THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 51, 27 January 1933, Page 9

THE GARDEN.

Notes are published under this headi are invited to send in questions relati expert advice; answers will be publishi

THE FLOWER GARDEN. So far the season lias been a very dry one and many amateur gardeners have been tempted to use the iiose without first looking to see if their plants require water. A wet soil is what they look for and, even if it is just moist, they immediately think that the plants are going to die. They may droop a bit in the hot sun, but will freshen up again at night. The best tiling one can dp for them is to work up the surface with the hoe and to keep a good loose surface the whole time. For such plants as chrysanthemums and dahlias which are being grown for show purposes the case is a little different because these blooms are more or less artificial, and they have to be grown by artificial means, which are water and liquid manure in large quantities, and one cannot give liquid manure to any plant if it is not moist round it. We know this is often done, but it is a bad practice and entails a lot of waste that could be avoided. There is one thing that is often overlooked and that is the necessity for airing the water before it is used. Run it into a tank or something during the day and leave it in the sun for a few days, when it will be fit to use. Water straight from the main is useless and good rain water will give results that are quite a fortnight ahead of it. Water run into a tank or pit may not be as good as rain water, but it is a long way better than the water straight out of the main. Cinerarias can be planted now in selected spots that can be kept moist until they begin to grow. Seed can also be sown for making plantings in the future. If the leaf boring insect is present, boil up half a gallon of tar with two gallons of water and keep stirring until the whole lot has been dissolved! This can be mixed with ten gallons of cold water and poured about on the beds where the plants are growing. It will do them no harm and the fly that lays the egg of this leaf boring insect does not like the smell of tar and will keep away. AVe have found this to be an excellent preventive, but have not been able to make the mixture so that we could spray it through the garden sprayer successfully. One thing necessary when making it is to let the water boil before putting the tar in. Tilium candidum can be planted now. This is probably the oldest known lily grown and about the only one that likes lime in the soil. It can be grown and flowered in the dry limestone soils, but grows best in a rather stiff loam, which must be well drained. The resting time of this lily is very short, probably not more than a week or two at the most, and if they can be planted up during the nexj week «v two they should do well. Freesias, and practically all the bulbs of that class, can be lifted now and sorted for planting up. Freesias do much better when they are planted early in the season, and if they are being grown in boxes get the soil ready at once to put them into. Some small growers fill their boxes a month or six weeks beforehand and get the seedling weeds to grow when they can pull them out and have reasonable weed free soil to plant into. Any soil such as that used for planting or pricking out into will suit them. PERENNIAL PLANTS.

This is a good time of the year to sow seeds of perennial plants for putting out in the herbaceous border. They require no more attention than that given to annuals that are raised in the spring and can be grown in exactly the same way, only it may be necessary to shade them a little more from the hot sun. If a frame is being used, scrim can be used to coyer it and give the shade required during the heat of the day, and it can be' taken off at night and replaced again in the morning. Young seedling plants for the rockery can also be raised now. Some of the rock garden plants are not long livers and care must be taken to have a few on hand to replace any deaths that may take place. Any. fine seeds can be raised in pots sunk to their brims in sand and these pots can be covered with a sheet of glass to conserve the moisture. Generally watering the sand round them is sufficient to keep them moist enough, but if they dry out from some cause or another dip the pots in water and leave them there until they are moist ogaip, when they can be taken out and put back in their places in the sand. As soon as any young plants are large enough to handle prick them out into boxes of fresh soil where they will have room to grow until they are wanted for their permanent quarters. Rock gardeners always like to grow their young plants in small pots so that they can be moved to their flowering quarters without any setabek, but we have found that when they are grown in boxes with plenty of room they can be moved with a good ball of earth without any damage or loss of vigour. Pansy seed can be sown at any time now. ROSES. In some cases roses have been in bloom' from the beginning of spring and are still going strong, but these are cases where they have been well looked after during the last month. The best beds are those that have had the faded and dying blooms picked from the plants as soon as they showed the slightest fade. Of course, this means a lot of work, but when it is done every day there is very little to do at any time. The main thing has been to keep the surface of the bed well worked so that the moisture has no other way of escaping except through the leaves of the plants. We are often asked for the best thing to mulch a bed with and'always say well worked soil is a better moistuimpreserver than anything else. However, there are some growers who do not think as we do and consequently they go to a lot of trouble to cover the beds with some foreign material such as manure, lawn clippings, or even straw. These materials are put on the bed either together or separately and have to be raked to one side when the soil is worked. A careful watch must be kept for mildew which will come at any time now. Warm, humid weather seems to bring it in a night. If the plants are sprayed now, it will help to keep mildew down, but there is nothing to beat a regular systematic use of the sprayer, and where this is done the plants always look much better for it and will continue to bloom for a long time, and if mildew can be controlled black leaf spot will not be anything to worry about.

HOLLYHOCKS. Hollyhocks are plants that are coming into favour again, principally owing to the improved strains that have been raised within the last few years. There are both single and double varieties tho.t can be got to come almost true to form and colour from seed and can be got in salmon and wonderful pink shades. Seeds can be sown now in the open border in a specially made bed which should be web treated with lime. Sow the seed thinly in rows and keep the young plants well cultivated and they will be ready to plant out in their permanent positions before the winter sets in. The main thing is to have a good well worked soil that has

ling, and reader einterested in gardening ;ing to matters upon which they wish led with the weekly notes.

been manured for some previous crop if possible. When planting set them out about two feet apart and press the soil firmiy round their roots. They will require no more attention beyond hoeing and weeding. In the early , spring give the plants a good dressing of well rotted manure and fork this into the ground all round them. | A little bonedust and superphosphate is a good manure to use if no old I natural manure can be , got. As they are tall growers, they will naturally require staking and this can he done I with some good bamboo stakes about i six feet long which must be well sunk into the ground. They may grow high- | er than the stakes, but if not tied | too tightly will sway with the wind before they will break. QUESTION. “Lily” says: “I have a lily bulb growing in a large pot in a small glasshouse. While 1 was away at the seaside some vandal cut the flower spikes close to the top of the pot and i am afraid the bulb has been ruined. Do you think 1 could save it by any means. Your notes are most useful and are eagerly read every week.”— >>e do not think you need worry about the lily bulb being spoilt. This often happens to this family and the bulbs take no harm. Take the pot outside and sink it to the brim in the garden where it will keep the roots cool. There should be no hesitation in cutting down liliums when they are in full flower as long as the bulbs are left alone and are not disturbed afterwards. These bulbs should never be dried out like daffodils, but if they have to be lifted for some purpose or another plant them up at once. When this is done we think gardeners will find that they will not have any trouble in growing this class of plant. George Ta.yloh in some notes about lilies says: “My method of propagating some of them is to jerk the stem completely out of the bulb when they are m full flower and to heel theso flower steins so that the soil completely covens about twelve inches of the bottom, and bulblets form along that part which has been covered.” We mention this to show that no harm is likely to accrue to your plant in the pot which has only been cut off. Lily culture is becoming more general now and some very fine examples are to be seen at various times. Lilium regale has been very good this season and is a variety that will grow anywhere that L. Longiflorum succeeds in. “Gardener” asks how to get rid of earwigs that are attacking his dahlias and roses. He says: “I could not make out what was wrong with some dahlias that had not been lifted this year and began to bloom early. The buds were riddled with holes and on examining them I found that an earwig was inside. I have tried pots filled with wood wool and have caught several. They are also feeding on rose blooms. It is a curious thing, but I have never seen them here before and as none of my neighbours seem to be affected I cannot make out where they came from. Any information about them will be useful.” —The only method we know of to deal with this pest is the one you have adopted and the pots must be examined every morning and any found harbouring in them killed at once. They will not drown if put into water, but hot water will kill them. AVe have looked up all the authorities we could find on the subject and they all recommend trapping by the means stated above and also hollow broad bean stalks and lengths cut from a bamboo with a light piece of wood wool or liay in one end. These must be shaken out every morning. Frequent cultivation of the soil is said to disturb them and they will leave for other fields. They are night feeders and do not like "the light and will run to hide when disturbed. They do not seem to be a general pest about here and we have never been asked about them before. One writer says that if tlie parents are killed their eggs will perish so it would be a good plan to set ail the traps that you can.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. The onion crop will be fairly well advanced now and at the first signs of the tops turning yellow their heads should be bent over to ripen off. Some growers have been complaining about onion mildew attacking their plants, and once it has got hold there is nothing that will check it. However, the rest of the plants in the bed can be saved if they are sprayed with one teaspoonful of permanganate of potash (Condy’s crystals) to a benzine tin of water. Spray two or three times at intervals of four or five days. It would be better to take up the plants that are badly affected and dry them off for present use. Some may go rotten, but others will be usable and can be used at once. When the main crop is ready, lift the bulbs carefully and lay them on thir sides so that the base does not come in contact with the soil. Set any bulbs with thick necks aside for immediate use. From the time the tops are bent over until the bulbs are ready for pulling is about a fortnight, but this will depend on the weather to a certain extent. The dry weather has made the crops of peas dry off sooner than they would have done had the soil been moist. If any further rows are to be sown this month, open the drill and give it a thorough soaking with water and put the seed in water to soak for twelve hours or so. They will swell up to twice their original dried size so allowance must be made for this and a large enough bowl used to hold them. Use one of the dwarf growing kinds that will mature in 90 days.