Garden Centre Nurseries

BERRYFRUIT

Berryfruit

WAIMEA BERRYFRUIT  Blackberries  Cranberries  Kiwiberries  Blueberries  Currants  Kiwifruit  Boysenberries  Gooseberries  Raspberries  Cape Gooseberry  Grapes Berries are among the best fruits on the planet. Not only do they taste great, but they are densely packed with a variety of potent phytochemcials that can do wonders to normalize and improve health. BLACKBERRIES Blackberries are high in fibre and folate, and can be successfully grown through most parts of New Zealand. They are excellent for fresh eating, pies, freezing, jams, desserts and wine. They ripen just after summer raspberries when few other fruit are available in the garden. Black Satin  An early ripening thornless variety with large, luscious blackberries with unique tart/sweet flavour. Erect, thornless canes that are non suckering. Tolerates heat. Deciduous. Grows rapid to about 1.5-1.8m tall. Navaho  An erect, thornless blackberry with superior fruit quality. Yields a bumper crop of large, firm, sweet fruit. Shows good tolerance to both heat and cold. Highly recommended.   BLUEBERRIES Blueberries can be grown in home gardens anywhere in New Zealand, if the right selections and proper soil modifications are used. They have delicate white or pink spring flowers, the summer fruit has an attractive sky blue colour, and the autumn foliage adds great red and yellow colours to the landscape. The fruits provide many healthful dietary factors, including vitamins, minerals, and components that may help prevent certain diseases. For those with bad memories blueberries are now recognised as great brain food! NORTHERN HIGHBUSH High winter chill requirements so are better suited the more temperate regions of New Zealand. Mainly self fertile but will perform better planted near another variety. Bluecrop  Northern Highbush. Fairly vigorous, upright productive selection that is both hardier and more drought resistant than most varieties. Large, light blue berries are borne in loose clusters in early-mid season. Self fertile but will produce more if planted with another Highbush variety. Bluejay Northern Highbusy. Early season selection with ample crops of medium size, mild flavoured berries that will stay on the bush for long periods without loss of fruit quality. A vigorous grower that forms a large bush with light green leaves turning yellow-orange in autumn. Dixie  Northern Highbush. Great home variety. Rich tangy-sweet flavour. Great in jams. Ripens over a long season. Mid season. Large, fragrant berries. Self fertile but will produce more if planted with another Highbush variety. Duke  Northern Highbush. An early ripening selection with good crops of mildly sweet flavoured berries. Upright grower, but branches will droop to ground when laden with fruit. Foliage turns yellow-orange in autumn.Self fertile but will produce more if planted with another Highbush variety. Petite Blue Northern Highbush. Selected for it"s very tasty fruit produced in good quantities and ripening over a longish period. Well suited to most areas of the country. SOUTHERN HIGHBUSH Require much less winter chill so are better suited to the warmer temperate regions of the country. Best planted with other Highbush varieties to ensure cross pollination. Marimba Southern Highbush. Highly attractive and productive low chill early selection. Berries are medium-large sized, firm with excellent flavour. Misty  Southern Highbush. A most attractive selection with bright blue-green foliage contrasting perfectly with pink and white spring flowers and sky blue summer fruit. The berries are medium to large size and of excellent quality. Can be evergreen in mild winters. Chilling needs are very low so recommended for warmer areas of the country. RABBITEYE Late croppers that can be grown in most areas of New Zealand. Best planted with other Rabbiteye varieties to ensure cross pollination. Delite  Rabbiteye. A late season often recommended for home gardeners. The fruits are small and light blue with excellent flavour. Great ornamental value. Powder Blue  Rabbiteye. High health with good size & quality sweet dark blue fruit which holds well on plant. Later ripening. Upright highly productive plant with good foliage. Southland  Rabbiteye. Good size fruit of good quality throughout the mid and late season. A compact, upright grower with dense foliage. Tifblue Rabbiteye. Tall, vigorous, upright grower and a standard for judging rabbiteyes. Large, highly flavoured berries. Late ripening.   BOYSENBERRIES Boysenberries are a trailing type of blackberries. Plants grow horizontally, compared to the erect habit of most blackberries. To grow, most plants are tied to supports or wires to limit their trailing habit. Fruits are sweeter, ripen sooner and are in looser clusters. It is the sweet and piquant taste, and their incredible rich colouration that makes them so enormously versatile. Boysenberries intense colour and flavour make them ideal for jams, preserves and conserves, in dairy deserts, ice creams and yoghurts, as fruit fillings for bakery products and delicious boysenberry drinks. McNichol’s Choice  A mostly spineless selection with high yields of good sized delicious berries. Tasman  A stable, mostly spineless selection which crops well. Berry size is medium-large. Reasonably easy picking.   CAPE GOOSEBERRY   The cape gooseberry is a useful small crop for the home garden. The ripe fruit can be eaten straight from the tree or used in a number of other ways. The unique flavour of the fresh fruit makes it an interesting ingredient in salads and cooked dishes, like with apples or ginger. The high pectin content makes cape gooseberries a good preserve and jam product that can be used as a dessert topping. The fruit also dries into tasty "raisins".   CRANBERRIES True Cranberries grow wild in cool boggy areas over major areas in the Northern Hemisphere. Crowley is suitable for use in juices, relish, sauces, stuffings, jellies, muffins etc. The health benefits of eating cranberries or drinking the juice has been long appreciated but recent studies show some selections, including Crowley, have high antioxidant capacity. Cranberry Crowley (Vaccinium macrocarpon) USA commercial selection. Medium to large dark red berries in good quantities in late summer. Ground hugging spreading plant, thriving in moist, acid soils. Extremely cold hardy and tolerates very wet feet. NZ Cranberry (Myrtus ugni ) New Zealand cranberry but actually a Chilean guava. Bushy plant with delicate pink bell shaped flowers that produce small scrumptious, wine coloured, pea-size berries that can be eaten directly from the bush or made into delicious jellies. Plants good for topiary and low hedging.   CURRANTS Currants are again rapidly moving up the popularity stakes. They are excellent in jams, jellies, juices and pies and are easy to freeze. Blackcurrants are a very rich source of Vitamin C. Relatively easy to grow. Form attractive shrubs in the home landscape. Self-fertile. Black Currants Ben Mapua Very heavy yielding blackcurrant with very large furit. Fruits about two weeks after Magnus. Large, vigorous, spreading selection. Magnus   Large black fruit on extremely hardy plants. Long time the main New Zealand commercial variety. High in Vitamin C. Upright grower. Tai Tahi  A heavy cropping early black currant well suited to home gardens. Black Currants  Red - Gloria de Versailles   Excellent crops of red berries. Can be eaten fresh and also great for sauces and jellies. Red - Myra McKee  A red currant highly recommended as an excellent home garden selection by Geoff Langford, NZ’s Mr. Berryfruit! White Currants White An albino form of the red currant. More versatile but less colourful than the red. Fine for all culinary usses and are of lower acidity so are also suitable for fresh eating.   GOOSEBERRIES Gooseberries are long-lasting bushes that can give 5kg a year for 20-30 years. Delicious raw when ripe, or cooked in pies, tarts, etc. High in Vitamin A and potassium. Ripe fruits don’t keep well, unripe fruits store well for a week or two. Freeze well. Invicta  A mildew resistant very heavy bearing selection. An easy to grow winner for the organic garden. Large, flavourful green fruit that hang in heavy clusters down the length of the branch. A well shaped but vigorous bush. Fruit is excellent for pies, jam or freezing. Pax A well shaped, slightly bristly bushy, with dark red fruit when fully ripe. Good eating. The plants are very vigorous and spreading but can be shaped up by pruning. Produces occassional spines on young wood, but at maturity is virtually spineless.   GRAPES Growing grapes can be a wonderful hobby and a challenging experience. You can grow many varieties of grapes; the fruit of each cultivar has an aroma, flavour, and other qualities that make it unique. Grapes are great as fresh fruit or used for jellies, jams, juices, dessert recipes, or home-brewed wines. Grapevines are also attractive ornamentals in a garden setting. In general, grapes require full sun and soils with good drainage and moderate fertility. Plant vines with a northern to western exposure, protected from wind. Waimea Nurseries offers a selection of the best table grapes (both cutting grown and grafted) as well as grafted selections of popular wine grapes. Table Grapes Albany Surprise  Heavy cropper in mid to late season with medium sized bunches of large, juicy, aromatic and spicy berries with a jelly texture. Hardy and disease resistant. Once widely grown commercially for wine production. Buffalo Considered by those in the know to have the highest dessert (eating) quality of the early black grapes. The berries are slipskin, juicy, very sweet, spicy and tart. Makes a candy-like ruby red wine.   Flame Seedless  Medium size clusters of round red berries of firm, crisp texture. Flavour excellent, vines are heavy producers. Early season ripening. Commercial selection needing plenty of heat and best with a spray programme. Himrod  An earlish green seedless selection, with loose clusters of medium size berries with light, honey-like flavour and melting texture. Cold hardy but performs best in areas with warm springs. Recommended for home gardens. Iona Heavy crops of sweet pinkish skin medium sized fruit with high resistance to downy mildew. Regular and reliable cropper. Very hardy and well suited to coastal conditions. Kyoho  Widely grown in Japan and named after Mt.Fuji because each grape is so large. Blackish purple, very sweet, moderately acidic, aromatic and juicy. Niagara  Popular green gold, sweet, juicy grape with sharp, tangy flavour. Vigorous and very healthy grower bearing large clusters of fruit in mid season. Ruby Seedless  Large clusters of small to medium seedless, red to reddish-black berries. Sweet eating fruit. Ripens late midseason. Commercial selection and best with plenty of heat and a spray programme. Steuben   A reddish-black grape that produces long, tapering, compact clusters which are among the most attractive of all fresh market cultivars. Sweet with a distinctive spicy tang. Hardy, vigorous, productive, disease resistant, and easily grown by home gardeners. Mid to late season. Good autumn colours. Thompson Seedless  Famous commercial selection and mainstay of California table grape industry. Large clusters of pale green gold, very sweet, seedless berries. Needs plenty of heat and best with a spray programme. Later ripening. Wine Grapes Pinot Gris  A cool climate white grape proving popular for growing by both commercial and home brewers. Compact clusters of grey-blue fruit ripen early and produce white wine with a distinctive, complex flavour. Drought tolerant. Pinot Noir  Thin skinned red grapes produced in compact bunches. Produces a red wine with excellent aroma, flavour and a soft finish. Not easy to grow but worth the effort. Grows best in areas with warm days and cool nights. Riesling  Produces wines of high acidity and elegance in very cool growing conditions.  The wine usually show fresh fruit flavours and a zesty character. Will grow in a wide range of conditions. Very hardy. Sauvignon Blanc  Clusters of smallish green berries ripen later in the season. The variety that put has NZ wines on the map. Relatively easy to grow and can take heat. Free draining sandy loams preferable to deep fertile soil.   KIWIBERRIES Kiwiberries or Baby Kiwis are more cold hardy than the standard kiwifruit. The plants however need a long growing season (about 150 frost-free days), which will not be hampered by late winter, or early autumn frosts. Established plants have been known to survive temperatures lower than -30°C in the USA. Fruit size is considerably smaller than that of normal kiwifruit- about the size of a large sweet cherry. The skins of Kiwiberries are smooth and consumed with the fruit. Although typically green in both the skin and flesh, some cultivars have various amount of red, either in the skin, flesh or both. When ripe they are very sweet and juicy and the flavour is considered to be better than that of the kiwifruit. Marju Red   A reddish purple skinned variety bred in New Zealand and actually an A. arguta x A. melanandra. Excellent eating. Takaka Green   Performing local selection with crops of 100kg per vine recorded. Both the above selections are female plants that need a male kiwifruit flowering within the vicinity at the same time. In many areas the normal male kiwifruit can be used as a pollinator. A. kolomikta  Super Hardy Kiwi A male selection of this striking, slender climber with tri coloured leaves that when mature are half creamy white, flushed pink. A. arguta male  Selections that will pollinate the above female varieties. KIWIFRUIT Kiwifruit or Chinese Gooseberries are actually native to China, though their potential was first recognised by New Zealand nurserymen who renamed the fruit. Kiwifruit are best planted into well drained soils in sunny positions, protected from winds and late autumn and spring frosts. Hayward Standard commercial variety, which keeps well and matures in autumn. A. chinenis - Male Male plant for pollinating Hayward but also pollinate Kiwiberry females as long as the flowering period overlaps. RASPBERRIES Raspberries are one of summer"s great delights and are an ideal home garden plant for most temperate areas of New Zealand. Autumn Bliss, Heritage and Manna Yellow are "autumn fruiting" while Tulameen is a summer cropper. Autumn Bliss An early autumn fruiting raspberry with excellent crops of large, red berries and pleasant mild flavours. Ripens earlier than Heritage, overlapping with Tulameen, and continuing to ripen into late autumn. Spiny canes are fairly erect and need little or no support. Autumn Bliss bridges the gap between late summer and autumn varieties. AGM Heritage Exceptionally firm quality fruit, with average size and good flavour. Berries present well and store well. Berries change colour from bright red to dark purple/red after harvest. Harvesting can extend from February through until frosts start. Manna Yellow A yellow sport of Autumn Bliss. Good crops of large good eating yellow berries over a long picking season. Tulameen A very high yielding, mid summer variety producing top quality fruit over a long picking season. Canes are virtually spine free, so picking is very easy! AGM Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society

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