GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

Evening Star, Issue 15174, 3 May 1913, Page 10

GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

■ Our contributor, a well-known gardener, will be glad to answer questions, which must he received not later than Tuesday r of each xucek, t —Hardy Bulbous and Tuberous Flowers and Their Use.— ,At one time lists of these things . were mostly looked at for tho sake of ; getting a few bulbs for forcing; but j that day is past—at least for all who , now see tho great- part which hardy > bulbous and tuberous plants must take t in the outdoor gardens of the future. I Sine© those days the hills of California | and of Japan and other places have ! given us a noble lily garden. The ease i with which nearly all this class of plants;may be grown, and in most cases their prices, bring them within tho reach of all. Wo may be often •tempted to go in for novelties, but-we ; are not so likely to want novelties as . a. knowledge of how to make effective i use of them. i : Lilies should take the first place i amongst hardy bulbs. Their variety is ! so great that it would take a volume 1 to describe, them. Lilies are so varied -in their nature and stature that they may adorn almost any aspect in sun or shade. Providing the soil be good; the majority of them do best upon rich .turfy, or peaty loam. Where this cannot be had,- nearly any soil may be ■made, to grow them by deep digging, manuring, and the adding of such material as wood ashes. Lilies of all kinds are fond of charcoal or wood lYEfehes, and it is a good plan to place some at tho bottom of each hole for the bulbs to rest upon. They may bo planted at any time when the bulbs ' ra be procured in a ripe condition, j The position that the Lilium ouratum i end other tall-growing kinds delight in ' in in clumps in tho shelter of such things as rhododendron and other lowgrowing shrubs. We need not ask where tho narcissus will grow, as there arc few places they will not grow in with the usual garden culture. They take to turf like ducks to water; hence it is easy, on. many soils, to nave a spring garden of these flowers naturally grouped and massed, set in turf, and giving us many flowers for the house as well as pictures in lawn and grass plots. What is chiefly wanted is that the bulb-growers should offer the best hardy sorts in quantities at low rates. These precious early flowers also have their place in tho garden for out flowers or the nursery bed, where! tho many new forms of narcissus will have to take their places until they become plentiful. Tho true hardiness of ■she flower allows of its being enjoyed in all parts of this country. To ensure a successful return of bloom, no time should bo_lost in getting them in. Tho longer this is delayed the loss chance there is of securing the desired object. The iris is oneof the oldest of our , garden flowers. It is in many forms, too, but, like the lily, it has come to us in greater novelty in recent years; and as districts in Central Asia and Asia Minor are opened to collectors wo see more of the beauty of these orchids of the North. There is a group of ■waterside or water-loving irises, and we have the distinct gain of the splendid Japanese iris in its many strange • forms, the Japanese surpassing- all irises in its wide range of color. The most beautiful, perhaps, in their pimple forms of white and bine, are the English and Spanish forms; but all ■•are beautiful, and they help to form one .of the most attractive classes of plants in onr gardens. . The old garden tulip has Been a • favorite for generations, grown in tho so-called forms of florist’s varieties. It .was once selling at enormous prices, oven exceeding by many pounds the price of some of our most expensive narcissi. _ The old tulips are the form of an Italian species, and these varieties are worthy of all the attention they ■ever had; but, though very pretty, they are quite outclassed by what is ■ termed the florist tulip of to-day. AH these forms of tulips may be planted now. To grow these well they must have good and well-prepared soil—rich sandy loam, moist and cool, but not wet. It is only a waste of money to plant good tulips in poor, stiff, and oold clay soils, or, on the other hand, in very light, dry, and gravelly soils; but it is possible with even this kind of soil to grow them, providing an application of manure be placed well down and some good loam applied and worked in upon the surface. —ThedEardy Flower Garden.— Continue to plant out hardy annuals, biennials, perennials, etc., such as gaillardias, coreopsis, antirrhinum, wallflower, Bromptou and East Lothian stocks, pinks, and carnations. Plant out pansies and violas, and prepare cuttings of the same, this being a good time for striking this class of plant. _ Use for cuttings the young nonflowering wood. They may be rooted in boxes or borders, but whichever place . is used they must have rich soil. Tho present time is suitable for lifting, separating, and dividing most kinds of hardy herbaceous and other kinds of border flowers. The advantage of .having this work done early is that when the plants are lifted anil divided ; .into suitable-sized pieces, and the • ground is retrenched or dug and the plants reinserted, they get a good hold of the soil before tho winter sets in in earnest. With such plants as the ,hellebore varieties, if these have to he ,lifted or transplanted no time must be dost, or it will be too late, as the flowers will soon begin to show their '•heads.

, —The Greenhouse.— 1 Wo are approaching the time "when vfxosfc sufficiently strong to penetrate the , greenhouse will be here, and such ithings as begonias, fuchsias, and other .tender plants which have been grown for their summer beauty should be dried off and stored away for the j winter in. some dry place awuv from j. severe frost. : t Cinerarias should hy this ho in their flowering pots. Soil suitable for them > j Js; Turfy loam 2 parts, leaf soil or very | old manure 1 part, and sand 1 part, I. with a dusting of wood ashes; all well , mixed. Provide clean, pots and good drainage, and pot fairly Jim. Pot on cyclamen as required, ending in 4in or Gin pots, except those of last season; these may receive Gin pots, or jrowen Tin if the tubers are large. j —Answers.— I:. Subscriber-” planted last year an iaeparagus bed 18ft by sft, and removed . ,ttll the top soil, then removed the • bottom clay, then placed broken bricks, - at the bottom of the bed, then turf, ■then a layer of manure, with the soil •on top, and planted the asparagus plants (two-year-olds); hut they never '- grow more than Gin high, and some not at a 11, and now only a few shoots are to' be seen. _ He asks should he hit them and dig and manure the ■ ground afresh before replanting.—You certainly should have ha d - better resets, as yon appear to have made a fairly job of the bed. There are . stWo .or three reasons why. they may ■Dave failed last season. It is not the 01 fiy case of failure. Firstly, if the soil ■ "T® a t all of a wet and sticky nature, imhiho wet and. cold season we ox-. ly. nerienccd it would certainly have gone hard with them.- Then, again, thev may have been planted too deep. I am j. rather of, the opinion that it‘has been-.-3'. <flu>;-,o&yth6 above causes.; .Asparagus and 6andy- soil, with , proportion of ■salt" added, as it is

foro partial to salt and sand. I should not'like to advise you to replant unless I saw the; bed. ' What your ground wants, I think, is a good dressing of sea sand rather than more manure. Get a load of good sand and work some into the top soil, and bed the plants in sand. The best way to plant asparagus is to remove' 4in to 6iif of the top soil of the whole bed, spread sand over the surface, place the crowns evenly 12in to loin apart, spreading out the- roots evenly, then replace the top soil with the sand worked in, and cover the crowns 4in deep if the soil is of a stiff nature, and 6in if it bo light. H.O.