In The Garden

Northern Advocate, 24 August 1945, Page 5

In The Garden

VEGETABLES. Sow carrots, radish, lettuce, cabbage, parsnip, red beet. All except the tender vegetables may be sown in the open now. Sow a few leek seed. Sow dwart peas in good, well-drained soil. Manure rhubarb beds. Put in new plants. Plant Jerusalem artichokes. Plant out cabbages and cauliflowers. Pumpkins, marrows, etc., may be sown under glass. Dig in green manuring crops, so as to allow time for the vegetation to decomoose before planting time. Light hoeing the surface of the soil is an operation of first importance at this season. It is invaluable after the soil has got properly wet. It helps the soil to dry; a loose soil dries much more quickly than a compact soil. The destruction of early spring weeds is also of great importance. Spray peach trees with Bordeaux as a preventive of leaf curl. FLOWERS Dahlias are very satisfactory from seed raved from good varieties. Sow seed now in boxes. Place the seeds about 2in. apart to save pricking out; and transplant to good soil when a few inches high. The seedlings take from three to six months to come into 'flower. Dahlia tubers should not be broken up as the shoots are near the stem, and easily lost. 1 Just cover the tubers with soil, and keep moist but not wet. When the shoots are a few inches long, cut them off with roots attached. One shoot is enough for a plant. The hardier varieties of chrysanthemums make good plants from root division, provided young, healthy pieces are taken. The large flowered exhibition varieties are grown from tip cuttings a few inches long, cut below a joint. Most of the leaves should be pulled off. The cuttings soon root in a cutting bed, given shade and water. Continue to plant gladoli for succession. Divide plants of gerbera; also transplant seedlings and sow seed. Keep the ground forked over between growing plants. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to plant out tender annuals. Asters, zinnias, marigolds, etc., will be killed by frosts or cold winds. Plant out seedlings of pansies, stock, carnations, schizanthus, delphinium, cineraria, larkspur, gaillardia, Clarkia., godetia. Sweet Sultan, etc. Seeds of the following may be sown in the open ground:—Poppy (Shirley), godetia. larkspur, cornflower, mignonette. Sweet Sultan, etc. Sweet peas will benefit by a spraying with lime-sulphur solution, or with a dusting of sulphur and lime. Primula malacoides may be lifted while in bloom, and put in a bowl for house decoration. Lachenalia may be treated in the same way. . , , Tulips should not be allowed to become dry. BRUSSELS SPROUTS When well grown, Brussel sprouts have a good flavour, better than most other varieties of the cabbage family, to which they belong. Ours is not the ideal climate for them, a cooler one being more to their liking. However, they are grown here to a limited extent. The seed should be sown early, as the Diants want a longgrowing season. Seed sown now should give seedlings ready for planting out in four or five weeks’ time. These vegetables like a medium-weight soil. A medium soil, if anything on the heavy side, and rich, suits them best. The rows should be throe feet apart, with three feet between the plants. Put in closer than this the sprouts lose their compactness, becoming loose or more or less open. Nor should the seedlings be crowded. Sow the seed separately as it as a rule, germinates readily. KOL RABI This useful vegetable often succeeds where turnips fail. In appearance, it looks like a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. It does better than turnips on dry soils. Sow now in drills. Plant out, leaving about a foot between plants. Use the vegetable fairly young otherwise it becomes hal'd and coarse.