The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 72, 8 March 1930, Page 11

The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

(By

LEONARD A. GRIFFITHS.)

SATURDAY MARCH Bth, 1930.

“Flowers are Nature's jewels.” —Croly

Among the Flowers

Ideal weather prevails or Nature’s pleasing pastime and gardeners should all be busy making up for the last few bad months. Gardening is a real man’s recreation in every sense of the word—void of al] unclean and evil influences, which condemn so many other so-called hobbies.

beds or boxes aro too thick, they may be pricked out when in second leaf about 4ins. apart to prevent them becoming spindly and drawn. Planting Out.

» . • Three good hardy annuals for present sowing aie Calliopsis, a free bloomer on long stalks bearing yellow flowers and useful for picking; clarkia, which may be sown in open ground and makes a great show massed or in c'umps; godetia, which requires similar treatment to clarkia and can be combined with almost any other annual.

• * a Plant all spring bulbs such ss hyacinths, tulips, ranunculus and anemones. If early blooms are wanted no time can be lost. Remember bonedust is the only manure suitable for using when planting bulbs.

Where there is plenty of water available as in most suburban gardens there is, of course, no need to wait for rain to fall before setting moved right away out of the seed out the plants, and they inav be boxes when in second leaf into the place where they are to grow. Always select the largest and throw away weaklings. As most gardeners raise about, four times as many seedlings as they can use this is easily done and makes for a better crop. It doesn’t pr» to grow weaklings.

Prepare ground for the setting of giant gladioli, Japanese iris and lilium bulbs All these may be sot from April till July and require welldug and drained soil.

Sow the seed of the following varieties in boxes: Poppies, stock, cineraria, nemesia, larkspur, carnations, Canterbury bells, verbena, calliopsis, hollyhock and antirrhinum.

For borders and growing in clumiis sow in open ground mignonette, Virginian stock, dwarf nasturtium, clarkia, godetia, linaria and linum.

Carefully stake chysanthemuins that are making growth. Disbud the plants if goods blooms are required and sprav to prevent rust with black leaf 40.

For quick flowering and to fill up while the seedlings are growing, plant antirrhinum, pansy, larkspur, primula or lobelin plants; Any of the above varieties are now available. » » * Commence cutting back .rose bpshes to ensure a second crop of flowers. * ♦ * * Among the Vegetables Weeding. Weeds are most active now and most summer sorts are about to seed. Get them out right away and save work next year. There is nothing that makes the working of a vegetable, or. for that matter, the flower garden easier than regular weeding. There is no easy method of keeping the wesds down ; just hand pull them or chip with a hoe. Lettuce for Salads. Lettuce is still needed for salads and should he sown where it is to grow, and thinned out afterwards. Lettuce, like many other plants, may be transplanted, but is fifty times better if sown in rows and thinned out. Let the plants stand about nine inches apart. • • Winter carrots. Carrots may also he sown, and a sowing made every three weeks till about the middle of April. They will be in bearing during the Winter and are not only useful as vegetables, but are much appreciated in soups, etc. Make good sowings. Remember to sow onlv on land heavily manured for a previous crop, as freshly manured land makes the roots fork. • * * Beetroot. Beetroot can also be sown. Do not transplant this line as is often done. Transplanted plants are slow in growing and never make the large roots so much appreciated. Turnip rooted Egyptian or lopg rooted sorts are both popular. The long rooted sorts give the heaviest return, however. Two Root Crops.

Bulb Planting The happy time has arrived for planting bulbs for welcome blooms in the spring. The list includes: Daffodils, Hyacinths, Scil.las, Tulips, Freesias, Anemones, Ranunculus, Ixias, Sparaxis, Snow Flakes, Lachenalias.

Select a sunny, well-drained situation, remembering that the plants have to withstand the cold and wet winter (water-logged soil is fatal), and that sunshine is necessary to ripen the growths to produce the desired blooms. Ordinary free welldrained soil suits most hardy bulbs, the ideal being the turfy loam with n slight admixture of sand. The addition of crushed wood ashes is of advantage as this supplies the ground with a certain amount of potash. Bulbs must not be planted too deeply nor too shallow. The accepted practice is to plant the bulbs at twice the depths of the bulb itself, measuring the bulb front the top to the base. In heavy soil the bulbs should be set nearer the surface than when planting in light sandy soil.

Before planting, the ground should be thoroughly broken up, incorporating old stable Ar cow manure in the lower layers. On no account allow any fresh manure to come into contact with the newly-planted bulbs, as this causes them to decay. Bulbs should be hard and firm. Those that feel soft on pressure are useless.

A valuable suggestion is to plant them in clumps, leaving six inches between each plant. By a succession of planting of the several kinds of bulbs, blooms may bo secured from June to November.

♦ ♦ ♦ * Plant Pansy Seeds Now

Radishes are still necessary for salads, and can be sown every fortnight. To get the best out of this line they must be grown quickly. Rich ground is immaterial, but daily watering is necessary. Thin out for large roots. The crop of swede turnips can go in right away. Sow where the plants are to grow, and thin out to 15 inches apart. Tse when halfgrown. • # 4» Winter Greens. Sped beds should be prepared and sown for cabbages and cauliflowers. If you followed out last month’s advice and sownd your seed of these lines earlier they will he well up by now They should be kept moving by liberal applications of water assisted by a mulch. If the plants in the seed

The Pansy is a universal favourite, the rich velvety flowers of many brilliant colours being produced from early spring until late into autumn. For early spring flowering, now is the time for planting seed; and seeds may be sown for succession in March and April. For summer and autumn flowering, sow seeds in August, September and October. / Pansies revel in enriched soil, old cow manure being most excellent as a fertiliser.

By giving liquid manure during the blooming season the size and quality of the blooms are greatly improved.

★ ♦ ♦ ♦ Old-Fashioned Hollyhocks

The Hollyhock is a hardy perennial, and the varieties include single and double flowers in a wide range of colours; very suitable for growing against a wall or fence The ground should he well drained and fairly rich ; lime should be added. Sow the seed in an outdoor seed bod, or in seed boxes; if in a seed box. see that it is deeper than for most other seeds. If using an outdoor seed bed. work the soil up freely, make it moderately firm, add plant the seeds two inches deep, about an inch

apart. When about 4 inches high, transplant to their position in the garden, in groups of four to six plants, allowing two feet between each plant.

* ♦ * * How to Sow ■ Small Seeds Small seeds require careful handling ; for, besides the risk of many being lost if the packet is opened where a draught can blow them away, they are apt to be sown too thickly, or in patches, and the seedlings killed through overcrowding. Procure small boxes about three inches deep, and having made plenty of holes in the bottom cover these holes with broken crocks. Fill the box with finely sifted sandy soil, and make it firm and smooth with a fiat piece of wood. Mix the seeds with several times their bulk of dry sand, and place on a piece of folded paper. By tapping the paper lightly with a stick, the seed can be scattered evenly on the surface. After sowing, cover with a mere dusting of very fine soil, again firm jt with a piece of board, gently spray with water, cover with glass, lay paper on the glass to shade and prevent undue evaporation. When germination takes place, the paper must be removed, but not till the seed leaves have begun to develop, and not even then in the case of ferns, Begonias. Gloxinias, and such like shade-loving plants.

» ♦ » ♦ Winter /finis

Weeds in the Carden: A real effort is advisible to get weeds down or their seeding will mean much more work next season. At every opportunity the hoe should be used. Crops of small weeds can be (eft to shrivel, but matured weeds are better cleared away.

Cabbages for Winter: When the first plants are ready depends upon when tha seed was sown, but as soon as some plants are large enough, transplant them to a permanent place. The site should have been generously prepared with a fairly fine top tilth, to encourage young roots. There is no need to allow too much space between plants or rows.

Sow Prickly Spinach: A sowing of this vegetable may be made on a warm border, not thickly, so that thinning will be unnecessary. This type of spinach will mature more quickly than Spinach Beet, recommended in previous notes for winter use. Sow in drills 16 inches apart. Dust with soot if slugs prove troublesome.

V * * * * Freesias From Seed

The raising of coloured Freesias from seeds is a delightfully interest-' ing business. Either save seeds from the named varieties or purchase a packet of seeds of choice hybrids from a firm of repute. These can be relied upon to produce a remarkable range of colour, with the possibility of something new as the subject of raising novel colours is far from being exhausted.

Sow the seeds in the autumn. Pans or boxes are preferable to pots, as the larger body of soil keeps damp longer and obviates too frequent watering. Use a light rather rich soil made up of fibrous loam leaf mould, wood ash, or soot, and plenty of coarso grit. If the seeds are spaced out over the surface about one inch apart, it will obviate disturbing to prick them off as is necessary when the seedlings are crowded. Cover the seeds with 1 to ( inch of fine soil. In a green-house with a genial moist temperature seeds sown now will germinate in from three to five weeks. The strongest seedlings may be expected to bloom next summer if the seedlings are given a light, warm position during the winter. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Crops for Damp Positions In some gardens Mint does not do at all well; possibly the soil is too sandy and dry. for all the Mints grow naturally about ditches or along the edges of lakes. If you would have a beautiful bed of dark emerald Mint ready for next z year’s young lambs, piant the roots in soil as like to that of their original home as possible. Have vou noticed what wonderful shoots of self-sown Mint often grow in the damp soil about the drain of the scullery sink? They just love the damp soil, enriched by frequent overflows of washing-up water with floating organic matter in it. That is, of course, where soap-flakes are used in the water, not soda. Why not plant a whole bed of Mint roots about the little square drain if the soil is sandy? Plant the tiny roots a foot apart each way,. and next year you will have an inexhaustible bed to cut from. Old-fashioned country folk never use steel , when gathering Mint, only their fingers. They used to say that if a wounded man ate Mint he would never iecover and so the superstition has grown that it must never be gathered with an iron or steel tool, or harm will befall the gatherer. Two other roots that flourish in the damp soil round the scullerv drain are Jerusalem Artichokes and Rhubarb.