GARDENING NOTES

Northern Advocate, 16 November 1929, Page 7

GARDENING NOTES

[By “TAINUI.”]

OPERATIONS FOR NOVEMBER.

j THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

I Sow peas for succession.

j Make sowings of Dwarf and Runner beans. I Sow rock melons. * I Hill up and spray potatoes as they require it. j Cabbages and cauliflowers may be planted in the rows between j hilled-up potatoes. This .is a useful practice where the I * potato rows are sufficiently far apart. j Plant tomatoes, kumaras, pumpkins, pie-melons, marrows. I Transplant celery as soon as it is ready. Do not allow it to I become drawn.

| Prepare celery trenches. I Rhubarb may be easily grown from seed. Present sowings jjjj} I give sticks in the autumn. Liberal manuring and a good | position are necessary for quick growth. | Tomato seed may still be sown for late crops. | Sow Haricot beans for winter use. j Sow sweet corn.

IBISES IN BOOM. The recent wet weather has suited the irises to perfection. The Spanish irises are in full bloom just now and making a wonderful show in many gardens. This iris is best planted in clumps, and considering how little room a dozen bulbs in a clump, will take up, it is a wonder they are not more generally grown in the mixed border. The colours are blue, gold, brown and gold, lavender and white, etc. The Dutch irises are very like the Spanish, but they flower a few weeks earlier; they have now finished flowering. Iris Siborica is a very pretty, rather small, fibrous rooted plant that is out just now. It is a beautiful gentian blue; there is also a white variety. This iris likes sunshine and water, and is often planted at the edge of lily ponds. The tallgrowing iris Oehreloncra is quite plentiful in Whangarei; the colour is white with a little yellow. Aurea is a beautiful golden yellow similar to the above; and Spurea is a pretty blue. The German irises, called bearded or flag irises, have different shaped flowers from the above, having much wider petals, or standards as the upright petals are called, and frills the lower petals. The leaf is wider, and the root, is a rhizome. This rhizome should be just partly covered with soil. The hot summer and cold winter have suited these irises well, and there are some beautiful blooms to be seen just now. They like plenty of water when coming into bloom, and if the weather is very hot while they are in bloom, they soon fade; they also take up a lot of room all the year for so short a flowering season.

The beautiful Japanese irises Ko empferi arc looking well xmd promise well. They should bloom at the end of this month and December.

GENE HAL NOTES,

AUBEETIAB.

Aubretias make a wonderful show, and just now arc it mass of glowing colour. The flowers arc often so numerous that the loaves and steins are completely hidden. In the rock gardens, they fill pockets and spread like a mat over stones. Where used as a border and kept in check, they form neat, bold clumps. As a rule one secs plants with mauve flowers grown, but among the large flowered hybrids arc many attractive shades of pink, varying from very pale to deep rose. New plants arc easily propagated from cuttings by taking young tips. As soon as flowering is over, plants produce numbers of young shoots, and these are the ones to take for cuttings. They should be planted firmly in sandy soil in a semi-shaded place, and kept moist until growth has commenced, When planting the cuttings, put in firmly right up to the tips. Keep the little plants growing all the summer, and plant them in their permanent places in the autumn. Plants propagated now will make good flowering clumps spring.

LIQUID MANURE,

In anticipation of dry weather during the summer months, it is wise to prepare a liquid manure tub or barrel. An old tar barrel, which may bo sunk into the ground will do. The charge may consist of about a third of sheep droppings or rotted cow manure, with two-thirds of water. It should be stirred as the liquid is used up. At

| THE FLOWER GARDEN. j i■ ■■ .1 1— - j Mina lobata seed, or plants, may be put in now. I As the blooms fade, roses should be cut back to an eye. I Cool, wet conditions have kept the delphiniums healthy this I year. They should, be dusted with sulphur to keep them | free from mildew. ! The Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) now in bloom may be transj planted now. The small bulbs should not be *eft on the | parent. I Celosia is very good for late planting. Seed may be sown now j and the nlants put out before Christmas. They will then ! have their plume-like flowers on neat compact plants, j Continue to plant dahlias, chrysanthemums, and seasonable annuals. Sow cosmea, zinnia, portulaca, kochia, .French marigolds. Seedlings of summer bedding plants may be put out now. Roses and carnations should be disbudded. Tuberous begonias should be started in a box of damp soil or sand. They should not be too wet to commence with. i Chrysanthemums should have the tops pinched out so as to encourage the lower shoots to grow. ' Seed of anemone, ranunculus, polyanthus, aquilegia, henchera, and other plants to flower next sprang may still be sown. The seedlings should be kept cool and moist.

first it may be a little strong, when it should be diluted to the colour of ale or good tea. Do not use it too strong. The best time to feed the plants or apply the liquid is during showery weather or when the ground is moist. In all cases, give sufficient to reach the roots of the plants. CELERY.

Celery is rather a gross feeding vegetable, but it should be fed at the right time. It is a mistake, particularly an our mild climate, to attempt to force early growth by using such stimulating fertilisers as nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia. These manures will draw out the stalks, but at the expense of the plant’s resistance against disease. ' Soot is a good dressing for celery. As soon as the plants have become established, a dressing between the rows and about the plants will help them. If, then, you are thinking of growing celery, it would be a good plan to lay in a supply of soot to be ready when the time comes. If the soot is also dusted on the foliage of the plants it will help to keep off insects, and the rain will soon wash the soot into the soil and down to within roach of the roots of the plants Fowl manure is also excellent for this crop, but it is very strong and should bo broken down for use, .Place about a peek of the manure in a coarse bag and allow it to stand for two or three days in a tub containing 30 gallons of water. This liquid manure may be used once a wf*ek until the manure being renewed about every three weeks. Do not he impatient to add earth to the plants; lot them almost reach maturity before earthing up.

■Grass cuttings make a useful mulch. They keep the soil moist and cool during the hot dry weather, and plants appreciate this little attention.

Put in the stakes for runner beans early. A double row of stakes placed slantwise is good enough for temporary crops. And don’t forget that the rows should, be as far apart as* tho plants are high, and that they should rim mirth and south.

(.Soot always make a good addition to liquid manure. It is a groat absorbent for noxious gases, and in addition is itself a useful fertiliser. Lilacs often show a disinclination to flower. Give them their position. They will endure a certain amount of shade, but do not give them all shade. Do not 'plant them too close to big trees. Do not prune indiscriminately. Very little pruning is necessary beyond the thinning of overcrowded ! growth. Cut away suckers as soon as • they appear, as these rob the tree of vitality; and finally, do any branch > pruning directly after flowering. In planting out seedlings it is a good plan to make the holes a fair size and fill them with water before planting. After planting, water well, and then sprinkle some loose, soil on the surface.

j If rhubarb shows a tendency to go to seed, cut the seed stalks right out and then liquid manure, replanting at intervals.

It is a good plan to stop (pinch off the tops) of scarlet rufiners When they have reached the top of the stakes. The plants will then make lateral growth and the formation of poids will be hastened. L 1~