GARDEN NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4815, 12 March 1918, Page 3

GARDEN NOTES.

(By “Kew.”)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS S.W. —Asks .how to preserve French beans for winter use. There are several methods, and following are two recipes':—Pick on a dry day any quantity. Top and tail in.the usual way. Split as if for immediate use.- If ’ possible, provide a good-sized l stone jar. Place in .jar a layer of salt and a layer of berths alternately—about one to o ne and a half inches of beans, then a sprinkling of salt. One need not fill the jar at once. When full, place a light covering over the jar to keep out dust. When cooking for winter use, wash well in fresh water and leave soaking for an hour or two. Then cook in usual way without salt. They will bo found to he as fresh and nice as if just picked. To pickle French beans: String a quarter of a peck of green beans, throw them into a kettle of boiling water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and boil for twen-ty-five minutes- "When done, drain in a colander, let stand until cold; then put into a glass or stone jar, sprinkle lightly with cayenne, add a tablespoonful of whole mustard, a tablespoonful of chopped horseradish, and cover tile whole with good strong cider vinegar. Amateur.—Asks whether it is necessary to raise wallflowers inside a greenhouse or cohl frame? No. Sow the seeds thinly in it small plot in the open ground —good soil, but no manure. They , will soon come up. When they arc sufficiently large to handle, prick them out separately, and when they are strong enough transplant them to their flowering quarters, which should be a sunny position. Wallflowers and such-like plants do not require coddling up inside; in fact, the v resent such treatment.

THE WEEK’S WORK. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow a little cabbage and cauliflower seed for winter and - early spring supplies. Keep shaded, till the plants arc up, if weather is hot. A sowing of spinach should also he made at once. It is quick growing and soon comes into use. Radishes and lettuces should also be sown now. Choose good ground so that the crop gets away quickly. The early planted celery should be gone over, and all side shoots and an v of the lower leaves that are decaying. Draw up a little soil not enough to blanch the stems, but sufficient to hold the leaves together, and to cause them to grow upright instead of spreading. The onion crop should be bar vested by now. It has not been a first class season for getting them in dry. However with energy it has been possible. Late or any crops of which there is a doubt of their dryness, should be plaited on to string and hung up in a dry airy shed. Make a sowing of silver licet. Ginnir Lucullus is the best variety. A dozen or so plants will keep a family going. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Dahlias and chrysanthemums are needing every attention just now. ■Staking, tying, hunting for caterpillars. feeding, and disbudding are some of the jobs that need attention. A little ten week stock seed sown now will provide some nice early flowering plants. Prepare the ground: to do stocks well the ground cannot he too thoroughly worked nor too good. Prepare the beds for border carnations. Deep trenching, adding plenty of fresh turf chopped up into pieces about the size of walnuts is the right method. Prepare the ground for sweet peas. They need deeply worked soil with plenty of moisture retaining material low down. Plenty of manure is also essential. These highly developed crops need plenty of food, and it must he in available form. Nothing beats a foundation of well rotted stable manure supplemented by liquid manure. Keep dead blooms picked off, and see that the borders are kept tidy, the edges of the lawn out. and everything neat. Gardens are often allowed to get out of hand during the autumn; this is a mistake that means extra work to rectify. THE SITUATION FOR LILIES. 'file natural habitat of most of the lilies is in mountains or forests, and this means that they get abundance of coolness, water in due season, shade, and perfect drainage. Some such as the orange, Turk’s cap, niartagon lilies are natives of open country, and will stand the full sun. At the same time, even these will stand partial shade, the flowers lasting much longer. The shade for lilies must be from above, and not such as to smother them. Ihe shade should be that given by tall trees or buildings during the hottest part ol the day. On "the west side of a wall is. one of the best- positions. i

NOTES ON LILIES. . There are few subjects that arc grown in the garden that the average grower has to buy his experience more than in the cultivation of lilies. There are many varieties that do wed under the most adverse circumstances and seem to do almost everywhere. Yet at the same time there are many that, although alike in appearance, and manner of growth, are vcr v diverse in their requirements.. ‘ ho same variety often succeeds in one garden and fails in another for no apparent cause whatever. Again it is possible to find the same species often doing well under the most diverse conditions; the white lily Odium candidum) doing‘well in the sunniest places, such places as we are told is necessary for the plants to get the baking the bulbs like after the stems have died down, and yet often doing well in a shady, damp place, where they only get a few hours sunshine a day. Some lilies are said to do well in any ordinary garden soil and vet the common tiger lily, for instance, will h c found growing profusely in one garden, while perhaps in another, not far off. with son and conditions similar, it will be found doing very indifferently, and will scarcely flower a second year. V !e most difficult soil for success with lilies, even the most amendable ol them, is a ver v heavy clay. In old gardens with long continued _ cultivation the addition of organic material will have rendered this Inane, but in a new garden in a retentive clav soil no lily will do well unless the" soil is prepared for it. ” Rli an average garden soil, neither too heavy nor too light, that lias been under cultivation for . some years, there are several species that win thrivo splendidly; There is the white or madonna lily (hhum can didum), the orange Ely (L. Croceum), the scarlet Turk’s cap (L. Chalcedomcum) the martagon lily (L. Maita-o-on), lilium umbel latum. L. Megans, the nankeen lily (I*. Testaeeiun), tlie tiger lily CL. Tigrnum and its varieties, L. T. Splenclens and L. T. Fortunci), the sulphur lily (L. Sulphuieum). All these can he considered as having a hardy adaptable constitution. ‘ in addition are lilium speciosum and lilium auratum and their varieties. This is a small list When one looks at the long lists offered by specialists. But it is better for the

. beginner to master the vagaries of the hardy sorts, before attempting the others. ' Whatever lilies , are grown perfect drainage is perhaps the most essential need, any vestige of stagnant water being fatal. It will, . therefore, be obvious that the best all-round soil for lilies is one which contains large quantities of leaf-soil and .sand, or one to which can be added large quantities of sand, leaf-soil or jieat. CHINODOXA. Chinodoxa. or “ glory of tlio snows,” is one of those plants that perhaps is seeiv at its very best when showing its blue and white. flowers almost at "the snow lino. Nevertheless it lias a charm of its own and it ivill thrive iii apparently most unpromising situations. The bulbs are very cheap. Chinodoxa luciliao is the most popular and is one of the best. The bulbs should be planted not later than March. BRODIACA. Brodiaea, or triteleia uniflora, is one of the most favored of this charming little family of bulbous plants. A small group or patch on the rockery is very pleasing, not gaudy perhaps,but the delicate tints, coloring, and tlie star-like flowers arc such as to draw attention to them. The flowers are lilac purple on stems five to six inches high. One advantage is that the brodiaea thrives well under shrubs or trees. The bulbs should be planted in early autumn. CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN SMALL POTS. Pretry little plants may be had in three or four inch pots. When the buds have been secured, cut a notch about eight inches below the bjKl, slit up the stem a little way, altei tlio stvle of layering carnations, get a little sand and moss and tie round this.' Break a small pot in half and tic it round the stem. Fdl up with mould, and keep it damp. The stem will soon root, and may bo cut off close to tlie pot. If kept in a moist shady position for a day or so, they will soon support them-elves and make nice little plants for tables or indoor decorations.

BULB GROWING IN MOSS FIBRE

This is undoubtedly the ideal method of bulb growing for indoor <:r verandah decoration. For some reason or other it does not seem to have caught on in this country, although for why it is hard to say. The beauty of this method lies in tlio fact that the bulbs can bo flowered perfectly in anv receptacles whatever, no drainage being required. Tlio reason why the lady of the house objects. t:> the pot-plants is the mess that is made by tlio watering. In this case there, is no cause for the complaint, as there need be no more mess than with a vase of cut flowers. Bulbs in moss fibre can lit' grown in vases, creamjars,tins; half a kerosene tin containing twelve or so of the polyanthus naicissi would be a grand sight. Hie moss fibre is perfectly odourless and clean to handle.’ The fibre that is used is the “peat moss litter” that is used for betiding horses. Ibis is procured dry and rubbed through a dry sieve; one with a. quarter-.nch mess will do; the idea being to get out all the lumps, which, if left m, would prevent proper Miiixing. A quantity of ground shell is then added, and the whole„wcll mixed. 1 ben water is gradually added, unt.l the whole is nicely moistened. The following are the quantities: One bus.ie| of the dry moss fibre, 81b of ground oyster shell, eight quarts of water. Jf the. mixing is properly done the fibre will increase in bulk by one-third. Before potting put a few pieces of charcoal in tlie bottom ol the vase to absorb impurities and keep the mixture sweet; then put in irom one to two inches of compost, place the narcissi, freezias, or whatever bulbs are being potto:!, gently on the fibre, after which fill up the vases to within one inch of tin; rim. When potting, it is desirable to see that the fibre is placed well round the bulbs, but it is not necessary or desirable to press it at all tightly, otherwise the roots do not work freely in the fibre and the bulbs have a tendency to push themselves upwards, as is often the case with those potted too firmly m soil When once potted they will require little or no attention for the first two or three weeks, but after that, care must be taken to keep the compost fairly mo.st, baton no account must it be sodden or too wet. On tbe other hand, if allowed to get dry it will probably cause the bulbs to go blind, and; tlio consequence will be that they will be ruined. The vases should he examined at least once a week and a little water given if necessary; this necessity will soon be indicated, for as soon as all surplus moisture is absorbed the fibre will become dry on top. If by chance it is thought that there is too much moisture in the vase, turn it on one side and allow tlie surplus to drain out. When potted the vases should lie kept in a cool, airy room or shed —not hi a dark cupboard; if placed outside, there is a great chance of rain causing the fibre to get too sodden, but if nowhere else F available, they can be placed outside in a shady position, in which case the vases should be turned on one side during heavy rains. When the bulbs have grown "about one inch above the fibre the vases should be placed where they can get full light and air, otherwise the foliage will become drawn and weak and the flowers will be poor.- . „ . . „ The best varieties of narcissi lor growing in moss fibre are the polyanthus varieties, although the major•tv of the daffodils and narcissi do very well. Hyacinths, tulips, freezias and liliums all do very well in this way, and even begonias and ferns do wonderfully well; in fact, there is an unlimited field here for the enterprising amateur who cares to give a little attention to detail in regard to watering.