GARDEN NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 154, 17 March 1923, Page 20

GARDEN NOTES.

By

“KOWHAI.”

THE GARDEN FRAME. The next few weeks are busy ones for the amateur gardener, for in addition to all the digging and trenching that must be done in readiness for the planting of roses and shrubs, and the sowing of sweet peas, there are cuttings to bo taken, and seeds of perennials and hardy annuals to be sown. In the North Island, and the northern part of the South Island, autumn is the best time for sowing seeds, for spring-sown seedlings have to face the hot drying 'winds of summer, and very often there is not sufficient water, to be had to bring them through the trying time. But seedlings from the autumn solving have.all the winter in which to make good growth, and if they are planted out at the end of the winter they become well established before, the summer. This, too, is the best time for taking cuttings, and where a frame is available the work can be carried out in a much more satisfactory manner, for the soil can be loft evenly moist, dry-

ing winds can be shut out, and sun excluded when necessary. At this time of the year a hot bed is not necessary.

At present cuttings of carnations, roses, pansies, violas, heliotrope, pelargoniums, ivy-leaved geraniums, pentstemons, antirrhinums, flowering verbenas, lavender, alonsoa. diplacus, daisies, and flowering shrubs may all be planted in pots or tins of sandy soil, and stood in the frame till they have rooted. The frame should be kept closed for a day or two after the cuttings are put in, and sacks should bd laid over the glass during the sunny part of the day. Seeds of cabbage and cauliflower (early varieties), and lettuce may all be sown in tins placed in a frame. Have the soil in the tins thoroughly moist before the seeds are sown. After sowing, cover each seed pan with a sheet of paper before closing the frame. Remove the naper as soon as the seedlings show signs of pushing through the soil, and ventilate the frame freely as growth proceeds. Seeds of the following perennials and hardy annuals .may be sown now wherever there, is room in a frame:— Wallflowers, alonsoa, coreopsis, sweet william, scabious, anemone. antirrhinum, aguilegia, delphinium, pansy, viola, pentstCmon, pinks, carnations, primroses, pyrethrums, verbena, geum, gaillardia. gypsophila, gcrbera', Canterbury bells, Oriental poppies, Iceland poppies, lobelia, petunia. Ilaidy annuals:—Lavatera, stocks, nigella, double pink, godetia, lavender gom, godetia, larkspur, stocks, forget-me-not, clarkias, leptosyne, phlox, drummpiondii, mignonette, silene, cinerarias, gypsophilia. linarin, hemesia, nemophila, primula malacpides, salpiglossis, schizanthus, and viscaria. Where cuttings aro not to be struck and seeds are not to be sown, the frame may be used for sheltering pots of freesias, Roman hyacinths, or any bulbs that are to be used for house or verandah decoration for the winter. Once the bulbs have been planted the pots may be plunged to their rims in ashes in the frame till growth is starts ed. As growth proceeds the frame should bo left open whenever the weather is suitable.

Primulas and cyclamen also may find a< place in the cold frame just now. Where primulas are being kept under glass care should bo taken to prevent the sun shining through the glass on the leaves while they are damp.

SCHIZANTHUS AND LINARIA. These are two annuals that are invaluable in the garden for winter and early spring. Where a few plants were allowed to scatter their seed last season there should bo strong young seedlings ready now for planting out. Where seedlings are not to be had, seed should be sown at once.

Schizanthus. —Schizanthus is one of the most beautiful and one of the most easily grown of our annuals. If seeds are sown now in' a well-drained, sunny position, not too exposed to frost, the plants will grow into large spreading bushes, which will, early in the spring, be a mass of dainty bright-coloured flowers. As cut flowers they are delightful, for they last a long time in water and are easily arranged. Before sowing, dig the soil to a depth of at least eighteen inches, keeping the top soil to the top. Work in some leaf soil, or well-decayed vegetable rubbish, and some sharp sand. A little bonedust may be pricked into the surface of the soil, and the soil should he made firm before the seed is sown. Schizanthus misetonensis branches freely, but forms a compact bush., simplv covered with exquisite butterflylike flowers.

Linaria. —Liaria is in flower at all seasons of the year, but it is during tho winter that one really appreciates the dainty fragrant flowers. The plants ■ should be given a sunny position. and. to be effective, they should be planted in bold groups. The flowers are produced most freely on the tiny bushes, and when the soil has been well prepared the stems are delightfully long. The colours of the flowers are yellow, shades of lilac and purple, and pink. A big patch of well-grown linaria. plants of lilac and purple shades In full bloom makes a picture that one never forgets. Soods should be sown as early .as possible, and for winter flowering the soil must be well drained and the position a sunny one. VEGETABLES. LATE TURNIPS.

Where early peas or broad beans have been cleared away, make a sowing of the vellow-fleshed variety of turnips. Don’t dig the plot, simply rake over the surface and draw out shallow drills. When grown in firm soil, turnips have only one tap root, and they begin to bulb early. The seedlings must be thinned out when quite young. Even if these late sown turnips are not a great success as a root vegetable, the tops make excellent greens in the spring, just before they run to seed. CABBAGES.

Cabbage seed may be sown now without fear of the plants bolting, for there is not much chance of the seedlings suffering from drought. Don’t manure the ground or you will get soft growth instead of plants forming hearts. Plants put out on firm, not over-rich ground will make sturdy growth, and later on good hearts. SPINACH. Make a sowing of winter spinach on very deeply worked soil. Spinach needs deep rooting rooml or it soon runs to seed. ONIONS. Make a small sowing of onion seed, Giant Rocca, on ground that has been cleared. Sprinkle some bonedust and rubbish-fire ashes over the ground, and then hoe them in. Don’t dig the soil, for onions need a firm bed. Have the drills far enough apart to allow the hoe to be freely worked between them. Onions that are rino should be lift-, ed and dried, as, if left in the ground, they may start second growth. Should the weather be dry and sunny they may bo spread out on the ground to dry. If the weather is showery they must be dried in a room or shed. As soon as. the haulm has quite withered, the onions may be tied in bunches and hung up to the roof of a shed. LEEKS AND CELERY.

A good stimulant for leeks and celery is Joz. of nitrate of soda in one gallon of water. This should be applied once a week after rain, or after a good

watering. Both leeks and celery require an abundance of water and liquid manure. After a shower of rain is a good timo to apply liquid manure to such plants as French beans, cabbages, and lettuces; or . a little nitrate) of soda may be sprinkled round the plants, and pricked in just before a shower. The rain dissolves it and waslies it down to the roots. Garden notes next week, will contain seasonable notes about: —Doubleflowered naccissi; routine work, and vegetables.