GROWING RHUBARB

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 109, 10 May 1934, Page 18

GROWING RHUBARB

TO GET THE BEST RESULTS

To get the best results from rhubarb the ground where the roots are to be planted 'must be thoroughly enriched— in fact it cannot be too rich. Fowl manure is excellent for rhubarb, and may be used either as a topdressing for established plantations or for working intb f the ground before planting. Tho present is a'good.time to transplant or establish new rhubarb beds, and the old clumps may now be subdivided..'. The roots should be spaced three feet apart each way, which is not. too much to allow the plants to fully develop during the summer. .

. As rhubarb takes some little time to establish itself after transplanting, it is better not to subdivide the wholn of the old stock at one time. When subdividing the old roots they should be cut through with a sharp spade, leaving three good crowns on each piece. Any torn roots or those which are decayed should be cut away cleanly as well ,as any which, are ' unreasonably long. Plant with the . crowns just at surface level, and wash'the soil well in among the roots. .

soilwith a little sand and well-aecayed manure or leaf mould worked .in. .'.■■.; CAMPANULA FAMILY. : ;"'• In such a short resume as this one can only touch the fringe of-this huge and.,varied family, mentioning1 just: a ■few mqre or less well-known varieties that have succeeded well in .New Zealand. Usually quite ordinary soil will do for the larger growing species; for the choicer alpities crevices in the limestone rocks or in the moraine in open positions. • All can be' profusely raised from seed. Many can be multiplied by division. Starting with one of the smallest and best, C. pusilla (of 1788) is now superseded by C. bellartlii (of 1785), so the name "pusilla" can be definitely dropped. Farrer says C. bellardii needs no p#iise: all the mountain shingles from July onwards blush blue with the countless myriads' of its dancing bells, nor do our gardens blush any more scantily, and C. bellardii again and again earns sighs of gratitude as it fills the stray corners in late summer and the niches by the steps and the pathside itself with a riot of dainty colour and quivering fairy-bells: the most indestructable and amiable of hearty rampers. Nor is the white form less lovely. .

C. barbata is the noble bearded "bell of the Alps." It can be anything from two inches to two feet high. It can carry many flowers and it may have only one. Well grown, it is a most beautiful plant. It forms but one,long taproot, .easily used up by the profusion of its blooming and left without strength against winter wets. It should have sharp drainage and be established in crevices or the moraine.

C. carpatica has a profusion of open cups—white, pallid, or blue. It is, as a rule, too robust for admission into the choicer places in our rock garden and must be reserved for massed display. It has produced many forms of hybrids 'of which more appear each year under new names. C. fergusonii, a hybrid with C. pyramidalis, has a pyramidal habit, thick set "with very noble wide open stars of violet blue and of good constitution: others are Hendersohii, Isabel, with' fine flat flowers, "White Star," pure. white, Riverslea," a form with larger flowers and also flat, Little Gem, a dwarf but the best of all Turbinata, of which more later. :