GARDENING

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 39, 16 February 1938, Page 13

GARDENING

Routine Work in the Borders. Prune all climbing roses as they go out of bloom, also bedding roses which have finished blooming may be cut half way back, thus inducing them to give more flowers at a later date. Remove all dead blooms from border plants. Clip privet, and holly hedges. Profagate geraniums, fushias, and cactii. Layer carnations, and propagate pinks by pipings. Dry off bulbs ready for replanting. Plant all kinds of needed bulbs in pots or baskets for winter use. Sow seed of wallflower, antirrhinum, primula, calendula, Iceland poppy, pansy, and any herennial things which may be needed. Thin dahlia shoots, and tie in all strong shoots. Prepare plots for early anemones and ranunculi. Prepare trenches for sweet peas. Prune all hardy shrubs as they go out of flower. Prepare beds for all kinds of bulbs. Cut back all lanky growths from rock plants. Apply salt or other weed killer to weedy walks. Feed choice bedding plants with liquid manure. The Vegetable Garden. Weed and keep new asparagus beds well watered. Sow more shorthorn carrots, and beetroot. Watch outdoor tomatoes, carefully removing all side shoots and basa\. growths. 4 Plant cabbage or other greens on land vacated by second early potatoes or peas.’ Sow more peas and dwarf beans. Keep leeks intended for large specimens well supplied with manure water, and earth them up again. Pay frequent attention to rows of celery, dusting the leaves freely with soot and keeping the soil moist. Sow parsley, silver beet, kale, and cabbage. Bend over the tops of onions as soon as they show signs of discontinuing their growth. Sow a short row of lettuce for autumn use. Four Nice Climbers. When orders for seeds are being mad) up and a few climbers are wanted the few listed here will be found of great, value. Thunbergia alata, is a charming half hardy annual and a native of the East Indies. When well grown the plants will run about five feet in length. There are several colours, bright orange with a white-eye., a white variety with a jet black eye, buff, and shades of sulphur and yellow. Maurandia Bardayana is a native of Mexico and is a good plant for a trellis. There is a variety with deep violet flowers which is very beautiful, there are also pure white and rose purple -aids. Eccremocarpus scaber, is a very decorative plant for pillars, trellis, etc. The clusters of deep orange red flowers are bell like in shape, and the growth of the plant has almost a fernlike grace. This one is not an annual as fresh growths will come up from the base each year. Cobea scandens is always liked on account of its all round beauty. The foliage is good, the long shaped seed pods and the flowers which open a beautiful shade of green, but soon change into a nice purplish shade. Flowers of the different shades hanging on the vines presents a pleasing picture. The inclusion of a few creepers add much to the interest and beauty of the garden and these are all easily raised from seed.

Sweet Peas—A Few Good Exhibition Varieties.

Every season there are new varieties on the market, but a few of the older ones continue to hold their own on the exhibition stand. Among which are the following. Picture, an immense cream pink, suffused with ivory. Wembly, an exquisite pale lavender full of charm and quality, Olympia, a wonderful rich royal shade of purple of immense size, fortune is an exquisite shade of deep violet blue, Mrs A. Searles has flowers of a wonderful toning of rich pink and orient red. Crimson kings flowers are well waved and of a rich shade. The blooms of gold crest are a wonderful rich salmon, large, and well waved. For those who like to include a white variety, avalanche is good, the blooms are pure white, large, and well waved. Penkie, is an enormous deep pink, well frilled. Charm is a rich glowing deep red cerise. Reflection is best described as the bluest of blues. Huntomen is a good one to include, a brilliant scarlet which does not fade. The above are all good types and can be safely recommended for either exhibition or for general decoration and will produce four or more blooms, well placed, and on long stems. How to Grow the Largest Pansies.

Pansies are too well known to require any description, as they are favourites with all. For best results one must start with a good strain, and seed may be sown at the present time and on through March and April. The finest pansies are, as a rule, shy seeders, which accounts for the difference in the price of Lho various mixtures offered. Pansies produce the largest and finest flowers in a rich loamy soil, and a cool, moist climate, especially the large flowered strains. To secure the finest and largest blooms we must cultivate so as to have them in full bloom at the season best suited for their highest development, which is late in the fall or early in the spring. Proper preparation of the soil is an essential point in the raising of fine pansies, and as they delight in heavy soil, plenty of well decayed cow manure is among the best of things to be used. Set the plants out in the bed some six or eight inches apart and make a practise of keeping the soil well loosened among them. If growing for exhibition it is best to allow but three leaders, keeping all others trimmed off as they develop. They’respond very quickly to liquid manuring which should be done twice weekly and it is best to keep all buds removed until nearing the time of the show. Use a sprinkling of ..me at the time the bed is prepared and if any old soot is handy work it into the top spit. A situation which only gets the suu for part of the day is best, and the plants should have the old runners removed before the flowers get too small, that the full energies of the plant

(Specially written for “The Times” by “Lorna.”)

are devoted to the production of young growth. If this is attended to the plants may be kepi in strong, stock* growth and will bloom well during the second spring too. When the soil bakes or dries out quickly it can be kept cooler and more moist by placing a mulch of grass clippings from the lawn, one inch in thickness over the bed, but it is much better to produce the same result by keeping the soil well worked and fine on the surface, as this acts as a mulch to the soil below, keeping it cool and preventing the rapid evaporation of moisture. Verbena Venosa. Very few gardeners realise what a useful plant verbena venosa is for those who have hot dry soils in particular. The bluish lilac flowers are produced in terminal and lateral spikes, crowded together to form a dense head an inch through. The leaves are rigid, entire, and partly grip the stem at the base. They are covered with bristly hairs. Verbena venosa seeds freely and germinates rapidly and is of a perennial habit in most countries. It is also a good plant for inclusion in the rock garden and flowers over a long period, never failing even during the driest and hottest of weather. It is useful too, for grouping here and there in herbaceous borders. In that way, its bright, almost violet flowers are valuable in themselves and for their contrast with other subjects. Simple Soil Improvements.

The soil is the foundation of the crop, and a little time and labour spent on its improvement are repaid very handsomely. This may be done very cheaply, and the most suitable time to do the work is in the autumn or early spring. Generally speaking old garden soils are always in good heart, if given annual or biennial dressings of farmyard manure. Occasionally they become rather sour, owing to the large amount of organic acid they contain. Few vegetable crops do really well in acid soils, most kinds preferring a neutral or slightly alkaline sdil medium. Such soil acidity is easily put right, as a dressing of lime will cause the sour soil to become ,e sweet’ } again. Ground carbonate of lime may be applied at tho rate of one found per square yard. It should not be dug into the soil, but merely raked or lightly forked in, and is best applied in winter. Clay soils are usually very difficult to work, and become very sticky in wet weather. If they are very wet, it may be necessary to drain off the surplus water before attempting further improvements. This may be effected by 1 laying small drain pipes, and is best done by a skilled hand.

Autumn digging is very helpful, as the winter frosts break down the raw lumps of clay and bring them to a fine tilth. Bulky vegetable matter such as straWy, farmyard manure, and clean vegetable refuse, tend to open up the soil and make it more porous and easier work. Liming is also very effective, as lime flocculates the small clay particles, and thus the soil becomes less retentive of moisture. Clay soils should never be worked or trod on when they are wet. A few hours work on clay soil in wet weather may ruin it for years to come. Light soils are usually lacking

in “body, ** and dry out quickly in hot weather. Bulky vegetable refuse, decayed lawn mowings, farmyard manure, especially cow manure, are all good for these light soils. These materials form humus which gives the soil body and causes it to become more retentive of moisture, so that it floes not dry out easily.

Light isoils are usually very early, as they warm up quickly, but require large amounts of manure. Modern research 1m 3 shown that a sufficiency of humus is necessary to bring the soil to a high state of fertility, in fact, the more the hotter, up to a limit of twelve per cent. Fertilisers may be very usefully employed to supplement the farmyard manure, and generally most crops are increased by the use of both artificial and natural manures. Climbing French Beans in Pots. For those who have heated glass houses beans may be grown very successfully in pots/ for use during winter and early spring Start them off in three inch pots and they like a steady temperature of seventy degrees. Before the seedlings become pot bound transfer them to six or seven inch pots, using a good rich loam. When growth is some six inches high, nip out the lead and retain on each plant the strongest one of the resultant side shoots. This stopping reduces flower dropping as plants on their maiden

stems seem to contract their distressing habit. As the need arises support each plant with a four feet tall stake, which is the limit to which growth should be allowed to extend before stopping it finally. From the time the first pods are an inch long until the crop is finished, feed weekly and alternately with dilute liquid manure and soot water, and there will be a splendid yield.