Autumn 2026 Update
Kia ora koutou!
It's been a turbulent autumn for us all already - fuel prices are through the roof, we've experienced weather warnings nearly every weekend and Vaianu, Aprils tropical cyclone, luckily just brushed past us here in the Far North. It's been an eventful season.
This will be only be a short blog post to talk casually about where we're at, what we've been up to and what's to come.
We're aiming to do this regularly, once a season, so we can provide updates to our customers, peers and partners.
Rautahi & Umbrella Sedge
Carex geminata and Cyperus ustulatus are 2 plants that are great for a wetlands project - we haven't had them available in the nursery until now, and we're ecstatic about being able to offer them to our customers and plant them out in upcoming projects.
We really wanted to get a hold of Rautahi and the giant umbrella sedge (we like to call it Usta) at the nursery.
Last year, our selection of wetlands plants was minimal, so last year, in preparation for this planting season, we went hard on searching for them, and were able to locally source both.
Carex geminata (Rautahi)
A very efficient plant for wetlands. Rautahi loves having wet feet, is easily grown from seed and can even be divided. Even though it is considered a wetlands plant, it will grow well in most soil and thrives in full sun.
It has a rhyzome root system that can spread rapidly, meaning you can get a lot of coverage for less effort than you would typically need - you can increase the spacing between the plants and let rautahi fill the gaps for you.
Here's a short video about carex geminata from Koroneiki Developments if you'd like to learn more.
Cyperus ustulatus (Giant umbrella sedge / Usta)
Also known as a wetlands toetoe, the giant umbrella sedge is a striking, attractive plant - it grows to around 2m in height, it's a lovely light green with a wide leaf (wide enough to earn its 'Umbrella' name). It's very popular, easily grown from seed and tolerant of a wide range of habitats, but certainly prefers wetland margins.
Sad to say that this plant is not as exciting as the geminata as far as its features go, but it's attractive and adds variety to wetland projects. You'll very often see this paired with carex subspecies.
Easter Sale
We hosted a sale during the Easter break at the nursery, with pirces so low the plants were almost a kōha. This was our second sale since we started investing in the nursery in 2024.
It wasn't as sucessful as our first, and we understand why - we're in a remote location, and fuel prices are as high as they've ever been, so it's a lot to ask for people to come all the way out to Matauri Bay to purchase native plants. Even though the beach here is beautiful.
On top of the travel costs, Vaianu was fast approaching towards the end of the sale and the sun was no where to be seen. To be fair, the weather was not great during our sale last year either, but we had a really good turnout!
Anyway, aroha nui, thank you so much to everybody who paid us a visit.
Here are some photos of the plants we had on sale:
Social Media & Newsletters
We're getting a lot more savvy with our marketing (well, trying to!) this year. That means more posts on social media, email newsletters and a lot more photos. You can contact us via Messenger any time and we'll usually answer within our business hours (Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 4pm).
Recipients of our newsletter will already be aware, but here's what we're aiming for this year:
- Seasonal newsletters - we opened this season (autumn 2026) with a newsletter, and we'll be closing it off with a newsletter too. We want to inform you of what to expect for the season in the opening newsletter, and we want to close and summarise the season just before the next season is upon us.
- A social media post every week. We might highlight a cool plant in our 'Plant of the Week' post, or maybe we're hosting about a flash sale that we want to let you know about.
- Project updates - for example, we're working on the Kaeo River Project this year, and we're involved in conservation work in the Puketī forest. Notable updates will be written up in the form of a blog post, similar to this one.
Our audience is slowly but surely growing, and hopefully we are reaching more people who are interestted in our humble little operation.
That's all for this one. We'll be back with another blog post in Winter 2026.
