Garden & Field

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7111, 8 January 1930, Page 9

Garden & Field

Seasonable Routine Work in the Flower Garden. Seed is beginning to ripon on primroses and auriculas, and if it is desired to raise some plants in this way, the seed should be sown as soon as gathered, as it takes a fairly long time to germinate. Place the, seed boxes in a shady place and keep covered with a piece of sacking which should be moistened from time to time. Nice young plants will then be ready for autumn bedding out which will bloom the following spring. Sow the freshly gathered ranunculus and anemone seed for the same purpose and in the same way.

Transplant flag or bearded irises. Attend to the thinning and staking of chrysanthemums and danlias. Make a Anal planting of gladioli. . Propagate geraniums and pelargoniums. Cut back the growths on miohaelmas daisies and helcniums in those parts of the garden where tall things are not required. Prune the old flowering wood oil rambler roses as they go out of bloom. 1 Devote any spare time to the clearing of weeds oil lawns. Commence making plans for winter bedding and autumn alterations of all kinds. Scrutinise the borders and make a note of any clashing colours to be changed in the autumn. Weed and hoe borders regularly. Do not omit to mulch the dahlias to conserve the moisture where it is not possible to supply them with water during the hot months. The Vegetable Gardon. Thin out carrots sown last month to three or four inches apart. After thinning give the bed a dusting of old soot. Give asparagus beds a good coating of fat manure. Plant out further cauliflowers, cabbages, etc., for the winter supplies. Tie the tops of potatoes together where space is limited, and plant cabbage or cauliflower in the trenches. Sow any salad plants where they are to remain, choosing a partially shaded spot. Spray tomatoes and potatoes twice during the present month to keep fungus blight in check. Sow spinach beet for autumn and winter use. Watch outdoor tomatoes, carefully removing all side shoots and basal growths. Make the final planting of potatoes. Remove all runners from strawberry plants, reserving those needed for new bods. The Viola. The modern viola is sometimes termed the tufted pansy. It -is one of th<

(Specially written for •‘Times" by Noma.)

Propagation,

very best bedding and border plants in cultivation, and thte finer largo flowered varieties aro largely grown by amateurs as “show" flowers. It differs from the pansy proper in being more of a perennial in its character, in addition to which it produces a wider range of clear, clean, self-coloured flowers. This perennial character is derived from the parentage on one side. The early raisers who worked on it fifty to sixty years ago used viola lutea o,nd viola cornuta as the female parent and crossed with pollen of the bedding pansies of the day. The large flowered pansy is derived chiefly, if not exclusively, from viola tricolour, an annuhl species. In hot climates the pansy rarely lives beyond the year, while with us it is more of a biennial nature if given a little attention through the hottest months. Culture. Violas grow well in any good garden soil, but amply repay a little special attention. Tho beds should bo thoroughly prepared during the autumn months, as quickly as possible after the annuals have giveu of their best. I‘or furnishing tho beds and for edgings, cuttings should bo struck now, putting them in some partly shaded spot in the reserve garden. Thoy will then be nice bushy plants ready for the late autumn planting. Any seeds available should also be sown now, but variations are likely to occur, and where but one colour is wanted it is better to rely on cuttings. The advantage of this early planting is that the plants commence blooming as soon as they are nicely rooted, and continue blooming throughout the winter and spring months. This is a great advantage, when one thinks of tho little colour there is in the garden at that season. In a very free or sandy soil, beds for violas want special preparation to get first-class results. Some four inches of the top soil should be temporarily removed from th© bods, and a layer of two to three inches thick of well decayed cow manure spread on tho surface and forked in, after which the removed soil may be replaced. The roots soon go down and get hol’d of the manure, after which they grow amazingly. On a medium or heavy soil the manure need only be thoroughly dug into the top spit. Tho plants should be set out in lines twelve inches apart, allowing eight inches between the plants.

Violas are the easiest things to propagate at this season if a shady border is available. Where possible pull young growths out of the centres of the old plants; if a little piece of root is attached so much tho better, if not, cut the growth cleanly below tho lowest joint. Dibble in sandy soil a few inches

apart, and' make very fix'm, sprinkling with water immediately, and later as required. In about three weeks they will have rooted.

When violas first came into existence thoy were rayed, or marked with lines on the lower and side petals, but now tho pure self-coloured varieties are preferred, and many choice varieties are available. It is a strange fact that the yellow varieties are much more highly perfumed than those of other colours, and where fragrance is desired in the garden these should be given first place. Planting Narcissi. Some of the most successful exhibition growers of the daffodil family, aver that early planting is most desirable, and that the bulbs need a long season wherein to form, roots. January is their month for planting. In one way this early planting would seem to be an advantage as the ground is usually in a more workable condition, whereas, in. March it is often too dry and hard to handle.

Bulbs for exhibition need special preparation of the soil. A light soil needs to bo made more retentive of moisture by adding cow manure, which must, be put well down so that there is no chance of the bulb coming into actual contact with it. Bone manure is highly beneficial. On heavy soil the bed needs to bo provided with extra drainage, and if clay be close, some of it should be removed and a layer of old bones placed at the bottom. A layer of turf from pasture land should come next, after which some cow manure may be used, replacing the top soil with some bone meal added to it. A point of great importance is deep planting. Bulbs are usually planted too shallow, thoy should bo put down at least six inches below the soil. If the bed is well prepared it should do for at least three seasons. Rotation of Crops.

Rotational cropping is a system In which vegetables of the same character or those closely related in some way do not follow one another on the same? piece of ground year after year. For instance, certain plants root deeply while others have fibrous surface roots, so that by alternating say, carrots and lettuces, we utilise to the utmost the manuria! substances in the ground. As is well known, too, plants of one family, such as the cabbage and turnip group, take a lot of one or two plant foods from the soil, while others such as onions, need those foods scarcely touched by the former. Less manure and more economical cropping are thus tho direct results of applying the principle of rotation in these cases. Tho pea and bean family, on the other hand, actually enrich the soil in some respects, und thus make it fit to yield large and profitable quantities of cabbages and lettuces, while there are many garden crops that need lavish supplies of farmyard manure, such as leeks and celery, that can be followed by those merely requiring a rich soil without fresh manure such as parsnips and beetroot.

Cropping Rules. While it must not be forgotten that local conditions may vary the cropping to a certain extent, there aro certain fairly hard and fast rules for guidance. Beetroot, carrots, parsnips, etc., which must not have fresh manure, should follow heavily manured crops such as cabbages, celery, leeks, onions, lettuces, and turnips, top-dress-ings of nitrates being only permissible for these root crops when thoy are young. Cabbages and turnips may follow beans, celery, leeks, lettuces, onions, peas or potatoes, as they grow freely in good fresh soil heavily manured. Broad beans, French boans, peas and so on, do splendidly in ground previously occupied by celery, leeks, lettuces, onions, or potatoes. Potatoes grow well after almost any crop, with the addition of a little potash, as they love a loose soil. Strawberries, hardy perennials, roses, fruit bushes, asparagus, and long standing crops do best in a soil which ha 3 borne a few crops of beans, lettuces, or potatoes. Rotation systems are the result of wide experience and practical reasoning. Every gardener must work out his own system and ho will soon reap the benefit of good systematic work in healthy plants, free from pests and keeping the soil fertility at a good average standard.. Next week's notes will deal with what is termed double cropping. The Sun Roses (Heliantliemiuns).

At no time do these pretty roeh plants present such a glow of colour as when still moist with the morning dew; indeed, by mid-day they are either entirely or partially closed. One great merit possessed by these sun roses is the fact that they will not only grow, but flourish on dry banks whero but little else will thrive. But to see them at their best it is necessary to arrange some rockwork thereon, as the plants aro thus enabled to resist the drought better than on an open bank. The foliage is small, very deep green, and hard in nature, with colours of blossoms ranging from white to crimson, and including several yellowflowered kinds. Some varieties have single blooms while others are fully double. In planting it is far better to select a few marked varieties than to have a groat many sorts, several of which will differ but slightly from each other. Clear, well defined colours trill give greater satisfaction than those of a dull intermediate hue.