Ruud Kleinpaste: Bold and beautiful - the carmine rātā

This is a native organism. Firmly established in NZ, it’s origin could be from overseas (or an ancient continent like Gondwanaland), but it got here, somehow, on its own accord (flying, drifting on logs, floating in the air, etc) without assistance from humans (luggage, commercial goods, planes, boats, smuggled, imported, etc). 

It’s what we call an endemic species. 

Endemic means it naturally occurs only in New Zealand, nowhere else, unless it has been introduced there. It is therefore a Native organism that is really special as it has been part of our ecosystems for many, many years (millions of years). 

Here’s an example of one of our endemic species which will stand up in your garden: Metrosideros carminea. The carmine rātā. It flowers right now and can be absolutely stunning!   

It naturally occurs from Cape Reinga (Te Paki) all the way down to line from Taranaki to Mahia Peninsula. It doesn’t like frost very much at all, but when you plant it in a nice location, protected from the frost, you’ll find it’ll thrive all the way down the South Island.  

It grows well on the Port Hills, where it is a fabulous nectar source for native birds and native bees, moths and butterflies – I suppose you could call it beneficial! Many useful pollinators are hovering around the Carmine Rata – great jobs!  

You can see it is a close relative of the famous also-endemic relative Metrosideros excelsa, aka Pohutukawa (it has a similar distribution area in NZ). 

The carmine rātā is normally a “climbing rātā”, winding its stem around a tree trunk to get to the top where light levels are higher and photosynthesis is enhanced.  

But when you take semi-hardwood cuttings from this rata, it will form as a shrub and it won’t climb. Most carmine rātā you can buy are taken from cuttings and therefore stay as a spectacular red-flowering bush, up to almost a meter high.  

It loves well-drained soil with lots of organic material (think of the conditions in the soil of a native forest with lots of compost, formed by fallen leaves and branches); don’t let them dry out and keep the roots coolish.  

Climbing rātā will go up rock walls and tree trunks in your garden; the shrub form does need quite a bit of sun if you want to see the spectacular crimson flowers. Seeds form in summer to early autumn (in case you want to try and propagate a climbing version of the carmine crimson rātā).  

The only nasty pest encountered on these Metrosideros species is MYRTLE RUST.  

Blown on the wind (by itself – like a native!) from Australia and settled in north and western areas of the North Island and slowly spreading further south… Keep an eye on those “Rusts”.  

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