Garden Notes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 10 September 1929, Page 2

Garden Notes

Harbingers of Spring. Despite cold weather conditions, .spring flowers are in nowise daunted, and, naturalised in grass, the early trumpets and the intense yellow of chimps of the dear old-fashioned double daffodil which blooms so protfusedy eaeh season , brighten up the landscape. Their absence of any pronounced scent enables the bright blooms to be gathered as generously as one wants to gather them, to fill bowls and vases in the effort to capture that "sunshiny look" which has been all too often absent from our rooms during numerous sunless, rainy days. The polyanthus narcisrii is showing signs of blooming profusely, but their heavy perfume, always, welcome in the borders, tends to a cutting sparingly, when needed for house decoration.

Flowering prunus trees are making a beautiful display. There are now so many deeper toned pink varieties that are extremely decorative. The flowering apricot with its bright blossoms of almost a cerise tint, is a joy to behold and the sweet fragrance of its blooms is a revelation and comes as a great surprise, as few flowering shrubs of these types have a great deal of scent. The plump, swelling buds of all deeidious shrubs give promise of fresh green leaves soon to appear, and over all the garden there appears to be the "hush" significant of "waiting time" for warmer air and more sunshine. Work in the Hower Garden.

Yew, laurel, ho'lly, privet, and most other hedges should be pruned and put in order. To avoid cutting the .large loaves of laurel in half, which so mars the appearance of this hedge, use either a knife or secateurs. This can be done in-such a way that little evidence of pruning can be seen.

Where dahlias have been left in the ground, it is a good plan now to lift the roots and lay them within the shelter of a hedge or wall, where they will sprout and may be divided later for replanting. Chrysanthemums are now shooting up from the bast?, and the simplest way for propagating them is to break them up into small pieces and put them into pots, boxes or nursery beds. Early preparation of (,"irysanthomums and dahlia, beds is to be recommended where it is intended to grow good blooms.

Plant gladioli at any lime as soil conditio::.; p:'!'i))h. It is goo-!, for them to make roots while the w.ather is cool For this reason, the later they are planted the dooper you should go. A depth of nine inches is not too much if they are planted during hot weather. At this season, from four to six inches will suit them.

Late flowering percnniul phlox that are overgrown should be lifted and replanted. These do not develop fine trusses if left crowded. Select the young and vigorous pieces from the outside. Much work will have to be done in transplanting as soon as soil conditions permit. Raise all seedlings in boxes. The ground is too cold to risk any outdoor sowings. The Vegetable Garden. The best ear rots to sow for early scupply are the early horn, manteo, or stump rooted. Very dwarf growing peas have their recommendation for earliness but they arc not the beat croppers, or the most economical where space is limited. Where there is only space for a row or two, sow a tall variety, even if it does mean finding, sticks to support them. Potatoes may be planted at any time. Sprouted seeds give much better results than when planted straight from the bag.

Sow broad beans, and plant out any seasonable plants whenever possible. Make further sowings of cabbage, cauliflower and salad plants. Make further plantings of esehal.lot and potato onions. Plant rhubarb and asparagus. Sow tomato seed in gentle heat, such as is provided by a sunny window, or a box haJf filled with stable manure, with a few inches of good fine soil on tup will help considerably in germinating the seed quickly. Repotting Maidenhair Ferns.

It is time to repot maidenhair and other ferns. Maidenhair ferns often require to be broken up into smaller _piee.es and young plants require larger pots. Many old plants are, however, greatly improved by reducing the ball of earth and roots in older to get them into the same sized pot with a quantity of fresh soil.

A good compost for ferns is made up by using loam, leaf mould and sand. A better mixture still is loam, peat, sand, and a little sphagnum moss, chopped up and mixed with the soil. Carnations.

Everyone loves carniarlons, and although the amateur gardener usually commences a garden by growing those things that are very hardy, there soon comes a time when the desire to soar higher and achiovc distinction by cultivating some of the choicer plants or flowers seizes the fancy. To such, carnations, including picotees, are a fine class, of-flower to take in hand. The principal thing about these flowers, is to have the knack of-making up the soil to suit. When choosing a site for a bed of carnations, alwWs remember that they arc lovers of plenty of sunlight. They also do not like strong, rank manure, bift anything that is old find well-rot;ted may be use-d in large quantities to work- up with the foil.

Another important point is that the carnation loves plenty of lime, and where papa rock is to be had, this broken into a powder and worked into the soil is of great benefit. Good drainage is another thing that must not be overlooked, and on heavy clay soils, it pays to dig out a couple of feet of the heavy clay, putting some broken bricks or other drainage ■material at the bottom, with turf on top. The bed should be made up as soon as possible, so that-plants can get a- good start before the summer commences. Roses.

Rose growing is perhaps the most popular thiug there is in gardening and there are many who understand their plants and know exactly what to do for thorn at any time. On the other hand, there are many who would like to grow fine blooms, but do not know how to go about the work. Only good varieties should be planted, noted for their good shape- and a good depth of colour is alwals admired. After planting firmly in a well prepared and well drained bed, the next and most important operation is pruning. Fine blooms cannot be obtained except the bushes receive a good annual pruning. This work should be taken in hand now and the plants pruned hard back to within a couple of eyes from the ground . The plants will soon be starting into growth if they have not already done so and it is important that anyone wishing to get the best from his plants should follow out the work step by step. The first thing- towards the desired end is cultivation, and this must be atten.ted to at all times. One of the best tools for the purpose is the Dutch hoe as it. does not cultivate too deeply and is very quick to use. Deep cultivation during the growing season should be avoided as much as possible because there are masses of fine roots just below the surface which feed the blooms and the plants, and if these arc destroyed, the roots that are deep down cannot be depended on for the same high colouring in the flowers. As the plants throw out shoots, go over the bushes carefully and rub out any that are misplaced or where they arc too crowded. Shoots growing inwards, especially whom there are plenty •with an outward tendency, should always be suppressed. In a few cases, ingrowing shoots cannot be avoided and have to be accepted as part of- the pilant, the shoots in these cases not being numerous enough to dispense with them. Having decided on the shoots, keep them growing as strongly as possible, and to this end cultivation, and u little artificial manure will be a groat help. When using artificial manure, a good plan to go on is "little and often." Scatter it on the ground and work it in a little around the plants. About once a fortnight is not too much. Bone dust and superphosphate give strength and vigour to the plants. Soot is one of the best things to lay in store for later use in liquid manure form, when thu buds have formed. Dahlias from Seed.

Few amateurs realise the case with which dahlias may be raised from seed. Seed sown at the present time under glass will germinate freely and, very quickly, and the young plants will be ready to pmt up into small pots when they are about three inches high. The seed must not be sown too thickly, or the young plants will become drawn and spindly. ' When the plants are about six inches high, give them a good hardening off before setting out in the open border. When planting out, it Khould be remembered that the seedlings require just as much room as plants that are grown from cuttings or tubers, as they attain their full size, and flower the first season. Even one head of seed packed from a plant will give a great many variations in colouring, and where masses of bloom are wanted at small cost, dahlias from seed will meet the difficulty.

Violets. Violets are plants that nearly everyone wishes to grow and yet there are few who succeed really well with them. The cause is not through soil, for almost any soil will grow them, but it is because they are not properly understood, and very often an inferior variety is planted where a good one s-hould have been. There is a great difference between strains of violets. Some are good, and sanro are very poor doers; some flower and grow well, and ottiers grow well but do not flower freely. Procure a good variety and divide the plants up, throwing away all the old roots and keeping the runners. It does not matter whether these runners have roots or not as they root quite easily. Then dig the ground deeply, adding some well rotted manure to the lower spit.. G-ive the surface' a" good Liming and work it up with. the soil. After about a fortnight, the bed should be ready for planting. The best time to plant is about the end of September, or early in October, so by beginning the work as soon as the weather takes up the plants will be in in good time. plant one foot apart. Success with Delphiniums.

Amongst ball plants that give u? spikes of flowers whose predominating colour is blue, there- are none to excel the delphiniums. Give the-m a fairly pure atmosphere and rich soil and one may have charming spikes of bloom in abundance. The ideal place for thorn is at the bick of a sunny border which has a sheltered background. Although (hcv do well in fv.ll sun-hlne. it mur.t ,

not be lost sight of that they bloom the longest when they are planted where they are able to get shade for part of the day. There, too, the spikes unfolding gradually, are often finer. The soil for delphiniums should consist of good loam and rotted manure, with mulchings several times during the sea son should it prove a dry one. They arc best grown in clumps of moderate Bizj 1 . To permit; thorn to grow year after year without curtailing them is a mistake, as when the clumps get large, it naturally follows-, that the growths in the middle become.„ weak. To avoid this state of things one should divide the clumps every second or third year. Delphiniums, as a rule, have few enemies. Perhaps the worst is the slug, which eats off the young shoots in spring but dressings of soot on the surface will generally clear off these pests. Staking the plants early in the season is advised.

As with some other plants, it lias been found that one may grow delphiniums too long in one place, so that when the time comes to divide them, find a fresh place for them if possible. 'She culture of the. delphinium is simple, and the results out of all proportion to the slight amount of care necessary. They thrive in almost any position. The soil may be a rich, friable loam, which suits them well but any soil, even hot and sandy, if well watered and manured, will give excellent results. Dig deeply (trenching is better,) add plenty of rotted manure, and plant two and a-half feet apart. Placed in groups in the large borders, the effect is always good and they are especially effective grown in large groups of separate colours. Also, they may be associated with shrubs with great advantage. Flowering spikes should be cut off as they fade, to induce a longer bloomingjyeriod. Copious watering in summer will be attended by increased siae of spike and flower. Lettuce. A good crisp lettuce at any time of the year rarely fails to meet with general acceptance and although in the most favourable seasons it must be allowed that quite good results often follow indifferent or lazy . cultivation. But in hot, dry weather, lettuces grown under these conditions will always be of poor quality, with a tendency to bolt to seed quickly. Perhaps nothing is more generally appreciated in early spring, when other greens are scarce, than a good, crisp lettuce. Soils, seasons, and variety ■sown count for so much with this crop that, where lettuces are highly prized, the importance of always ensuring the conditions under which the crop is to be grown to be as near ideal as possible, should be fully recognised. These three conditions may be summed up as follow: A deep and heavily manured ground, plenty of room for the proper development of every leaf the plant produces, and abundance of moisture at the root ..throughout all stages of growth. Where this is assurod, there need be little fear of anything but satisfaction following a sowing made at anv time.