Garden Notes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 January 1929, Page 2

Garden Notes

Seasonable Routine Work. Clear away all things that are now giving a shabby appearance to the borders such as shirley poppies, calendulas, linarias, and any other early flowering subjects of the spring and summer.. These vacant spaces may be filled in with cosmeas, zinnias, or asters.

The season has been a particularly good one fot pansioa and violas. Usually the blooms have dwindled in sizo and lost much of their beauty long before this. Nevertheless, it will be found .wisest to cut the plants well back to allow the bottom growth to make sturdy - progress, and later to produce many winter and early spring blossoms. The prunings will strike readily if planted in partial shade and kept moist. Supplies of violas arc among the most useful of all winter bordering things and nothing blooms more freely or more continuously than these floral gems of the garden. Get in supplies of lime for applying to the borders in the late autumn. Good heavy dressings will help keep all soil pests in check apart from being advantageous to the plants. On heavy soils the free use of lime is a boon in that it keeps it open and friable.

Continue the work of lifting bulbs. Cut all flowering stalks from the cinerarias, working in some leaf mould or something of a like nature. Cinerarias arc not annuals in our climate. Strong shoots will be seen making tlieir appearance, and the plants will be bigger and better next spring if they receive a little care.

Sow seeds of auriculas, primroses, and polyanthus. Plants raised at this time of the year flower the following spring. Anemones, ranunculus and freesias, should also bo sown if they arc to bloom during the spring. Keep all spent blooms plucked from the flower borders except where seed is wanted.

Lightly hoe the borders and newly planted shrubberies frequently. The Vegetable Garden.

Spray potatoes nearing the flowering stage with bordcaux mixture; also the tomato plants. Recent weather conditions have been most favourable for the growth of fungus diseases. A continual war has also to bo waged against weeds, and lawns still need a weekly trimming. Pumpkins and marrow's are rapidly covering the ground. These arc ideal for covering bare spaces in newlyplanted shrubberies and keep the soil cool and moist as well as keeping tho weeds in check.

Further sowings of most vegetables may be made; also continue tho planting out of all winter vegetables. Burn all refuse potato haulms and any other garden refuse which will harbour fungus diseases. Keep tho hoe going constantly. Annual Chrysanthemums. Those who "have seen, or grown, the latest in what is usually termed summer chrysanthemums, will not fail to have been struck by the rapid advance made in their culture. We now Have the most brilliant colours, and also a double type as well, %vhich is wonderfully attractive. The lovely satiny centres of the single ones, usually accompanied by a contrasting disc, sot off the gay outer petals to advantage. Decidedly, as a hardy summer bedding plant, these gay daisies have a future. They are gems for cutting, being long lasting and they certainly are hardy as they will grow anywhere. Even during the winter months, if they are planted where frosts do not penetrate, they will blossom freely. : Those who have not hitherto grown these should make a point of procuring seed or plants of the modern types from a reliable firm. * Some Now Flowers.

Most garden lovers are familiar with one of toh arctotis family with its grey foliage and' large, daisy-like flowers, white with blue centre disc and lilac tinted on the under side.

Picture a perennial species, named arctatis scapigera, with an immense range of colours, ranging from pure white through yellows to deepest orange; from palest rose to deep old rose, lilac pink, copper, blood red and apricot, and you will get .some idea of tho immense value this new type will be for all garden and floral work.

In each flower there is a strikingly contrasting ring of a deeper shade of colouring surrounding the glistening jet black disc. Tho foliage is varied, and owing to its healthy and attractive appearance, the plants are interesting even whey out of bloom.

The Itoyal Horticultural Society in Lomli.n consider the nrctotis fcuiil'v of such importance that they propose holding special trials at the renowned Wisley gardens. Like most of cur beautiful daisies the plants hail from South Africa. There is also a new annual variety with large, delightful, citron-yolfidV flowers with a black disc in the centre and black blotches near the base, the centre being relieved with -pin-like stamens bearing rich golden yellow pollen. This variety is said to be wonderfully free flowering. The perennial specie mentioned before, also has a long blooming period, but is said not to be quite hardy in Great Britain, requiring some protection during the severe weather. Probably in our climate it will require much the same treatment as the gerbera daisy.

New Polyphyllus Lupin. Lupins of this perennial class with their noble spikes of bloom are gaining in popularity year by year, and the new addition in colouring will be most

welcome to lovers of these truly use ful border subjects.

"Sunset" is the-name given to the new arrival, which has blooms of a delightful colour, reminding the beholder of a sun ripened apricot.

The new tree lupin should also prove prove of value being one qf the best things for a shrubbery. This novelty is named "Sunshine," with yellow flowers shaded with most charming pink. It is a symmetrical shrub which gains in beauty year by year. The flowers are sweetly scented. Plame of the East. Another novelty which is likely to prove of value is an annual (hardy), named “Adonis Aleppica." Its blooms are from two to three inches across and almost the exact shade of anemone fidgons —glossy, glistening, and dnzsingly scarlet. The flowers are the same shape as those of the cosmos, freely produced on wiry stems of sufficient length to make them invaluable for cut flower work. The foliage is light and feathery. The plants make delightful little bushes 15 to IS inches high. The gorgeous flowers are strikingly beautiful, and will give a tone to the, garden not to be found iu any other summer-bed-ding plant. The plant is an entrancing addition to the list of hardy annuals.

TO GROW SWEET PEx\S. Sweet peas are best sown at the latter end of February or during March. To enable them to produce the best that is in them, and to ensure plants or from eight to ton feet in height, flowers tw r o, to two ami a half inches across, and four to a spray, stems 12 to 10 inches in length, and to continue in profuse bloom for months, special cultural methods arc necessary. If given the opportunity sweet peas will send roots down throe to four feet in search of nourishment, and those that arc only permitted to root near the surface soon go oil during a dry spell. Another characteristic of the sweet pea that is not generally understood, but is equally as important for maximum results ns a deep-rooting medium, is its atmospheric nitrogen gathering habit through the agency of nitrifying bacteria which are widely distrlbn!e,d in I’m air, water, and soil. These, when they come in contact with the host plant, incubate and form nodules on tiu’ roots of sweet pens ,where they multiply. and soon the sap is teeming with these minute organisms. T).!-, function and association seems to be imperative for the health and welfare of sweet peas and all plants classed under the legume family. For tho above reason any manures supplied to sweet peas should be low in nitrogen, only some 2 to 3 per cent, but should be rich in phosphorus and potash. For supplies of humus, use any well decayed animal manure. To Prepare the Trench. Remove the “top soil" the length of the row and from two to and a-half fret wide. Top soil means all the good black soil that is mot with before the gardener comes to that which has not boon disturbed. Throw - all this soil on one side of the row. Then commence on the subsoil, taking a spit out the depth of the spade, and throwing it out on the opposite side. Then, if tho undisturbed soil forming the bottom of the trench is like clay and compact, it is advisable to loosen it up with a grubber, mixing in some coarse material such as strawy manure or bones, to help keep it open and to facilitate drainage, , Although sweet peas revel in moisture, they do not like the soil wet and sour at the roots. The next operation is to mix a liberal quantity of well rotted animal manure with the subsoil before returning it to the trench. If this'subsoil happens to be also stiff clay, other loam will need to be substituted. If the soil is light, tramp all down firm, but if it is heavy, leave alone. If plenty of manure is available mix some with the top soil as well as a liberal dressing of fertiliser. Bone meal is good, also ashes and soot. Return this also after well mixing, to the trench. The trench will be higher than the surrounding soil, but will gradually settle down by the time seed sowing is to commence. Always thin the seedlings out not less than six inches apart. Personally, I find a foot apart is quite close enough. I urchase seed from those who specialise in sweet peas, and the results are bound to be - satisfactory. Whero tl.ds early sowing is resorted to there arc fewer troubles, as the plants get a good start before slugs become troublesome. It. is always beneficial to add a little lime to the trench as the work proceeds.