THE GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 133, 5 June 1914, Page 11

THE GARDEN.

(By DLAXTUUS.) - THE WEEK'S 'WORK. The wet weatiier of the past, few days has made outdoor operations almost impossible, and, in any case, it is advisable to keep off the land during such inclement weather. It is a gocxi opportunity to look over and clean store bulbs such as begonias, gloxinias, etc.

Labels may be cleaned a-nd painted, as it is a mistake to leave these till tlie minute they are wanted; very often the labels are not Teady, so the lai>eliing Is left for the time being, the consequence of which is it is never done, and plants lose their name, 'become mixed, and hence haif the charm of a garden has gone.

Stakes are anorfaller thing that should be gone through and sized and resharpened.

The old seed left from last year should also be looked over, and any that is of no use s— ou]d be burned, and, considering the cheapness of seed, it is questionable if any past season seed is worth keeping.

The drains in the garden should have occasional attention; otherwise, if one gets blocked, flooding will occur and the ground, getting sodden, takes longer to dry.

THE PANAMA EXPOSITION. Tlip Dunedin correspondent of tSe "Lyttelton Times" states that the Tourist Department has arranged with .Mr. \V. Busch. of Amberley, that the six blooms of the W. Turner chrysant-e----—um which were shown at Christ—lurch, Amberley and Dunedin are to be packed in ice as soon as they reach Christchurch and forwarded to the Panama Exposition. These — ooms have been adjudged to be the finest specimens that have yet been produced in the Dominion. "Wake up. horticulturists of the Queen City of the North." BOO— PI— —NTS. Xow that the winter is upon us, and there arc" very few (lowers to be had for room decoration, the need is felt for a few plants to take the place of the iiowers and to relieve the inanimate up pea-ranee of a room. Plants, however, which can be grown to stand in the house during the long days of winter arc j very scarce. There is no doubt that no j other position tells so hardly upon a plant as when it is placed in a fancycoloured pot and given the middle of the. -table for a resting place. The causes of the failure of plants to stand ; indoors are many, but the chief are irre- ! jrul—rity of -watering, and the drying —' 'the atmosphere of the room by tires. ' gas. etc. Some kinds of plants stand i much better than Others, and a few of the best are described below.

Aspidistra.—There are two varieties, the one with green -foliage, and the other with -white variegated leaves; both kinds make admirable room plants, and. in fact, can be considered a-s the very ibest. The foliage is very leathery, and the plant stands the of rooms with impunity. If only one plant can he afforded, we strongly recommend this in preference to any other.

CvpcTiis _U-r_ifoliu.---Tlii« i- a quick growing plant, and ts more of an aquatic plant, consequently it will at—old abun-

dance of water, and for this reason is suited to rooms, as the pot can be stood iv a saucer or similar article containing a quantity of water without any bad effect. This plant can be raised from seed, which should be sown in the spring.

Asparajzus plumosus and the variety names arc also good plants for room decoration. The foliage is very light and graceful, and. although the plants will show the effects of being in a room sooner than the others, yet it will regain vigour and appearance if put outside in the open air for a time. The plant needs abundance of water, and if given this, with nn occasional period in the open air, will stand for a long while as an indoor plant. This can also be raised from seed. which can be procured from any seedsmen. The seed should be sown in the spring in a shady place, and should bo kept watered.

Asparagus sprengari.—This plant is easily Taised from seed, and is a quickgrowing, first--class plant for room decoration. The long growths are of a somewhat trailing ha.bit, anil are very graceful. The foliage is of a light green colour, and, being small and light, the whole plant forms a very graceful and useful plant for indoors. When •the plant -becomes shabby it can be stood outside, when it will soon put out new growth, and can be taken in again. The plant needs abundance of water at all times. This also makes a very good hanging basket plant, the long, lightgreen trailing growths showing well under this treatment. The chief point to consider is -tha* the plant requires rather -more than an ordinary quantity of water. COMPOST HEAPS. Instructions are often given to gardeners to collect all the decaying vegetable refuse. loaves, etc.. and to place them in a heap to decay, when it can be used t>y mixing with soil for making composts for seeds and cuttings. It is doubtful whether this is advisa,ble. If the leaves are from woodland trees, such as oaks, planes, etc., it may he correct, as these leaves, when collected and allowed to rot. make excellent leaf soil. 'When all the refuse from the garden is put into the heap it is quite different, for the probability is that a lot oi this refuse is infested with pests, both fungoid and insect, which, instead of -being destroyed, simply remain dormant till the opportunity occurs, and then go forth to spread destruction. For this reason discrtarination is necessary, ami ii clean, good leaves cannot be obtained, the compost heap should not be allowed to cxi=t. The safest plan is to 'burn all vegetable matter which is suspected to be in any way infected, or. if you are trenching, it. will he found useful to place at the bottom of the trench. It i- very improbable that if it is put down two tn three feet that the insects or genii* -a ill again reach the surface in a state ,-f vitality. The routs nf the plant- »lii,!i arc grown on the surface will benelit from the moisture retaining and whatever nther manurial properties there ton; be is iv

THE DAI— -IA OF THE i'U'I'UKE.

THE NEWEST OF THE COLLAKETTE VARIETIES. | The illustration given represents some j of »jhe newer kinds of the latest type of dahlias, the "collarette.' Tlie collarette is really a single, v. it!) a central frill or collar of small petals usually of a contr:—tinir colour lo the other "petals. They are superb for cutting, and arc the plant for the man who requires, something to be decorative in the garden and useful for cutting purposes. The. oldfashioned show and pompom varieties are too heavy. and tlie modern cactus will hang its bend, and is very short-lived when cut. Tho collarette is the best type of the dahlia for decorative purposes.

lnehcape is very dark maroon with white collar. Dungcness is vermilion red. tipped yellow, with golden yellow collar.

Prince" of Orange is orange, scarlet flowered and collared. St. Abb 3is velvet maroon, goldtipped, with straw-coloured collar. There are many others of various colours to suit all tastes. Sunbnrgh is magenta, white-tipped and collared.. Cloch is soft lilac, with a sulphur collar and vcllow disc.

SOOT AS _-A-~_-__. \Vit_out doubt soot Ls an excellent fertiliser, and' one, moreover, that is often, even now, not fully appreciated. I think, then, all lovers of a garden should secure a supply of soot whenever it is possible to do co. It must be borne in mind that it must ho kopt dry; therefore a bin or large ca3k or box placed in a dry, covered shed, should be used for its storage until required foi" _se. it may with benefit be applied to all kinds of land, light £_ well a3 heavy, and there _ luirdly a crop cultivated in the garden to which it may not be applied occasionally with advantage. Among kitchen garden crops it is very valuable in the ease of the onion. This crop is frequently attacked by the maggot. Which, if not checked, soon commits sad ravages, and the beet, remedy is a good dressing of soot. As. however, prevention is better than cure, the land intended for this crop should in almost all cases have a good dressing of this material shortly before the seed is sown, in addition to any other manure which may have been given during the preceding winter.

Nearly all plants of the brat_ica (cabbage) tribe are liable to he attacked by what is known a« the "club," which frequently proves very troublesome. The best known preventive of this i,- (ailed puddling tin, runt?- of tlie plants—-an operation easily performed by merely I making a hole in the soil near to where tit* n_—.ta£io&-is intended -ta stand... la

this hole place a portion of fresh soot. lo this add a little line s >il and mix up until it acquires the consistence of thick paint, and into this mixture dip the roots: of ihe planus before planting them.