Trip Report: Sue Blair

The day was cool & overcast & jackets were worn however, after being in the glasshouses for a while everyone had surprisingly warmed up. We had a group of 14 join us and we met Julian Odering for the tour.
He was very informative, we could see plants are his passion, and was willing to answer any questions we put to him of which there were quite a few, really great.
The nursery was started by his Grandfather about 70yrs ago. It consisted of Tomato plants grown on the raised beds in what is now the Retail and Showroom areas. The nursery covers 7 acres and is still run as a family business. They have 5 outlets in the South Island and 6 Outlets in the North Island which they supply with their own plant stock and soil mixes, with other suppliers filling in specialised gaps.
Julian showed us the Bedding Plant area, Seeding Sowing machine, Propagation room with heated beds, Perennial Glasshouse & shade houses, house plants in the Hothouse, which was a hit with quite a few, the Soil Shed where they do their own variety of mixes for the nursery itself & also to sell to the Public. We saw a machine planting the bedding plants from the plug trays into the packs of soil mechnically. This used to be done by about 20 school kids, but now they only require 9, that's modernisation and automation for ya.
At the end of the tour Julian gave all of us the choice of a tomato plant or "pot of colour" as a " "Thank-You, come again" gift and encouraged us to visit the Retail Area, which alot of us did.
We went for a coffee and a chat & then back into any part of the nursery which took our fancy.