SOME THINGS TO DO

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 18

SOME THINGS TO DO

To Help Your Plants To Irises.— Work into the soil around each plant a teaspoonful _ of superphosphate of lime, which greatly strengthens growth and enables the plants to resist rhizome rot and leaf scorch. If repeated soil splashing has buried the rhizomes or creeping stems, half bare them, or they will suffocate. To Daffodils.— Such varieties as King Alfred are worth special treatment to develop their glorious blooms in full magnificence. To this end feed weekly with dried blood manure solution —loz. in a gallon of water and J-gallon per square yard of bed or border. To Early-flowering and Darwin Tulips.— A loz. per square yard dose of sulphate of potash hoed in at tenday intervals from now until the flowers are fully open will enhance colour charm, increase the size of the blooms, lengthen their life, and prevent the destructive disease known as fire. To Hyacinths.— Feed weekly, and alternately with half-strength soot water (1 gallon per square yard) and sulphate of potash (loz. per square yard) from now until flowering time, and the nobility as well as the beautiful perfume of the spikes will surprise you. To Delphiniums.— Water each ave-rage-sized clump with sulphate of iron solution (Joz. of the crystals in two gallons of water) to avoid pale-leaf and give the shoots that vigorous start which is essential. Four pints per clump is an appropriate dose.

To Scabiosa Caucasica.— Spread a lin. mulch of lime rubble broken to hazel nut size, or a iin. layer of freshlyslaked lime 6in. on all sides of each clump. You will never do scabious as well as you should unless you half smother it with lime.

To Rhododendrons and Hardy Azaleas.—Mulch around the bushes as far as the branches stretch with a 2in. thick layer of riddled leaf-mould. Stir the soil lightly beforehand, to ensure a “bite” for the mulch, and to rouse the surface roots to enter into it.

To Lupins.— Scrape the soil away from the shoots until the crowns are exposed. Fill a 3in. pot with sand, mixing with it half a tea spoonful of permanganate of potash crystals. Sprinkle this quantity of the mixture on the crowns of each average-sized clump, and you will have no crown rot. while the permanganate will impart strength to early growth. To Sweet Williams and Canterbury Bells.— Remove tiny straggling sideshoots and fork into the bed or border a lin. layer of very well rotted stable manure. Both plants need a growth awakener, and this is just the thing. Later the manure will provide food for the development of perfect spikes.