THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 45, 21 January 1928, Page 11

THE GARDEN

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE GARDEN. The Garden says: “The following are some good points about a garden: You possess a garden so that you may have pleasure in its beauty, but do not forget the wider enjoyment of sharing it with others, for it can bring no real happiness if you keep the gate shut. It is not sufficient that you walk round and admire its beauty; you must work in it, exercise your ingenuity, put some of your personality into it and not leave all to the hired man. We learn and grow wiser from the knowledge of our fathers as well as our successes. What can be more restful or make us realise more and more the wonder Nature so freely displays to us than a walk round the garden, net merely with our eyes open to admire the many forms and colourings of the flowers, but our minds open to ponder, and muse among the annual miracle of their birth, while we watch the gradual unfolding of leaf and flower? There are many plants which, if exterminated, would mean the death of a whole race of insects dependent on them for food, and, on the other hand, for lack of certain insects specially fitted to pollinate their flowers. Whole species of plants would either disappear or would have to modify their flowers to make them attractive to other forms of insect life. It is all a finely balanced scheme of give and take. Flowers are not made so beautiful nor are their forms so varied for our admiration alone, unless where Nature is interfered with. The main object of their gorgeous colours and beautiful forms is the attraction of insects for the purpose of pollination. What a voyage of discovery one can launch out upon even within the bounds of a garden. The flowers, the countries they - come from and their histories, the birds and the insects, what fascinating life stories some'of them have, more extraordinary than the most fantastic fairy tale ever written. Birds brighten the life for us perhaps more than we are aware of. Many of us would rather lose some fruit than miss the pleasure of listening to the song of the thrush in the quiet of a summer evening, or indeed, any of the others. Our garden is a place in which, be it ever so small, there is a deal to love, a deal to admire, and a great deal to learn. Only those of courage and cheerfulness can grow flowers—the courago of overcoming difficulties and the cheerfulness which can laugh at failures. Flowers in themselves are cheerful things und you cannot grow them without partaking of their spirit.”

ROSES. “Rosarian” says: “I am sending you ,a few disconnected notes abcut roses which may be useful to you. I giow about two hundred plants aid when I got new one's I have to take out some of the older ones or even some of the newer ones which I have got and do not fancy so much. \'< hen I dig a rose out I also renew the whole of the soil completely. It takes a couple of barrows full of good loamy turf to do the job completely and then some good manure and basic slag are worked up with the soil as it is idled into the hole. If one has time to grow roses at all, it pays better to do them well than to grow twice as many and do them indifferently v / T am not one of the “chosen few” who can put a plant in and grow it to any size in a year or so, but I consider that a little attention given to a rose before planttimg is worth a lot afterwards. Do not grow other plants in the same bed with, roses; if you must grow other tilings give them a bed to themselves, but do not put them in with roses or they, will resent it at once. A friend of mine is vory fond of hydrangeas and had one growing in a bed. He then got some rose plants; I think it was a dozen, and he enlarged the bed and put 1 them all round the plant of hydrangea. Although he worked the ground well and manured it with sheep 1 manure the rose plants have done no good but the hydrangea has. As a matter of fact it has sent out roots in all directions and being quicker in action has robbed the roses of fn® moisture and food they require. I believe that it pays to top dress the rose beds at this time of the year and I always do it now. I use basic slagliberally on the lawn and grass round the rose beds and get large quantities of clippings which are piled in a heap to heat and rot. To every barrowful of this grass I add another of sheep or any manure I can get and mix it together thoroughly. This is laid over the beds about three inches deep and if very dry is watered in. The surface hoeing has to cease for a while but that does not matter. When the first rains come in March this manure has shrunk considerably and the residue is forked in lightly. On top of the 6oil basic slag is snread at the rate of half a pound to the square yard with splendid results in the spring. I am very partial to red and yellow roses and have a large number of both. Mrs C. W. Edwards is one that I think should be more extensively grown. It is a good doer and the stalks are nice and long. The colour would be better i,f it was described as a cherry red instead of a deep rose pink, which is its official colouring in the catalogues. Mrs Molony is a good mate for it and is also a strong grower, giving plenty of flowers and like the other one does not mildew. Victory is a splendid rose and gives blooms all the year round;

_ Notes are published weekly under this heading, and readers interested ■in gardening are invited to send in questions relating to matters upon whioh they wish expert advioe; answers will be published with the weekly notes.

it is a good scarlet. Earl Haig I have got and find that when the hot weather comes that I cannot stop it losing its brightness and turning a dull red. Hawlmark Crimson is a beauty and my two bushes are four feet high and covered with splendid semi-single blooms which are always in demand for decorative purposes. Midnight Sun is another and very similar rose with more scarlet in it. _ I could not do without either. I think those are the pick of my reds and the best yellow is undoubtedly Mabel Morse, but she has one great fault and that is that she may bloom well this year_ and sulk the next. Mrs Wemys Quin is also a good yellow that can be trusted. Golden Emblem does not like mo and after a year or two will die right away, and yet a neighbour grows it well. I have other yellows but none of them are strong enough. The best pink rose with me is Mrs Henry Morse. It is a strong grower and a free bloomer and one can pick any quantity of good blooms from it.” THE FLOWER GARDEN. The flower garden is beginning to feel the effect of the prolonged absence of rain which, no doubt, has been very nice for those who are away holiday making, but for gardens it is apt to make one feel rather sad. In a great many cases the hose has been brought out-turned on to some .favoured corner. This may cause temporary relief hut, unless the hoe is used as soon as the surface is dry, the water given to the plants will evaporate away arid the last state will be worse than the first. There are some things that cannot be grown without a plentiful supply of water such as dahlias and chrysanthemums. The first are succulent growers and need a lot of water to stop them from flagging, and the second are shallow-root-ing plants that must have a certain amount of water to keep them going. Even these two plants will do much better if a good soil mulch is kept ■ round them. The hoeing need not be deep but it should be done fairly often. We have been trying the effect of both systems on two beds of asters of twelve plants each. One has been watered regularly arid the other hoed .at the same time. Tile hoed plants are the strongest and sturdiest and those that have been watered always welt in the hot sun, while the hoed bed plants are always strong and upright. If others would only try this plan they would soon see the benefit of it and stop using the hose.

NARCISSI. All narcissi that are going to be lifted this season should be taken up as soon as possible and dried off and cleaned. Tne drying off and cleaning process generally breaks them up enough for ordinary garden use. If they are named varieties see that each variety is kept separate with the name attached to the hag or box or whatever they are kept in. The preparation of the ground.for replanting should next receive attention and the better it can be done the finer flowers you will get'. Unfortunately, manure must not be used, at least, the ordinary farm yard kind, but good clean bone dust and basic slag are both helpful and can be worked into the soil as the work proceeds. Trenched ground is the best for them .and if possible raise the bed a few inches above the surrounding level of the soil. Leave it to settle down for a week or two when planting may be done again. The earlier that the bulbs can be put in the ground the better it is for them. When planting, it is a good plan to plant actually deeper than you want the bulbs to be, because the soil is sure to sink down and bulbs must be at least four inches below the surface. The beds should , not be wider than can be conveniently worked from either side. The bulbs will not come up for some months and the ground can be kept clean in the meantime by raking it over occassionally.

VEGETABLES. Vegetables are standing the dry weather much better than would be expected, but this is principally owing to the continued use of the hoe. Such ground as that whero early crops of potatoes have been grown on should he filled with winter vegetables such as cabbage and cauliflowers. There is always a certain amount of risk in growing these plants, but it is worth while to give them .a trial and to sprav them with very weak Jeyes fluid which will keep the moth away to a certain extent. Plant out leeks in well manured ground and give them some water to make a start with. They are most useful vegetables in the winter .and will last well into the spring. French beans may still be sown with a fair prospect of success. Open up a drill in the usual way and give it a good soaking with water; then the seed can be sown and covered up. This watering will be .all that they require. Silver beet seed sown now and thinned out to a foot or more apart will give plenty of green stuff for the winter and early spring. It likes a well manured soil that has been deeply dug and if watered and given liquid manure it can be got ready for use in about eight weeks. Give lettuces plenty of liquid manure and water them when required. This crop is one that must be grown very fast to be any good. Sow seeds for succession in well manured ground.