GARDENING NOTES

Northern Advocate, 16 March 1929, Page 7

GARDENING NOTES

[By “TAINUI.”]

LILIUMS. These handsome flowers are just finishing their flowering season. Lilies bloom during the summer months. The Thumbergianum varieties bloom in November; these are in red and orange shades. The beautiful white Longiflorum comes next.' It is often called the Christmas Lily. About the same time (December) the Madonna Lily (Lilium Candidum) is in flower. The flowers here are , more open than in the Christmas 1 Lily, and the plant is a taller grower. The above all need moderately rich soil, a fair amount of sunshine 1 , and good drainage with shelter from cold winds. Probably the next to flower is L. Regale, that beautiful lily that has become so popular during the last few years. The beautiful white trumpet has a pink touch at the back of the petals^. L. Henryii is generally the next to flower. It is’a tall grower of the tiger-lily shape, and’ has. a beautiful golden yellow shade. Then the true Tiger Lily, Tigrinum Spletidens, one of the hardiest of lilies’." It will ’do well and' flower ir sun or shade. The. shade is yellow with black .spots. , And there is a double-variety that blooms about six weeks later than the single; it is a fine flower. Lilium Auratum comes in next, generally towards the end of January or early in February. It is called the Golden Rayed Lily of Japan, and is generally considered tile largest and most handsome, of all the lilies. It is ivory white, with yellow bands and deeper spots. In late February, the pink and white L. speciosum come into bloom. They are often loosely called the pink and white tiger lilies. They are tall growers, and very beautiful, particularly when grown in partial shade. All these lilies mentioned do well in Whahgarei, but there are numbers of others! that might be given a trial. Such are L. Parclalinum, L. Sulphur Gale, L. Hansoni, L. Humboldtii, L. Giganteum, etc.

All the lilies that bloom after Christmas look better in partial shade, and planted towards the back of the border so that the blooms wall just appear over the tops of the other plants. The tiger lilies will grow in most soils. The Henryii, Auratum, and Speciosum like a moderately rich, deep, well-drained soil with plenty of water when they are coming- into bloom. Lilies should alw r ays be left to die down after they have finished flowering. If they are to be moved, it-should be done as soon after this as possible. Once planted, they are best left alone until they become overcrowded. Artificial manures or lime are not good for lilies. A mulch of old manure or leaf mould in early spring is all 'they need, provided the soil has been well prepared at time of planting.

HYACINTHS. These spring flowering bulbs arc well-known and greatly admired; they have come more and more into favour during recent years. They are , now presented in a wide range of colours with fine, sweet scented blooms that may be grown with little trouble. They are used for bedding, potting, or growing in bowls, either for decorative or exhibition purposes. Early planting (February till April) is necessary for success. Use a light soil, with sand, lime and well-rotted cow manure well worked in. Sat in three to four inches deep. Raise the beds, or give well-drained positions, and always choose an open aspect. After flowering, and when the foliage begins to turn yellow, lift the bulbs, clean and dry well in a cool shed; then store in a dry place until wanted to replant.

. —■■■■■■ , >w ■ „ ,t r -m » in~ r ~" mu.Mini.. | OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. j THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. | Sow carrots, turnips, parsnips, spinach, silver beet, cabbage, | cauliflower, lettuce. Also early onions, I Onions sown now and h-ansplantod about the end of June will I come in early. Give them a good, firm, well-drained, and | clean soil; and use fresh seed. Old seed never gives as \ good results. I Mulch rhubarb beds with plenty of manure; well rotted horse j manure is excellent. I Super and potash are both safe, and they make, a good comj bination for developing a good rooting habit. I THE FLOWER GARDEN. I Tlae scarlet Scarborough Lily (Voluta purpurea) has just | finished flowering; it may be divided now if crowded. | Sow seed of nemesia, cineraria, larkspur, carnation, scabiosa, | summer flowering sweet peas, stock, dianthus, gaillardia, | Iceland poppy, antirrhinum, violas, pansies, schizanthus, and | linaria. I Primula malacoides. plants should be ready for planting in the I garden now. They should be well watered until established. I Wallflower plants should not be put into rich soil. If this is j done, they sometimes fail to flower. | Continue to liquid manure, spray, disbud, and stake chrysanI themums. | Gaillardias may have rooted pieces pulled off near the roots, j For best results and long flowering season, give these I . plants a good rich soil, j Continue to put in bulbs of all kinds. I Plant out seedlings for early bloom, j Plant anemone and ranunculus conns and seedlings. I Plant tulips. [, Plant sweet peas in permanent positions. _ I Polyanthus may be lifted and divided during wet weather, I Prepare ground for late planting.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG. Uncertainty is one of the factors that go to make the charm of gardening, just as it goes l to make for popularity in bowling and many games. Perhaps, it is the harmless, little gamble that whets the appetite; perhaps it is the pleasure we get from overcoming difficulties. In gardening as in other things there are two causes of failure — those that are avoidable and those that are unavoidable. Clearly then we must -eliminate the former completely, and reduce the latter as much as possible. Of causes that are avoidable, sowing out of season or out of place are common enough. We are often tempted too, to take a short-cut by leaving out the pricking out of seedlings, transplanting at last spindly drawn plants that get a poor chance in the open. Or we may priek out our little plants, and spoil everything by regarding .the hardening off process as unnecessary. We may weary in well-doing and fail to water our seedlings during dry spells. Or we may think that shading them is never necessary. Perhaps we give our growing plants wrong treatment, positions in .'shade when they insist on full sun, exposed positions when shelter is essential; bad drainage, dr inadequate manuring, misusing particularly lime and nitrogenous manures. In any case, it is probably lapse rather than lack of knowledge, for. we have the advice of long experience and observation to guide us. Furthermore, we have not to search far to reach the basic principles on which this advice is, founded, as, e.g.,, that the limiting factors to germination are moisture, a degree of warmth and fresh air; that plants take in food from the through very delicate hair-like rootlets, that sunlight plays a big part in the feeding of plants, and so on.

Partly avoidable and partly unavoidable are injuries done to plants by insect and fungoid pests. As far as possible, these should be anticipated and dealt with on the principle that prevention is better than cure, by making’ our plants as resistant as possible by judicious manuring, and by seasonable spraying.

All of which means that gardening operations can be carried out only where the gardener is prepared to give the necessary attention to his plants and their cultivation. GENERAL NOTES. If you would insist on saving your own aster seed, to ensure a large percentage of double flowers, the seed should be saved from the largest and best of the doubles. Seed saved from singles and semi-doubles invariably produce single flowered , plants. The better plan is to pull out all notwanteds. .It is always safer and surer to pay for good seed from a reliable merchant. Lupins, the blue, or the large-flow-ering white, are good soiling crops for digging in. Where time is a consideration, mustard is quicker, though it does not put the same “punch” into the soil as do lupins. The black sooty appearance on the leaves and skin of passion fruit vines is caused by small-winged insects called leaf-hoppers that often infest the plant in great numbers. Spray with Black Leaf 40.

DISCOURAGED. A Frenchman was relating his experiences of learning the English language. “When I discovered that if I was quick I was' fast,” he sam. “and that if I was tied I was fast, if I spent too freely I was fast, and that not to eat was to fast, I was discouraged. But when I came across the sentence, ‘The first one won one one-dollar prize,’ I gave up trying to learn English.”