GARDEN NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4855, 29 April 1918, Page 3

GARDEN NOTES.

I (By ‘'Kew.'") ANSWER* TO CORRESPONDENTS Alpliiu.—Lilac trees sfiould he moved as soon as possible in the autumnIf the tree, is very large u will en- , tail a large amount of work, as : the loots must be preserved as ) much a.s possible. There is no i limit to the size of a lilac: tree which can be safely moved, nrovitlod care is taken. Ihe present should l>o a very good time to move the tree, lor, although the shifting will cause the leaves to drop, that will not make anv difference: the tree will get over the •shift quicker if it has time to make fresh roots before the winter comes in. If the weather is at all dry, give the tree a good watering directly after moving, and another a few days later. Orange.—The fruit and leaf sent are Citrus trifoliata. You were rightly informed that it was an orange, but it happens to he a wild species, which is unfit for ordinary consumption. It is sometimes used for a stock on which to graft the edible orange. THE WEEK'S WORK. I THE FLOWER GARDEN. Chrysanthemums are now flowering. and will need every attention. Stop feeding as soon a.s the buds show color, ns excessive feeding causes the petals to mildew. Tying and disbudding must he judiciously done, so that what blooms are obtained are in good condition for decoration. Hand-picking for caterpillars must also be attended to. Hoeing of the bulb beds must he doin' now. and care should he taken that the tops of early flowering varieties are not cut. a Herbaceous borders may ho gone over, and any dividing and replanting can ho done at any time now. Plant anemones St. (Rigid and boronarin. There is room for some of these in every garden, and they are amongst the best of spring flowers. , A few ten week stocks should he sown now for early planting and > flowering. The ground for stocks should he as good a.s it is possible to make it: plenty of well rotted manure should lie added. Ranunculus cun he planted now. Choose a well drained good piece of ground, but add no fresh manure. Those are gorgeous flowers when well grown, hut resent any fresh manure near their roots. i Dahlias are now flowering well, and the spent blooms should he cut off every two or three days. Any surplus inside weak growths should he removed and a certain amount of . disbudding should he done. i Hose planting season is now upon us, and the rose order should he. placed with the nurseryman. Early planted roses are ahead of those planted late. Tie up the growths of rambling and climbing roses, removing any of the old shoots to make room for the new ones. j Gerbera .Jameson! is one ol the best of herbaceous plants. Now is the time to lift, divide and replant, i These do best if lifted every three years and divided. Every garden should have a few plants. I Hedges should ho trimmed and cleaned up. Dead and fallen leaves should he gathered and stacked to rot to form leaf-mould. The lawn j should be kept cut, and the edges trimmed so that everything is as tidy as possible. j Now is the time to lift and replant box edgings. Of all live edgings none can equal this when kept clipped to a few inches high. ' Any annuals that are clone should he cleared off and beds that are empty should be manured and dug ready to fill with the spring bodders. i The ground for summer sweet pens should be ready now, and anv that were sown in pots can be planted. Give the plants some twiggy brandies to bold them up as soon as planted. | Autumn sowing can still be done, but care must be taken to protect from slugs and snails: this is their particular season. 1 Winter or early flowering sweet - pens should be sown if not already in. j Some of the newer Spencer varieties ! are ns fine a.s the summer varieties, ! and Yarrnwa is still one of the best. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Digging and trenching and the getting rid of weeds will be the chief | work here. Now is the time to do this work—not Put it of? till spring, j Sowings of carrots, turnips, beet- : root should be made. Young roots • of a small to medium size are iar . away better than large overgrown . specimens for eating. | Sow a little lettuce if none is in, | and if any plants are obtainable put out a few. A lettuce during the ' winter is very much appreciated, and - they can be obtained so much more . tender than during the hot weather. i Radishes should also he sown. Tso rich ground, well manure, grow quickly, and use as soon ns they are | largo enough. The usual large overgrown coarse, hot, indigestible roots | usually seen are not worth eating compared with nice succulent roots. Perpetual spinach and silver beet may still be sown; these are first class where there is a large call for green vegetables during winter, and that is everywhere. - Make plantings of cabbage and , cauliflower and sow a little seed to j provide more plants. Seed is cheap j and if is a good plan to always have a few plants to put in odd places. j Sow green manuring crops such as mustard. This is the best substitute, for -stable manure, which is fast be- I coming a luxury, especially in many . of our~out of the wav places. j PRESERVATIVES FOR STAKES ETC. Whenever stakes have to be keptin the. soil for some time, they soon rot just at the ground line. v> here abundance o? material is at hand, this is not a matter of great- conse- j quence. but the town dweller who Jias j to purchase stakes and such like win j find it advantageous to use some sort j of wood preservative. The best, cheapest- and most ready to hunt, is tar A gallon or so in a kerosene tin’will treat a lot of stakes Hie tar should be made hot—not- boiling —and the stakes should he painted' a little wav above where they go into the soil usuallv two to three feet is ample Put them away to dry and tbev can then be used as required, j

border carnations from CUTTINGS.

Although layering is the surest method of striking carnations it sometimes happens that cuttings have to be resorted to, and certain is it that veil rooted cuttings make good plants. The. cuttings should he three or four inches lone, and taken off with an heel if possible, if not cut beneath a joint with . a sharp knife. They should be inserted in some yeiv good sandy loann Do not use a soil rich in mainue. but give a good dusting of soot and it possible, add plenty of sand. ■ bed should be in a dry, open. sunn.

’ position, but arrangements must be ; made to shade the cuttings till rootI ed. When rooted, the shading must I be removed and the cuttings grown i hardy. The soil for the cuttings j must be made firm, and care must >be taken that the base of the eitfj ting reaches the I'ottom of the hole i made by the dibbler. As soon a.s ! rooted the cuttings should be lifted ! and planted out in their permanent i position. Should the cuttings grow : away with a single shoot, pinch out the tops. | THE IRIS. 1 The iris is deservedlv known as the -1 poor maids ” orchid, for amongst the almost innumerable spcc-ies and varieties there are some of the most desirable and beautiful of easily grown hardy plants. The most popular irises are the Spanish, flag iris. English. Japanese, and iris reticulata. Bulbs of the Spanish iris are very cheap and can be ! bought for a few pence a dozen and, therefore, should lie planted freely. The bulbs should be planted at once, and in clumps or masses of from six upwards. Put the bulbs a ! 'out three inches deep and about four inches apart. The bulbs may be left imi disturbed for three or four years, and give them a fairly dry sunny I position. They are not particular l us to soil, almost any soil suiting i them. j 'lhe English Irises are also bulbous ! and when in bloom are very fine, but are not so free flowering as the Spanish Iris. The bulbs should be planted four inches deep, and about six inches apart. Iris flowers are very fine foj- decoration, for which purpose they should be cut and the stems placed in water just ns the first- flowers are commencing to expand. The Hagcoris belongs to the rhigomatous section, that is it has a creeping stem not a bulb. Ihe flag Iris will do in almost any soil and any ]iosition. and, although not- often seen, there are some delightful dowel's amongst them. The Japanese Iris is also very fine and is quite different from the usual run of Iris flowers, being quite flat like a clematis, and is obtainable in many rich and varied colors. This Iris is a waterside plant, and does well grown in a swampy place. Another method is to get half a barrel and put in some rough scoria, or such like, in the bottom, fill up with rich .soil ; use loam and cow dung and plant them in that. Give plenty of water during the growing season so as to cover the soil, and when growth is o v er withhold water until the following season. They will, however, do in the ordinary border provided a good layer of cow dung is put down below them, so that the roots can keep moist and cool during hot weather. Penty of water is needed during the growing season. Iris reticulata is a ver v fine border plant, and on a border they look well. Besides the beauty of form and coloring, the flowers possess a fragrance closely resembling that of the violet. There are many other species that would he good additions to our gardens and are worthy of much wider cultivation, in fact one cannot go wrong adding any new Irises they can get. There is one Iris Susiana that stands out, it is know'll a.s the •‘mourning Iris.” it has verv large flowers beautifully marked all over with dark purple lines. It has been described as "looking as if it wore made oi wet newspaper on which the tpye had run.” It should have the hottest and best drained position in the garden.

.HUMUS Humus or vegetable and animal matter in a state of decomposition is essential to make a soil fertile. It is boiiicr constantly used up in the process’ of nitrification. This consumption of Itumu.s is an essential part of the activities of soils, and is a necessary accompaniment of fertility. Thus there is a constant loss'of humus going on in all cultivated soils. A duo proportion of humus is necessary if our garden soil is to remain in good heart. It is necessary for its valuable properties in relation to the movements and conservation of moisture; it is necessary for its retention of ammonia ; it is necessary for nitrification. hfince in cultivated soils humus is constantly being used up it is necessary to replace it. This is done bv the application of .stable manure, by the digging in of green crops, leaves and other organic waste substances to be found in most gardens. In order to prevent the soil from becoming sour, give an occasional dressing of lime at the rate of about half a pound to the square v ard. It ns almost impossible to add too much humus to a soil and, therefore, it a ■ piece of ground is not to be used till spring, even if stable mauuie can be added, and it is not many gaij dens that get all they want ; sow a I crop of mustard. Seed is cheap, ! and dig it in when about !\ foot or eighteen inches high. Then sow another crop, and dig it in again. | In this way ground can be kept tree !of weeds, end the fertility of the ! soil increased. | PENTSTEMONS. I This is a genus of very ornamental, hardy perennial herbs, or sub-shrubs, 1 mostly natives of North America. Many of the species are very pretty and useful plants for the garden, but the florist’s varieties of Pentstemons , are chieflv the offspring of Pontstc--1 mon Cobaea and Pentstemon liartwegi. There are many named vari ieties, and some are quite worthv ot : a distinctive name, and "'ill amply i repay mwbodv who goes to the trouble to procure a collection of named varieties. Those, however, who on > I require the Pentstemon as a summer I flowering plant, and who do not want !to be bothered with the trouble ot | propagating a collection of nameo sorts can get a fine display of seed- ’ in"s." Good seed is obtainable from most seedsmen. 'Die seed should lie sown in boxes or pots, so that it can lie protected from hevay rams, ine seedling should be dibbled out as soon as they are large enough to handle--1 Pentstemons require a well manuiea, I sandy soil, but they will do, to a cer- ! tain" extent, in almost any ordma . ; garden soil, provided it is well manured with farmyard manure. J implants are quite hardy, and Jioii d not be coddled in any way whnteyei. 'Hiev should begin to bloom in November. and continue . right on through the following winter. -Although perennials the -lants tlier fore lasting for several years, no doubt, the young seedlings make 11 best display, and unless the plant is lspeeiallv’ fine, in winch case it should be propagated by cirttPnp a fresh batch of seedlings should e . ™V »r‘r • tw . T ’ l w'd «t----rr I i ” which are Produced in abund tops, "men •* e rni P] make nice I 'STmZ ta- cut. tings.

—and to be seen at its best it musthave lots of water in hot weather. Its leaves, I think, are its weak point; slugs are very fond of them when they are young, and as they grow bigger they are often rather coarse. But the superbly say flowers. strong yet delicate in color, make up for any other defects; and a mass of annual mallows, three feet or thereabout in height, and covered with bright rose or white or crimson (and very eatable) flowers, is an attractive sight. Sometimes in catalogues, the mallow is disguised under the title ot “malope.”' Malope grandiflora is merely the large-flowered garden mallow, ’ with white, rose, or crimson flowers.

PERENNIAL ASTERS. Readers who are thinking of filling up spaces in the garden, and require graceful and decorative perennial plants, would do well to remember these plants. Amongst the best varieties is the comparative new one, “Beautv of Colwall. ’ 'I lie individual flowers are double, and from one and a-half to two inches across; tlic.Y are of a bluish-mauve, and are borne profusely, a- well grown clump often reaching five feet in height. tin* position, in combination with perennial sunflowers. . There are numerous other varieties. chiofL- single-flowered, but none the worse for that. 'Hie colors of the blooms vary from white . to ila l ' mauve, and the size of the flowers from half an inch to tlnee inches across, according .to the jai ietv. In height there is also g> eat variation, some being only a few inches whilst others are several feet.