Time For Planting Of Hardy Annuals

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 163, 12 July 1945, Page 3

Time For Planting Of Hardy Annuals

]"\IGGING, trenching and pruningshould be finished :.s soon as possible. The rainfall record for Julyis usually a liberal one and operations must be governed by the weather and locality. Seed sowing during tlie month must be done with care and regard for local conditions. On warm, sheltered borders one may raise salad plants as well as cabbage, cauliflower, onjons, beet, etc. Broad beans may be planted; these give best results when grown in fairly heavy ground. With cabbage and cauliflowers, sow seed and plant according to the family requirements. Often too many cabbages are gi-own at the expense of better crops. Cauliflowers too should not be set out in too large blocks or the householder is faced with too many plants heading up simultaneously. Make small sowings at intervals. Lettuce will soon be in great demand. In September, October, November and December the demand is greater than at any other time. The cabbage varieties are useful for salads and mature more quickly, but a well grown Cos lettuce is of superior quality. Make successional sowings of early peas. Lawn clippings sprinkled over the rows appear to give protection from birds as the seedlings emerge. * * * *

The season has arrived for greater attention to the planting of seedlings of pansies, stocks, viscaria, gaillardias, THE. SPRING larkspurs, dimorDISPLAY phothecas, daisies,

lobelias,, scabious, violas and other hardy subjects. But before any planting is done the ground should be properly prepared and in readiness, for their reception. Better to * defer the planting for weeks than* to plant in unsuitable soil. Bouvardias have mostly completed their flowering; the plants of all the varieties, with the exception of the scented white Humbolti and Corymbifiora, should be cut well back. This is essential to produce good growth and eventually the shapely plants that will bloom well in due season.

Prune such subjects as macrocarpa, cupressus lawsoniana, also junipers and thujas. Now too is a good time for trimming barberry, HEDGE escalonia, pittosporum, PKUNING abulias, ruonymus,

olearia, eleagnus and lakea hedges. Tecoma and other frost-tender subjects should be left until towards the end of the month. Tecoma is liable to be cut by frosts such as we have experienced round Auckland this winter. Recentlyclipped hedges with soft growth suffer more from frosts than those that have a considerable amount of growth upon them. Judgment is required in treating the various kinds of hedges in the matter of pruning.

After rose pruning is completed or in the process, all suckers must be cut off. Budded roses are liable to

sucker more or less CARE OP from the stock, but THE ROSES by careful planting

and the selection of properly worked plants,, little annoyance will be occasioned by suckers. In removing these robbers draw the soil carefully away, laying bare the roots and cut away the sucker with a sharp knife close to the point where it starts, so as not to leave : any eyes at the base to produce more. Nothing looks more unsightly 1 than a rose bush surrounded by suckers. As the pruning proceeds all worthless bushes should be rooted out and the places they occupied, dug and manured and replanted with new and better varieties. A white oil or kerosene emulsion spray can be applied now with great advantage. * * * * The poinsettia and that beautiful soft-pink, sweet-scented Luculia gratissima rosea are the gems of all winter flowerWINTBR FM>WER- ing shrubs, ING GEMS the former a blaze in flaming scarlet and the latter a mass of delicate pink, with its flowers produced in large trusses. Neither of these plants will stand sharp frost, and must be planted only in warm, sheltered positions. The Luculia as one sees it in Auckland gardens often suffers from want of pruning, the result being the leggy specimens too often seen. After flowering has finished the growths should be well shortened back and a good dressing of compost or organic manure given as a topdressing. The Daphne is perhaps the most popular shrub of] all. It is not always so easy to estab-1 lish as some would have us believe. j It is particularly susceptible to cold, | excessively damp conditions; in fact, j it is safe to say that bad soil drainage kills more Daphnes than any other cause. The plant does not like lime and should be treated as an erica (heath) or rhododendron. In preparing the site for Daphne take out a good barrowful of soil and replace it with decayed turfy loam plus some leaf mould and coarse sand. In i this mixture the roots will travel j freely; it will hold sufficient moisture | and the shrub will have every in-i ducement to grow. ]