IN THE GARDEN

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 292, 5 September 1931, Page 24

IN THE GARDEN

Sun Roses Make. Welcome Mass of Colour

i, (By

“Kowhai.”)

Sun roses (helianthemums)' are beginning to open their gay little flowers, and it needs just a little more warmth for plants to become a mass of bloom. The flowers are like tiny single roses and are in many dainty colours. There are pinks, shell pink, sweet, briar pink, and deep rose; yellow, pale and deep; buff and tangerine. < Some o£ the flowers'are single, others double.

Although classed as rock-garden plants, sun roses are invaluable in many parts of the garden, especially where the soil is wdll drained and the position sunny. They make delightful edgings, for the plants make spreading cushions which are, at flowering-time, a mass of colour. As they have to be cut hard back at the end of autumn this habit of spreading does not much matter. A whole bed of sun roses at the top of a low wall is delightful. Even a single row makes a welcome mass of colour, for the plants bulge over and help to break the' hardness of the wall. Well-dug, well-drained soil and a little bonedust forked into the surface are all the plants need, but they must have a sunny position. During the flowering season a little dried fish powder may be pricked in round the plants, to be followed by a good watering. Sun roses are invaluable for seaside gardens, for they grow happily in light sandy soils. They may be just a little bit difficult to start, because, although they like sunshine and dry conditions once they are well rooted, just at first the tiny roots need protection and frequent waterings. The young lips strike readily if planted firmly in sandy soil, so that one soon has a.big enough supply of sun roses to be really extravagant when massing them. Most growers have plants in small pots, so that planting may be done at almost any time. It should not be left too late, however, lest .too dry conditions make it difficult for the plants to get a start in their new quarters. Among varieties obtainable in New Zealand are plants with flowers in the following shades Double ' red, double yellow, single cherry, yellow, rose, bronze, and pink. Violas.

At this time of year one realises the usefulness of the hardy viola. In pockets in the rock garden viola gracilis is already making delightful patches of rich colo.ur. It is a -wonderful little plant, hardy and free-flowering and capable of standing a fair amount of wind. Many an exposed bed where tall-growing things are hopeless may be thickly planted with viola gracilis, and it is a pretty sight to see the fairy-like flowers dancing in the

wind. Some of them may be broken by it, but there are always crowds of buds coming on ready to take the place of spent blooms." There is a variety with small yellow flowers, much like those of gracilis, listed by some nurserymen as viola gracilis lutea. ' Then there is the pitch black baby, viola nigna minor, a gem for massing in pockets in the rock garden; Another tiny one for the rock garden is viola Bosniaca with clear rosy-mauve flowers, a dainty and attractive thing. The small-flowered violas, (cornutu) are very useful for edgings and for the rock garden, for they are practically perpetualflowering. Cornutu Papilio, the Butterfly viola, so named because of the butter-fly-like fluttering of the petals, should be much more used than it is, for it can be grown in fairly exposed places and when massed makes a brilliant show. The flowers are small and open, and the habit of the plants close and tufted. The old cornnitu Papilio is lavender with a flash of white on the lower petals. It creeps into crevices in rocks and spreads over the ground in a really delightful manner. Compared with the large, pansy-like bedding violas it is an unassuming midget, but it is a good little friend in windswept gardens and in exposed seaside ones.

Viola Papilio, deep violet, is a great improvement, for the flowers are rich deep purple. Two. beautiful named small violas are Sutton’s Pink Pearl with richcoloured rose-pink flowers, and Jersey Gem, with deep violet-blue ones. Bedding violas, with their large flat pansy-like flowerSj are glorious, and every year we seem to get newer and more wonderful varieties. For borders and for massing in beds they are splendid, for, provided dead flowers are snipped off, they flower throughout the summer months. The flowers are nice for picking, and flat bowls filled with them are very charming. Princess Mary (with large mauve flowers), Dairy Maid (lemon self), Purple King. Sunburst (orange and lemon), Apricot Queen, Blue Perfection, Lutea Grandiflora, Bullion (golden yellow), Blue Prince, Canary Bird (golden yellow), and many others belong to this section.

Violas are the hardiest of plants, growing well in any well-dug soil containing a percentage of decayed garden rubbish or old manure, sand, and a sprinkling of bonedust. The plants make such rapid increase that they need lifting and breaking up every autumn, and when this is being done it is advisable to" take away the old soil and to replace It with new. During their long flowering season they need a little stimulant from time to time, always after a good watering. Liquid

manure made’from cow, manure and soot is good, and even plain soot water.

Annual Scabious. Annual scabious make a great show in the late summer and autumn garden and provide quantities of beautiful flowers for cutting. Seedlings planted out now grow quickly into bushes and so.on begin their long flowering season. They are not particular about soil as long as it has been well and deeply dug, but they make finer plants if they "nave some welldecayed garden rubbish to root into. Before planting out the seedlings fork into the surface of the soil a sprinkling of bonedust or of ' Peruvian guano. The plants grow fairly tall, about three feet, and toward the beginning of autumn become bushy. Good staking is necessary from the start. The flowering season is a very long one, provided dead flowers are kept .snipped off and an occasional thorough watering, followed by a liquid manure, is given from time to time. The flowers of modern varieties are delightful—large, fragrant, long-stemmed, and in many delightful colours. Azure Fairy is a good shade of lavender; Peach Blossom, deep pink; Cherry Red, rieh deep rose. Among unnamed Varieties obtainable, in separate colours are flowers in rose, primrose yellow, and deep crimson.

Arctotis Scapigera. This arctotis is a recent introduction from Africa and .a very lovely one. The plants grow Into compact small bushes and produce throughout tl)e summer large long-petalled, daisy-like flowers in many beautiful colours. A bed of them makes a brilliant show. The colours of the flowers are orange, terra-cotta, yellow, cream, salmon, and mauve. Fairly rich, well-drained soil is necessary and a sunny position. Given these conditions the plants begin blooming toward the end of winter. They are splendid for planting in large pockets in the rock garden where conditions, soil, drainage, etc., are usually ideal for them. In a sunny herbaceous border, too, they are very happy, and their grey leaves and brilliant flowers fit in well with all the other perennial plants. Seeds may be sown now in seed-boxes. VEGETABLES Cold changes keep the soil still unfit for extensive sowings, but where it is friable small ones may be made of carrots, peas, onions, lettuces, and spinach. The soil should be drawn toward the tops of early potatoes, forming little ridges on each side of them, and it should be kept well stirred between the rows of all growing crops. Potatoes may be planted in welldrained soil.

Where runner beans are to be grown the ground should be w r ell trenched and plenty o£ well - decayed garden rubbish should be dug in. It is too early yet to sow the seeds, but it is as well to get the ground prepared for them.