticulture December 2011 / January 2012 report by Trish Hosking.)

Maybe the hippies were right: Flower-power is helping make the world a better place. Petunias are being planted by Sutton Park School on Vine St in Mangere to help improve the situ­ation of the crime-riddled street.

The Mangere East Neighbourhood Police Team started working in the Mangere East Area on the 28th of February 2011. Our team focuses on issues and concerns raised by the community and we work alongside the community to find long term solutions.

Many thanks to Manukau Courier Reporter Mr. Troels Summerville for covering the Pacific Steel Sutton Park School Project. I am just a consultant there to help coordinate and guide this united Community effort.

One flower represents hot Summer days and the golden rays of an Autumn sun better than any other: the Sunflower. Sunflowers are part of a large family known as Helianthus (he-li-an’ thus). This is a Greek word literally meaning “sun” and “flower”.

The origins of Container Gardening date back to the beginnings of early human civilisation. Many if not most of the world’s plant species that have migrated from one place to another with the development of civilisation have been transported in containers.

“Hibiscus” is the old Greek name that Vergil gave to the mallow. This reminds us that the hibiscus and mallows have been greatly admired by nature lovers since quite ancient times. The hibiscus is part of a very large genus.

Since ancient times Linaria, the ‘Baby Snap dragon’ has been picked, carried and worn as an amulet to ward off evil and break hexes. Linaria vulgaris, the Yellow Toadflax, originally thought to be a native to Morocco.

Trees are the backbone of many a well designed garden and the broader landscape. Some people feel that trees are the backbone of many civilizations. After all, they provide us with shade and shelter from sun, winds and storms.

Saturday 12 November Quarter Acre Paradise Gardens was honoured with a special bus tour visit from the Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens. Sincere thanks to Liz Powell for doing such a fabulous job of organising this tour.

The colour blue has long been associated with nobility, peace, serenity and the highest forms of spirituality. It is a universal colour of the sea, the sky and with loving care can be mixed with the greens of Earth in your garden to create very special moments.

Dale revisits the Sutton Park Primary school and helps reinstate the very popular and successful School Gardening Project with great new sponsors Pacific Steel and with help from Housing New Zealand and the South Auckland Community Police.

In June of 2011, I was approached by Sergeant Andrew Graham, Counties Manukau Police Neighbour - hood Policing Team and Policeman Blake James with the request to reinstate the Sutton Park School Project.

The Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina) is a member of the Balsaminaceae Family also known as the Balsam or Jewelweed Family with upward of 850 species classified within only two genera.

One of the world's most popular and widely grown garden flowers is the Dahlia. The original single, star-shaped wild species is believed to have once been native from upland Mexico and Central America, especially Guatemala.

Portulaca includes nearly 100 species, mostly all native to the tropical regions around the world. Almost all of them are low, spreading succulents, in some places a few species are invasive and others are weedy; some like Portulaca oleracea are edible.

This is the proposal for a school project that was actually made operational in Mangere East, Auckland, New Zealand long before any of us ever bothered to write down what it did, why it works, or what it could become.

There are at least 297 species of Clematis. These are mostly hardy perennial often woody vining plants most notable for their flowering starting in Spring through Summer with a few notable species producing spectacular displays into the Autumn.

While many devoted gardeners have struggled against an unsettled spring in the hope of picking those first tomatoes for the Christmas table, the smart gardener is about to plant their Christmas tomatoes for an almost guaranteed autumn harvest.

Strawberries are one of those delectable summer treats that always taste best when picked and eaten straight off the plant. Those in colder climates that experience severe Winters and ground freezing often plant Strawberries in Autumn or Early Spring.

Petunias are a favourite bedding and container plant for warm weather colour. In regions with drier, sunny and warm summers such as Australia, southern Europe, and much of Africa, New Zealand, North and South America.

messages from:

Allan Johnston - One of the smartest things I have...

Mary Rahiti - Teacher at Sutton Park Primary...

Scott Gentry - The page "Quarter Acre Paradise Gardens" sports the loveliest collection of flower images...