I'm surprised this rose is no longer available in New Zealand or Australia, as it seems to be a very good one.
For anyone who wanted to know, the name is Maori for "cascading waters", with "wai" being water and "heke" being cascade. The e is short, as in "pet" or "let", even though white New Zealanders often get it wrong and pronounce it much like a double e.
This is also the name of a rather nice island in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, which is presumably the namesake of this rose. There's an area of island commonly known as The Cascades.
Thanks for the clarification on the pronunciation Give me caffeine. I have a vague memory of reading once that one pronounces every letter in the Maori language. I don't think 'Waiheke' liked the cascading waters very much as the 1984 reference said it had poor rain resistance. As it gained a Trial Ground Certificate in the three-year UK trials in 1983, it had to be bred before 1981 and so we've changed the date from 1986 to before 1981.
The English spelling of Maori is a bit weird. I don't know who came up with it, but some of it doesn't actually make any sense in English when you compare the spelling to how it's pronounced. So although it may be true that you "pronounce every letter", you don't necessarily pronounce them the way you'd think. Not that it matters much once you know the conventions.
I suspect the rain resistance only refers to the flowers, since McGredy's Aotearoa and Full Sail apparently ball sometimes. The plant itself should be fine. It couldn't possibly survive long enough to propagate in NZ if it didn't like getting rained on. That long white cloud drops a whole lot of rain.
We found Waihiki in a sales barrel as a "body bag" 1 1/2 grade at K-Mart. It is turning into a beautiful plant, and it has gorgeous, fragrant flowers. Had never heard of it prior to stumbling upon it as described above. So glad that we did. It has lovely foliage, too. It is starting to take off, and looks like it will be quite vigorous. Will keep all informed if interested.
It is doing terrific. When it bloomed the blossoms were exactly what we expected and lovely. This season, it is showing good vigor and beautiful, shiny maroon foliage. The leaves mature into a rich green which accent the blooms so well. If you can find it,give it a try.
I had this rose here in Hawaii and it does very well in a hot climate. I am trying to locate a nursery where I can purchase this rose but can't find one. Have you seen this rose recently? Emilia, Kailua
