GARDEN & FIELD

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7061, 8 November 1929, Page 14

GARDEN & FIELD

(Specially written for ‘

ROUTINE WORK IN FLOWER GARDEN. Welcome showers have done an immense amount of good in the garden and all seasonable - work should be pushed on as rapidly as possible, taking full advantage of the favourable condition of the soil.

Chrysanthemums are well forward and in many eases wo'uld be all the better if cut back several inches before setting in. Plant in rich soil, with a liberal dressing of lime.

Complete the planting of dahlias this month, staking them at the same time. Dahlias love a deeply dug soil, enriched with well rotted manure, and plenty of moisture. Bud roses for large blooms, cut back aubretia, arabis and cerastium, as they go out of bloom. Continue periodical plantings of gladioli. Prepare soil for zinnias, asters and all the half hardy family of plants. Weeds will grow rapidly after the showers • and every effort should be made to keep them down, thus reserving more moisture for the flowers. •

Cut back ranunculus when the flowering period is over. Plants of some annual, such' as nemesia, phlox, drummondii, portulaea, etc., may be dibbed in among them, in order to brighten the plot for the. summer and autumn months. Plant out cosmeas and tree marigolds; where large, plants are wanted, also the fairy sweet sultans, which grow, into bushes as large and as graceful as the cosmeas.

Top dress canna beds with artificial or well rotted manure. Later,, when growth is several inches high,,they are all the better well hoed,, and mulched with lawn grass clippings, or something of a , similar nature. The mulch should only: be applied; after heavy showers or after well watering. Plants of these handsome, showy subjects, may still be set in, if this work has been delayed. A -further small sowing of , aster, nemesia, and any ; quick blooming annual may be made for. late autumn blooming. • •

Plant largely of bonfire salvias, in sheltered, sunny, spots, surrounding them with :plants of the scarlet flowered bedding begonia. A few plants of amaranthus (grown .for their hand: some foliage) blends well, when planted in the background. •’ Plant celeosia and phlox' drummonfiii, fomanother.-briiliant-display, of col: our. Furnish the ary places in the garden with-antirrhinum plants.

The Vegetable Garden.

Here, too, the soil' is in good order for the large; amount of work that, is waiting, to be .done. Rapid growth is already noticeable among,, the earlier planted things, i ■•••• '• ■ - • Sow a fresh: supply.-.. of all salad plants. They will get a good start, and mature rapidly. Sow beans of all varieties, and a further supply of. peas. ' Plant out' tomato, cucumber, pump'kin, etc., or, seeds ofiany .of tho melon family may be planted, in the prepared beds. It is very important that , carrots, turnips, parsnips ,etc., be thinned early. Further sowings of these vegetables may be made.. Procure seeds of savoy,, cauliflower, broccolli, kale, and brussels sprouts, sowing them at intervals during the month. Mould potatoes, and prepare ground for a further planting. Sow celery and leek seed. Complete the transplanting of onions. Sow seed of the white pickling onion, where these are in demand.. Place straw around the strawberries to keep the fruit cloan. Keep down the weeds ,they are all soft and succulent just now, and make splendid material for the compost heap. Culture of the Iris.

During the month of Ivovember, many beautiful bearded or flag irises are blooming. To the beginner who has not yet added the culture of thi3 very fascinating genus to the garden, certain principles may be laid down, to help guide him or her how to begin. In the: first place, you must not expect /even the good-natured, iris to grow anywhere and in any odd place. It will grow, but it will.not flower as it would do if. planted,-where, the. sun may reach the plant and rhizome. An ideal place is an oval or oblong bed, not too wide, surrounded by a path, round which one may view the beautiful transparency of colour which is so noticeable in these attractive and wonderful flowers, not ! unlike so much stained glass of the very highest merit. An iris flower, when viewed with the sun at one’s back, is often disappointing, as it' may look dingy and smoky, but- when viewed from the opposite quarter, with the sun shining through its largo surface’of-colour, the delicate and transparent texture gives one. quite another impression. The most necessary feature-inthe cultivation of these irises is, good drainage. A garden on high ground with stones in its constitution has a natural drainage and cannot be improved, unless it is to see that there is a mixture of aground limestone added to the soil if : not already there. If, by good luck/ one has a bank above a sunken lawn, with a path just beyond tho bank, here again,, one has another ideal position to make an excellent display.' The soil in this case may be of a heavy loamy clay nature, to which should be added a mixture of mbrtar brick rubbish to help give porosity to < the soil. In all cases, wherever, the .position, three ounces of basic slag and two ounces of bonemcal to every square yard, will bo of much benefit to the plants. If it happens that one’s garden lies very low and. of a heavy clay nature, it would be necessary to make a raised bed a foot high, preparing the ground in the same way as stated above, but wherever one plants irises, see that there is a good mixture of lime'in some form.

Planting.

Do not plant deeply. The rhizome or root stock should be on the surface of the soil. Spread out such roots as the. rhizome-may possess and plant firmly about 18 inches apart. There arc tall varieties, medium; and dwarf, so that it is possible 1o have C, well arranged bed with the fail

‘Times” by Lorna.)

varieties grouped in the centre. The best time to plant and break up' existing clumps is just as they go out of bloom. New roots are just beginning to form at this time and are not so easily damaged as when later, the plant is full of long fibrous roots. Moreover, tho plants bloom better the following season if they are planted at this time. A,nother fascinating feature connected with irises is the interest one gets as the result of hybridisation. From a pod of seed, one may grow in the second, but more often the third year, a colony of young plants, which, on blooming, possess the characteristics of their parents, some from one parent, others from the other, and some from both. If the antecedents if former generations are known, one may even trace the eccentricities or peculiarities in their offspring. No two plants produce exactly the same result, some slight variation is apparent.

Plants for the Rock Garden. For the rock garden, one needs mat forming plants, trailing plants, and plants which will flourish in high, dry places. For the low, lawn effect, the lollowing are to be recommended, gentiana verna, thyms scrpyllum, a minute creeping thyme, claytonia, with a turf of fresh green leaves like grass, a quarter of an inch high and almost stemless white flowers. Erigoron leiomerus gives the effect of- a lilac daisy an inch or so high, primula minima, a fine turf maker, with big, rosy flowers, erect, and almost stemless; P. farinosa, rather taller, with heads of lilac pink flowers. Poly-gala, mat forming and brilliant blue, and androsace carnea, pink. Among all these mat forming plants, many of the small varieties of bulbs may be planted. For • trailing down over rocks, saxifraga upiculata, • primrose yellow and its white companion, S. alba, withS. haagii, golden yellow'; all flowering in spring. Dryas. octopetala, with its lovely flowers like' white anemones; androsace lanuginosa, silky leafed, traling with with heads of lilac flowers in late summer. Polygonium, again for-late - summer and autumn with slender rosy flower spikes and crimson autumn leaves. Many of the dianthus family will in-time spill over a rock with good, effect. An extremely choice and lovely plant is linum salsaloides. It forms a dense low mat of heath like foliage, and the in summer, entirely hides this with a smother of big flax flowers of white satin, delicately veined with palest. lilac. For high places and for wedging in narrow crevices, small compact growing things are needful. Many of the kabsehia section of saxifragas are good. »S. burseriana, with white flowers, huge and pure, on smooth red stems in earliest spring, is lovely. Of all the yellow varieties, S. faldonside is still the best with its citron yellow blossoms, perfectly rounded. S. irvingii, tiny, neat, thrifty, with hard cushions of close blue grey foliage and counties* little shell pink flowers, and S. myra, larger flowered, but compact and dwarf and rich cherry red; S. opposififolia is beautiful, with its big heather purple flower. Here on tho rocks are perfect homes for some of the androsaces with their grey-felt pincushions. Here, too, campanula zoysii is best planted where it may possibly elude the wily slug. Of pinks suitable, there is dianthus neglectus, three inches high, with rose pink flowers and buff yellow at the backs of the petals or the minute D. musale, rare and dainty.

Colour in tho Flower Border. One of the delights of careful gardening is to invent and contrive combinations of colour harmonies. One that has proved a success is “the grey garden,” with its setting of grey or silvery foliage. In the background are the handsome giant globe thistles, with a further growing of echinops, artemisia ludoviciana, growing towards the middle and back, a most useful plant, which,bears cutting back to any height required. Shorter grey leaved plants for fronting arc cerastiums, santolina, stachys,.lanata (lamb’s ears) and artemisin stelleriana. For early blooming in this setting a grouping of pale pink oriental, poppies look well, as also do many of the art shades found in the flag irises. The autumn flowering phlox never iooks better than when planted in a setting of grey. There are a few dahlias with purplish tints which look well, as also do the pale pink hollyhocks. Clumps of pale pink or smoke coloured gladioli are fine, while any spare corners may be filled in with gypsophila, hepeta mussini (catmint) and pale pink stocks. Some varieties of. heuchera look extremely well, their dainty flowering spikes showing to great advantage. Where it is feasible a background of the lovely purple jackmanni clematis adds much beauty to the border.' Double Primrose Culture.

, A great many losses are reported of these once again favourite flowers.. During the dry summer months they will often die off, much to their owner’s. regret. The primrose, like many other wood and copse plants, suffers from having both roots and tops dried by the sun in an open spot. The remedy' obviously lies in mulching, something that will help keep the roots cool. If this is done after rain, and just before tho hot, dry months are encountered, there will bo few, if any, losses. The constitution of the double primrose appears to be much weaker, and calls for more careful cultivation.

Gloxinias From Leaves.

- .These handsome pot plants are easily propagated from leaves in much the same way as the Bex' Begonia. Insert the leaf half way into the soil any time after.the leaves are fully formed, or cut the ribs into short lengths, with a portion of the leaf attached. Insert theso edgewise lilce ordinary cuttings in silver sand. Placo them in a hotbed or warm propagating jib, or a box with a sheet of glass over it is usually a successful- way. Shade and water moderately, or cut through the mid rib at intervals, fix the lower end of each portion with a peg, put gome silver .sand .about the cutj ami

keep shaded in a close frame with a brisk heat. They should root from every cut. Gloxinias from Ssed.

The modern varieties of gloxinias, with their distinctiveness in habit, their exquisitely coloured and erect flowers, and their free and continuous flowering qualities, are amongst our most valuable indoor flowering plants. The flowers of these modern varieties are of great substance and are remarkable for their richness and variation of colour. The range of colours include white, pink, scarlet, crimson, violet, and purple ,while some varieties are delicately spotted with an infinite variation of colours which makes them highly interesting' and attractive objects and striking contrasts to the self coloured forms.

Few plants are so easy of cultivation, provided space can be found for them in a house which affords moist atmospheric conditions and a genial temperature, for plants can be grown from seed to flowering stage in the relatively short period of six months. See may* be sown at the present time or left for autumn. See that the compost is moist before sowing, levelling the surface with a board, just covering the seed with fine soil. Cover the box with paper and a piece of glass. Fibrous loam and leaf mould is a good mixture when the plants are Teady to pot off, with a little bone-meal added. When plants have done flowering, gradually ripen them by withholding water, and when.fully ripened, shake the corns free from soil and store them in a mixture of leaf mould and sand, which is nearly dry, but containing enough moisture to keep the corns plump. When showing signs of activity, they may be started on again in the same way as seedling plants.