IN THE GARDEN

Northern Advocate, 19 October 1935, Page 6

IN THE GARDEN

[BY “TAINUI”! ®

Rooking Ahead.

Flowers are everywhere just how. Gardeners are having their reward ■ after a long, dreary winter. The wise ; gardener keeps looking a year ahead, and plans his garden for the next seaI son while the plants are still in bloom. There is much to see just now, and many problems may be solved, by looking, learning, and 1 taking a few notes. The position and soil v that plants like may be seen where the plants are doing well. Colour combinations .are seen, and plans made for the next season. The late spring flow.-, ;ers are still out, and many beautiful flowering shrubs are in bloom; So few V have ground enough to plant many, ■ and it is hard to decide. In the beds and borders, daffodils and. hyacinths have given way to tulips, truly a lovely, frower that is becoming more popular in Whangarei, Polyanthus, stock, nemesia, pansies, anemones, 1 primulas, Iceland poppies, schizanthus, , etc,,, gradually give way to the glori,- > ous summer flowering perennial plants. The first roses are already out, and what a joy they are to behold. Soon we will have carnations, Irises, gladioli, sweet peas, delphin- ; turns, gerberas arid many ofhei’s. It ip good- to see them all as they -come along, and to choose for our next season’s planting. We must not forget the rock gardens, which teach us what can be done by combined effort. All these charming wee plants that hyg the rocks and cuddle each helping the other to show to advantage, and the » Whole making a beautiful picture. At close quarters, hours can be spent studying the tiny plants and flowers. It is a good rule to remember that most perennials take 12 months to . flower from seed and many of your I favourites may be sown now. Shrubs of the pea family and many others are generally easily raised from seed. Cuttings of many small treasures 1 may also be taken now, but seedlings and cuttings will need care through the hot summer months. Have You Seen—- . Heliophila, often called “Blue Eyes of the Veldt”? A more charming mass of true blue you could not imagine. This annual is easily grown from seed, sown in late autumn where the plants are to flowfer. The plant has one fault; it only opens its blue eyes when the sun is out. SchizantHus at its best? The beautiful rich shades of rose, lavender, mauve and violet make a lovely show. The new strain of compact plants with large flowers are a big improvement on the old straggling plants With flowers of poor colouring. Plants are best purchased in the spring for planting out to bloom at this season when most : annuals are going over. Japanese maples '(Acer patmatum) planted along with rhododendrons or : azaleas? The beautiful colouring of the ; feathery new growth gives a wonder- j ful light effect to the heavier growth : of the rhododendrons. Acer patmatum ] atro-purpureum is particularly attrac- ( tive with its reddish brown foliage. A carpeting of polyanthus or primroses i will help to finish a beautiful colour 1 scheme. i Tomatoes. t Give tomatoes a sunny position—a f northerly aspect—and a retentive soil, s The plants are great feeders, and if 1 given any amount of animal manure, t will make very heavy growth. This, s however, should not be encouraged, for tomatoes are very sensitive to disease, and to encourage them to make t quick sappy growth is just looking for n trouble. Moderate but healthy growth a and constitution are the things to aim n at, so that the plants may be better j 1;

OPERATIONS FOR OCTOBER. I THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow Set in. kumera plants as soon as available. Prick celery ' seedlings out into boxes of good, rich soil, celery for later use. Do not- delay making important sowings. We may have dry spells later, when germination will be difficult. Plant out tomatoes. Plant out late- maturing cauliflowers. Plant in a handy place, so that they can be attended to readily. Earth up potatoes and spray with Bordeaux mixture. Don’t wait for the plants to get blighted. Cut asparagus close, andi keep the bed weeded. A sowing of Lima beans may be made. Don’t forget potash, the sulphate or wood-ashes, when making up the tomato manure mixture. Keep a close watch for mildew in the onion crop. Spray with lime-sulphur solution. Keep the bed clean. t THE FLOWER GARDEN. X ' ❖ It is not wise to plant out asters, salvia, marigolds, or zinnias too ♦> . early, as a cold snap will damage the plants. *£ Gardeners must get busy now with the beds arid borders in *s* preparation for the autumn show pf bloom. Iceland poppies, X primula malacoidep, and many others may need to be dug in ♦♦♦ before they have finished flowering. Asters like good! treatment, and plenty of green stuff or well- ;t; rottedl manure may be dug in now, ready for the seedlings »|> later, Zinnias and salvias, while not quite such feeders as the asters, 4* will need something dug in, unless the soil is already in good • order. *|« Seed of the following may be sown: Zinnia, tithonia, mina lobala, *t* kodhia; French, African and Guinea Gold marigolds, petunia, phlox t)rummondii, balsam, cosmos, dahlias, celosia, portulaca, $ and others. ❖ When you pull up dwarf forget-me-not, primula malacoides, and X violas, use them as a mulch after liliums and tender shrubs ■in shady borders. In this way you may get a good patch of, */» seedlings for next, season. . 4* ; Dp not lift bulbs untU the foliage has turned yellow. »£ Lachenalia and grape hyacinth soon die down, and the bulbs may * be lifted andi planted where they .are wanted for next season. Guinea Gold marigold is a favourite bedding plant. The dwarf *:* French marigolds are wonderfully showy in small beds or for edgings. Few plants have such a long-flowering season; ♦> andi they are so easily grown. - , . X,

i able to resist disease. Ground previ ously manured for some not too ex hausting crop is good, or ground tha has been prepared by digging ir greenstuff is suitable. A light hungry soil is treacherous. Such a soil re quires mulching during dry spells and it is' better not ,to wet mulcl tomatoes, for. this damps the air abbu the plants and so encourages fungoic disease, which is the one thing tc avoid. A good handful of a fertilise! mixture of say, super 3 parts, bone,dust 3 parts, and sulphate of potast 1 part should be worked into the soi for each plant, and if the soil has been prepared by digging in greenstuff or \by working in a moderate amount of rotted manure (preferably cow manure), no other fertiliser •should be necessary. Planting Tomatoes: It is a good plan to set the plants iii at a slight angle, leaving only about 4 inches of the tops above the ground. This.; gives them encouragement to establish themselves quickly and to develop a good rool system. Given the right aspect with shelter from cold winds, the plants should do well.. .If, however, a temporary shelter Hs deemed advisable, it is better to use only three sides of a benzine tin» rather than to close the plant on all sides and thus establish unnatural conditions. j Soil Moisture. Just what kind, of weather we are going to have between now and say early autumn it is hard to forecast, but we must always expect dry, hot spells, when it becomes a problem to keep a useful amount of moisture in the soil. The important thing to do is to get the soil in a good mechanical condition. This can best be done with most of our soils by digging in greenstuff such as grass-cuttings or softwooded 1 garden refuse, which, however, should always be of a healthy nature. This should not be merely dug in; it should be mixed in as thoroughly as possible with the soil. The greenstuff decomposes and acts as a filler, to improve the water, -holding capacity of the ijoil.- The digging at the same time improves the texture of the soil, giving plant roots a better chance to penetrate, and at the same time improving its lifting capacity for water. Mulching. According 1 to the dictionary this means the laying on the soil of straw, etc., to, protect roots of plants from heat, cold, oij drought, or to keep the fruit, such as strawberries, clean. In the garden, one of the chief uses of a mulch is to prevent evaporation of water from the surface of the soil. As a soil covering, any convenient mater- ! ial such as straw, sacks, brown paper, rushes, etc., may be used; or, if the plant is likely not only to tolerate it. but to benefit by it, rotted animal manure makes an excellent mulch. In my case, the mulch should extend as Far out as the plant branches, but It should not be carried right up (n the plant stem, otherwise collar-rot may Jevelop at the soil level. If the application of such a mulch is nconvenient, the soil should be kept loed so as to keep a rough layer at he surface. It is a mistake to keep he soil smoothed over with a fine surace, a condition that only encourages urface evaporation. A rough surface ms the opposite effect, helping to hold he moisture so. necessary during dry pells. Kumaras. Kumaras are not so fastidious about he soil they are grown in as the dilate. Cultivated soil enriched from previous crop is suitable; or they lay be planted in low ridges over a lyer of well rotted stable manure on

a well consolidated bottom. If stable manure is not available, then fertilisers must be used, A useful mixture is super 3 parts, bone-dust 3 parts, sulphate of potash 1 part. A little rotted stuff taken from the compost heap and dug in as a substitute for animal manure would be beneficial, but this should not be overdone. Run the ridges about 30 inches apart, and set the plants in from 15 inches to 18 inches apart in the. rows. If 'the weather is dry, a good watering should be given when planting. Plant I if possible during dull or showery I weather. I Correspondence. I Plant with whorls of thread-like leaves* is spurry (spergula arvensis). Prickly square-stemmed plant is cleavers. galium aparinc. Plant with grey spatulatc leaves is convolvulus cneor- I uni. The large-leaved plant is prob- | ably a variety of rubus moluccanus. I