GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 291, 8 September 1928, Page 28

GARDEN NOTES

(Ry

“Kowhai.")

STAR OF THE VELDT. Star of the Veldt (dlmorpholbcca) is a very useful annual for this time of year, for the seedlings begin flowering when they are very young, and may be kept flowering for a long time.- Where crocuses, hyacinths, etc., have loft bare spaces, seedlings of dlmorphotheca planted now would very soon bring gay patches of colour Into the garden. As the name implies, the plant comes from South Africa. The dainty daisylike flowers are ■ bright orange-yellow in colour with dark centres, and when grown in masses the plants make a brilliant display. / The seedlings should be planted about six Inches apart each way, for the plants have a delightful branching habit, and soon cover the Intervening spaces. An open sunny position is necessary, and as the stems are exceedingly brittle the plants should be given protection from high winds. The addition to the soil-of some well.rotted manure or decayed garden rubbish, and a little sand is a help to the plants. During dry weather they like an occasional good soaking of water. LUPINS. Lupins arc beginning to take their place in New Zealand gardens, and all of us who have grown them during the last few years are charmed, not only with the beautiful varieties wc nre able to grow, but also with the accommodating habit of the plants. For they are the most easily grown of perennial plants. Any soil seems to suit them provided it is thoronghiy dug, and if you can add to It some well-decayed manure, and in the ease of heavy soil, plenty of coarse grit, the plants show their appreciation by sending up wonderful spikes of bloom. . A mulch of well-decayed manure now, just as the new growth is being made, is a wonderful help to the plants. • Lupins arc very effective wheu they arc associated with delphiniums, and with the new flag irises. The plants need not be disturbed for many years unless they show, by poor .flowering spikes, that they have exhausted the ground. Then they may be lifted and the clumps broken up. preferably in' the' autumn. The soil should be thoroughly dug, and enriched before the plants are put back. Annual lupins arc useful for filling up odd corners, for they are hardy and flower freely. Two good varieties are “Blue Gem” and “Pink Peace.” The plants need to be massed to get a really fine effect. The flowers are fragrant,' and nre good for cutting. As long as one cuts the flowers regularly, the plants keep, making fresh flowering shoots. POLYANTHUS PRIMROSES. Polyanthus primroses are making a great show in most gardens at the, present time, and if soot water or weak liquid manure can be given, the plants will continue to flower for several weeks. This is the time to sow seeds of polyanthus primroses. The seeds should be sown in seed boxes, and the advantage of sowing early is that the seedlings can be planted out into a nursery bed before hot weather sets in. If they arc planted In well-enriched soil, they make good growth, and are healthy flowering- plants by this time next year. Some of the newer poly-anthus-primroses have beautiful winecoloured flowers, and the flowers themselves are large. Others again are in many shades of buff, and the flowers are large and frilly. Blue polyanthus prim, roses, too, are popular with many gardeners. Once one gets a really desirable plant it is a simple matter to increase it by division in autumn. Polyanthus primroses deserve more attention than they get, for they make a wonderful show in the spring and flower well even in a shady part of the garden. Tho fragrant flowers, too, are delightful for cutting. One point to be remembered is that they must be well fed, and should be lifted at least every two years and broken up, the pieces being replanted in rich soil. Autumn is the best time for breaking up the plants, for then they grow straight away without check. During summer a border of mignonette, phlox drummondll or lobelia planted inside the polyanthus border, and allowed to grow over it, affords protection from hot sunshine. HOLLYHOCKS. Hollyhocks have always been the showiest and most stately of the inhabitants of the herbaceous border, but for several years now they have not been so much grown owing to the fact that-the plants are badly attacked by rust. If, however, hollyhocks are -treated as biennials this trouble can be overcome, for as a rule plants arc not attacked during their first year. If fresh plants are raised from seed every spring, and the old ones dug out as soon as they have finished flowering, one can have the pleasure of growing these glorious flowers. Seeds should be sown as early in spring as possible, to allow the, plants a long period of growth, and the seedlings from this present sowing are the -plants that will flower fifteen months hence. Unless a warm well-drained seed 'bed Is available, it is better to sow the seed in boxes, and to prick out the seedlings into a nursery bed later. In the autumn they, are planted out Into their flowering quartets, and before they are planted . there, the. soil for them must be very well prepared. It must be deeply dug and well enriched With manure. If it is heavy soil, plenty of coarse grit shoud be worked in, and a good quantity of decayed garden rubbish. A sunnv position is necessary, and stakes should be driven in when the plants are being put.into.plae,c. - Pink, rose, wine-coloured, and yellow should all be grown. All are exquisite, especially when, they are’ massed at the back of a border where' delphiniums are well established/ or grown in a stately row in a narrow bed. with a border of catmint at their feet. VEGETABLES. ' CELERY. , ' Ceicrv mav be sown now.- in. tins in readiness for planting in trenches later on. The tins for the seeds should bo filled with rich compost, and should be shallow. Celery needs to be grown without check right from the start, and so the seed is sown in shallow tins to encourage the seedlings to make fibrous roots instead of a long tap one, for plants -with plenty of fibrous root suffer less in transplanting. The trenches for colcry should be dug out to ft depth of one foot. Into the bottom of the trenches dig several inches of wellrotted manure. Then add about six inches of soil, and thoroughly mix it with the manure. Before transplanting tho seedlings add about two inches of fine soil, and just dust the surface with superwhen planted out should be about six or eight inches apart. Water, and liquid manure should be supplied as growth continues. ( '. r