THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 22975, 4 June 1938, Page 23

THE GARDEN

Our contributor, a well-known gardener, will be glad to answer questions, which must be received not later than Thursday of each week. (Advertisements for this column must be handed in to the office before 2 p.m. on Thursday.)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “ Oniqn.”—The past season has been ideal for onion growing, but your plants must have received a check in some way, perhaps from drought. The disease (thick neck) is generally brought about by over-feeding. Such bulbs never keep for any length of time. The variety mentioned (Yates Brown Spanish) is no doubt the finest keeping onion. Splendid samples have been staged at all the winter shows this season. “ Mrs G.R.”—The shrub submitted is named Euonymous Europeans (or spindle tree). It is noted for its coral pink berries and beautiful coloured foliage in the autumn. This tree must be exposed to the sun to get the best results. “ J.U.” —There should not be any dead foliage on grape hyacinths at this stage, as the bulbs afe now throwing up their new foliage prior to blooming. If your bulbs have any old dead foliage it should be removed at once., SEASONABLE WORK THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Those who require early peas and beans should lose no time in sowing a few short lines in a position which is sheltered and receive the sun as much as possible. If the trenches are prepared in a proper manner there is no reason whatever why good crops of both peas and beans (broad) should not be gathered very early. The trenches should be taken out facing the sun, and should be not less than a spade’s length in depth. When the soil has been removed a layer of old rags, broken up into shreds, should be placed on the bottom. On these should be placed a good layer of half-rotted material, animal manure, or garden refuse. This should be lightly covered with the soil which has been taken out of the trench. Just prior to sowing the seed this soil should receive a light dressing of shell lime. The lime should be worked into the soil, which then will be ready to receive the seed. This should bo sown thinly, so that each seed may have ample room to develop. A thin layer of soil, about 3in, should then bo pulled over to cover the seed. On no account should the trench be filled up to the top, as the sides will he a splendid shelter through the winter months for the young plants. As the plants develop a little soil should be pulled in around them from time to time. This method will enable the young plants to become strong and sturdy in the haulm, as peas and beams are stemrooting plants. Green Feast or Blue Bantam are splendid varieties for this work, and Early Longpod broad beans are the most suitable for early crops. The soil around winter broccoli, savoy, and cabbage will need keeping open, and where the caterpillar has been at work a good dressing of new lime worked into the soil will kill a great many of the pests. The hoe is the most useful tool for this work.

THE ROSE GARDEN v

Now is the time to plant roses, as todays plants are to-morrow’s garden. For the garden or the home the rose is one of the loveliest flowers, and is simple and easy to arrange in any position in the house. Having such a wide range of colours, it is possible to match any room colouring. In a pale green drawing room a deep yellow rose would light it up like a warm pool of sunshine, In a cream room dark velvety roses, with their beautiful dark green foliage, are very attractive, and even in a crimson room huge bowls of Frau Karl Druschii (white), or even such varieties as Dainty Bess or Isobel (single pink) would be a delightful decoration. To carry out these schemes the gardener would need to plant not less than a dozen plants of the variety required, and this number should supply the house with flowers right through the flowering season. Even for garden decoration roses show to great advantage when planted for massing of one colour, as many of the various colours do not blerid with each other. The following are a few of the best for this work:—Red: Colonel Sharman Crawford (velvety crimson), Daily Mail (very dark), David M‘Kee (crimson), Earl Haig (deep scarlet), Etoile de Holland (dark crimson), General M‘Arthur (rich crimson), Portadown (deep crimson), Hawlraark Crimson (semi-double). Pink and rose: Betty Uprichard (salmon pink), Daintv Bess (single salmon), Shot Silk “(cherry cerise), Polly (flushed pink), Mrs Henry Morse (bright rose), Souvenir de Georges Pernet (red, shaded yellow). Joan Cant (salmon pink), and Charles E. Shea (bright pink). Yellow and copper: An gel e Pernet (orange yellow), Golden Dawn, Lady Hillington (apricot yellow), Margaret M'Gredy (orange scarlet), Ville de Paris (yellow sunflower), Mrs Sam M'Gredy (scarlet copper), M'Gredy’s Yellow, Madame Jules Guerin (cream), Talisman (scarlet and gold), Culm (semi-doub e, orange and scarlet); Portadown Sally (reddish crimson and yellow). White and cream: Frau Karl Druschii (snow white), Mrs Herbert Stevens (lovely white), and Everest (huge white). F.S.P. HAVE BLUE HYDRANGEAS ' The beautiful blue of hydrangeas is not a natural shade, and those who wish to obtain this colour must give their plants special treatment. If the plants are grown out of doors, blueing powder, obtainable from most seedsmen or horticultural sundriosmen, must be sprinkled round them and hoed in. The applications must be continued at intervals of 14 days until the plants are in bloom. If the soil round them is dry, a liberal application of water is essential after the powder has been applied. Pot plants require watering once a week with a solution of the powder. Immense heads of bloom are obtained only by feeding the plants with liquid manure or a special fertiliser. Stimulants must not be applied at the same time as the blueing powder, but should be given alternately.

WORK FOR THE WEEK

CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW On Thursday last the South Dunedin Presbyterian Church held a chrysanthemum and vegetable show in connection with its May fair. The entries were small owing to the late date of holding the show. The flowers_ that were shown were clean, well finished, and staged in an efficient manner. The vegetables were also very clean from disease and true to type. Very fine samples of potatoes were staged. The fruit, both dessert and culinary, was well coloured, and deserved the awards which were made. F.S.P. PRUNING DEMONSTRATION Having a few- open dates, the writer will be pleased to receive offers of gardens as soon as possible. Any garden containing bush or tree fruit would be suitable. Please state the variety when writing, such as apples, pears, peaches, or bush fruit. These demonstrations will commence on the first Saturday in July. WHEN VIOLETS HAVE FINISHED FLOWERING Violets always deteriorate if they are left alone for more than a year (states ‘Popular Gardening’). They form a network of runners and soon produce short-stemmed flowers andl small leaves. It is advisable, therefore, to dig up the plants and divide them directly they have passed out of flower. , The plants should be dug up with a fork and the soil shaken from their roots. It is then quite easy to pull them apart into suitable portions for planting out The single varieties usually form distinct runners attached to the main plant by underground stems. These should be removed with as many roots as possible, and after planting more roots form along the length of the white stem. In the case of the doubles, young crowns will be found round the edge of the plants with roots attached. . • Burn the old wqody portions of the plants together with any other plants that seem unhealthy and propagate only from the best. Make a hole of good depth with a trowel so that the roots can be spread out, firm the soil well, and give , a good watering to settle the plants in. Don’t bury the crown under the sou, or it may go “ blind ” and will never flower. , . The site selected for summer quarters should be sunny and dug and manured so that they have a deep cool root run. Plenty of organic matter may be incorporated into the soil to hold moisture and a dressing or nydrated lime, at the rate of, say, 4oz to soz per square yard, should be applied to the surface of the soil and raked in j IIS Fo/'many years red spider was the only pest the violet grower had to bother about, and it is possible to find red spiders and their eggs on the plants all the year round. The greatest care should be taken to keep the soil in the frames moist, and the plants can be sprayed daily. Dry conditions encourage the spiders, and spraying with clean water, using 1001 b pressure, if possible, does keen them down. In summer a refined white petroleum oil will give control, but it does not improve the flowers. Further sprayings are usually necessary every 10 days. For these reasons growers have wercomed Governor Herrick, a red spiderresisting variety. It as a much deeper purple than Princess of Wales, and throws a large flower, but it has no scent. PYRUS MALUS THE CRAB APPLES Pvrus Malus, the wild crab apple of Western Europe, is the parent of our cultivated apples, and many of the hybrids which are so beautiful when in flower in spring and early summer and again when the fruit ripens in the autumn. The cultivated apple is in itself a beautiful tree when well grown and reasonably pruned,- and though there are varieties with flowers with brighter colours, it is beautiful .when in flower, and those with brightly coloured fruits are very colourful in the autumn. Varieties of apples with highly-coloured fruit are Scarlet Pearmain Devonshire Quarrander, Jonathan, Delicious, Cox’s Orange Pippin, and Dougherty. Though the crab apples have smaller fruits, they are equally decorative, and though not usually eaten raw make excellent jelly with a delightful colour. The fruits of Pyrus atropupurea, which is such a feature in-spring, are small, like cherries and of a dull red colour. Compared with some of the other varieties, they are very attractive, and they make excellent jelly. Pyrus Malus Gorgeous is the most desirable of all the varieties for its ornamental fruits. Its flowers are white tipped, with pink, any very dainty when only half opened. The fruit, which are the size of glorified cherries, are vivid red and shining. They are produced in abundance, even on small tree?, and the contrast with the golden foliage while it is ripening, and the bright show after the leaves have fallen (for they hang on for some time on their own), is very attractive. The birds do not touch them until they are perfectly ripe, which is an advantage. They make excellent jelly. Crab apples require similar cultivation and treatment as to pruning and spraying as the ordinary apples, but as a rule they are not attacked by either mildew or black spot. The jelly made from crab apples is much improved in flavour when some of the fruits .of Ugenia ugni _ (cranberry) are mixed with it. This is a very ornamental shrub, perfectly hardy, which appears to grow anywhere, and at the present time it is simply covered with its dull red fruits, which have a delightful perfume and a flavour between strawberry and pineapple. Its foliage is evergreen, bright and shining, and the small pinkish flowers are also attractive. This is a shrub which should be found in all gardens.

CHRYSANTHEMUM LEAF RUST By common consent, this is one of the most serious diseases to which the chrysanthemum is liable. It is due to the fungus puccinia chrysanthemi, and from observations no variety is immune from attack (writes “ Loma ” in, the ‘ Manawatu Times ’). The disease persists throughout winter in the telulo spore stage. This is more or less inactive. In spring there ■ comes the uredo spore stage which spreads rapidly. The first symptoms of attack are the development of small yellow blotches on the leaves. Their presence is a sign that something is radically wrong, as the plants promptly weaken and generally become what is known as unthrifty. Very soon brownish red spores burst through the yellow.. blotches. These are the uredo spores, They are produced in myriads, and as each spore is capable of up » fresh centre of infection, the soil possibilities are obvious. In considering the control of any disease it is advisable first to examine the preventive aspect. Can anything be done to keep the chrysanthemum and his enemy apart? First, remove the plants to a fresh site, as soon as the young growth becomes available, and if possible burn plenty of rubbish on the site, so that the ashes may be well' hoed in. Also, spray the plants at intervals throughout 'their with a solution prepared by dissolving an ounce of liver of sulphur-, or sulphide of potassium in two and a-half . gallons of water. If the spore-bearing stage is‘ reached (which never should be), two or three sprayings at five-day intervals are necessary, and on each occasion the soil must be sprayed to destroy spores that may have got on to it. CULTIVATION OF ANEMONES Many questions are asked, as to the best way to treat anemones. The best soil for anemones is rich loam, virgin if possible, either too light' or too heavy. They love firmness about the corm, and seldom succeed on light, sandy soil. While working the soil, see that the drainage is good and incorporate a liberal amount of well-rotted cow manure—placed about four inches below the surface soil, a pffled-up spadeful of manure to every six roots is not too much (writes “ Lorna," in the Manawatu ‘Times’). Make the bed thoroughly firm before planting, and when putting in the corms thrust a stick rather thicker than a pencil, not more, withdraw the stick, and drop a corm into the hole, the root thus being two inches above the measure and three inches from the surface, with the manure an inch below for the roots to feed on. Fill each hole with soil "and firm it well down so as not to leave any cavity in which water might lodge before tho 1 root begins to grow. I They should not be planted closer than four inches apart, this for a close bedding effect, but for fine blooms eight inches should be given them. _ A north aspect or similar cool position suits them.well, where the full force of tho sun is not felt all day. Sunshine in the morning and shade in the afternoon, or vice versa, are conditions they love. Anemones may be planted in spring as well as in autumn, only that tho plants with the spring planting should not suffer from lack of moisture until after flowering. Seed, too, may ■bo sown at both these times, and seedlings produce fine craps of bloom. Liko other plants, the anemones should bo kept from seeding in order to prolona the flowering season.

GARDEN TRELLIS Garden lovers are fortunate in now! being able to procure lengths of garden trellis at reasonable rates, which, too, can be sent any distance easily. Placed aright, a line of trellis can make a wonderful difference to garden,i Even where exposed te the wind, soma of the hardiest of the climbers, such; as American Pillar rose jasmine* honeysuckle, etc., may be persuaded ta cover it, and when these have got a good start the blue pea, clematis montana, both pink and white, and everlasting peas will creep into the shelter of the hardier things. A trellis covered with Paulas scarlet climber is j a beautiful sight, and there are hosts of other things equally beautiful which only ask for something to cling to. _____ This trellis work; too, is so easily! tacked to an unsightly building where the creeping plants are readily tied te it. -