Bee-friendly wildflowers in Te Puke
Swathes of colour on a kiwifruit orchard
Although planted for their beauty, the Muirs found the wildflowers aided in pollination of their kiwifruit
If you’re a romantic at heart, a visit to Te Puke kiwifruit orchardists Lorraine and Ramsay Muir’s garden will set yours racing. Hundreds of thousands of multi-hued wildflowers are planted around their home and orchard, inspired by those of the American and European plains. It’s a floral feat of vast proportions. We’re talking an epic colour wave of cosmos, coreopsis, cornflowers, campanula, cheiranthus, silene, echinacea, phacelia, rudbeckia, ratibida, nemophila, forget-me-nots, evening primrose, Queen Anne’s lace, hesperis, linum, gilia, gaillardia, gypsophila… and pools of poppies. From sun-lovers to shade-worshippers, wildflowers at the Muirs’ residence have practically taken over.
“We began just as hobbyists,” laughs Ramsay. “Now the wildflowers have taken over nearly every garden. But as it has gone on it’s become wonderfully environmental, with the bees and all the other insects. So it just happened to us as time went on.”
The Muirs began planting their home garden 28 years ago, their first wildflower bed – now about 500m² – set a little way from the house and leading down towards the road. They used the Highfield Meadow mix from Wildflower World – a mixture of brightly hued flowers that range in height from 50-100cm.
As the years passed – “once we knew what we were doing” – they utilised the smaller gardens around their house. They used the lower-growing mixes for these areas, such as Lowfield Meadow, also from Wildflower World, whose flowers reach between 30 and 70cm high. Other low-growing mixes included Moody Blues, Springtime Sprinkles, Fragrant Garden Sprinkles, and Pockets, Pathways and Planters, with flowers up to 50cm but many growing no more than 20-35cm high.
“Then we started getting them in the main driveway to the orchard, which is just down the road a little. That’s another 500m² along the side of the driveway going into the main orchard,” says Ramsay. And they didn’t stop there. “The more recent ones have been around the edges of the orchard near the gorge, the little areas where we can’t keep the kiwifruit. So we have got little pockets of 80m² or 100m² of wildflowers around there.”
The mix Ramsay most often sows is Highfield Meadow, but he has also used Country Road, Pollinator Mix and Summer Dazzler, all growing up to 1m.
Although initially planted for their beauty, the Muirs found the flowers also aided in pollination of their kiwifruit, which was something of a surprise. While it’s known that flowers planted around fruit trees can aid in pollination, the typical commercial kiwifruit orchard removes nearby flowers during pollination time.
“You’re meant to mow it all down so the bees get onto the kiwifruit flowers,” says Ramsay. “But because they shave all the flowers out of the orchards, there is nothing else for them to eat. The kiwifruit flower is very high in pollen but very low in nectar. And they need the nectar for sustenance, of course. So to prevent them flying off to a farm somewhere to get some clover, the beekeepers come around and feed them liquid sugar every couple of days.”
But Ramsay leaves his wildflowers in place so that the bees can consume the nectar from the flowers, rather than feed off liquid sugar, then go on to pollinate the kiwifruit.
“I think I’m the only one with wildflower beds in my orchard, and it is not detrimental to them at all,” he says.
While many people think wildflowers are for large gardens only, Ramsay is adamant that small plots can house them too
“They have done marvellously well. Our biggest production last year came right beside where all the wildflowers are.”
Ramsay plants his wildflowers first and foremost for the love of them, and continues to find areas around the home and orchard to plant up. But he admits, even after 28 years, he still has failures. Determined weeds and inclement weather will stymie the best-laid plans.
“We have had many years of failures,” he says. “Even last year I had failures. It’s usually due to dryness, or heavy rain after planting and germination. If you are lucky and get three days of drizzling rain, you’ll be bang on. But if you get heavy rain, your seeds will wash away. Too dry conditions and you’ll have a failure too.”
Weeds can be a bit of a nuisance, especially if they are not eradicated completely before you start. There is not a lot you can do if weeds blow in, either.
“Sometimes you put wildflowers in where there has been 40, 50 or 100 years of inkweed and weeds that have been established from around New Zealand and they keep trying to come back. And then you can get new ones that attack the beds, and that’s what happened last year. Though we’ve got it fairly well wrapped up now,” he adds. “Otherwise you wouldn’t carry on.”
Ramsay uses Roundup to control weeds, then hauls in truckloads of pea metal pumice and garden mix to replenish the beds.
“I get the bobcat in there and mix it all up. Then you’ve got 100mm of new mix with no weeds in it.”
The key to a successful wildflower garden, says Ramsay, is to give your plants the conditions they love.
“They are growing as far away from their home environment as they ever will be. Most of them are coming out of the desert states of America. If they don’t grow, you have to get some pumice and some garden mix mulch and mix it together; you’ve got to plant them in a nice seedbed because they hate growing in clay.”
When the plants are 20-30cm high, Ramsay feeds them with a YaraMila pelletised NPK fertiliser. Other than that, he says, there is no upkeep once the flowers are blooming.
While many people think wildflowers are for large gardens only, Ramsay is adamant that small plots can house them too.
“You can grow them anywhere you like. I have wine barrels that they are spilling out of. Wildflowers can be for anywhere, from a tiny little house to the biggest farm.”
It’s obvious that Ramsay is extremely passionate about his wildflowers. He and Lorraine have even travelled the world to see wildflowers in situ. “We have been to Yosemite, we have been to Switzerland. Two years ago we went to Luton just north of London; they have them sown in the parks and the roundabouts there.”
It’s lucky, then, that Lorraine loves wildflowers too and is supportive of her husband’s obsession. “I am deadly passionate about it,” says Ramsay. “But my wife Lorraine gives me the support, otherwise I would never carry on doing it.”
Lucky for us, too, then. ✤