Gardening News & Notes

Northern Advocate, 10 January 1948, Page 5

Gardening News & Notes

Vegetables . . . Harvest ripened crops, and leave the ground in a rough state to sweeten. Pick peas and beans as they mature. Don't allow them to dry off unless you are saving the seed for next season. If the peas and beans have finished

bearing, and if they are not diseased, dig them in as you would a soiling crop. Harvest marrows, pumpkins, etc., as soon as they are ready, so as to encourage other fruits to mature. Sow cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, lettuce, silver beet, spinach, dwarf beans, carrots. January and February are good months for sowing carrots for winter use. If possible, choose showery weather. Otherwise, keep the seed-bed moist until germination is complete. Potatoes may be planted for next season’s seed. Use only healthy tubers from healthy plants. Don’t leave potatoes in the, ground longer than necessary, otherwise they are liable, to start into growth during showery weather i. When you store potatoes, store them under cover in closed sacks so that the potato moth cannot reach them, otherwise they may soon be riddled with holes. Turn down onion tops as they soften. Ripened onions should be_ pulled and allowed to dry thoroughly" iii "the sun before storing. The cloves of garlic and shallots should be exposed to the air, and not buried in the soil or allowed to be smothered by weeds. They want sunlight. Marrows and pumpkins will benefit by liquid manure. If the weather is dry, give a good watering after manuring. Lift and throw back kumara vines so as to prevent their rooting at the joints. It is better to string onions than to sack them. They keep better, and are more easily inspected. !’■ The present is an excellent time for digging and trenching. Sow oats or other suitable crop for digging in later. Flowers . . . Gardens have been showing their best to visitors this summer. L Water has made a difference, tap as well as rain water. Variety is the keynote at the present time; and flowers on parade are hydrangeas, roses, Bougainvilleas, pentstemons, geraniums, fuchsias, hibiscus, and the beautiful blue-flowering jacaranda, witjh numerous other perennials. Dahlias are flowering, but are not at their best until the autumn. Small shoots taken off between the axils of the leaves will root readily if kept watered and shaded. They form small tubers that make good plants for next season. Any time during the next two months will do. Late cuttings will need to be matured under glass, and kept in fairly di'y earth during the winter mpnths. Chrysanthemums are growing well. They should be kept sprayed and tied to their supports. Keep the ground firm about the foots, and mulch about the roots during dry weather. Narcissus, tulips, hyacinths, and other flowering bulbs should be lifted at once if they are to be divided and transplanted for next spring show ofj bloom. Don’t leave to dry in a verjr hot sun. They are best left under a tree or hedge to dry. Tulips are very, soft""and . easily damaged when lifting. „ Horticultural naphthalene should be sprinkled over the bulbs while out” of - the ground to keep insects from eating,.into them. Gladioli should be; lifted when the foliage turns yellow. Hang up to finish drying. Seed may be. sown in boxes or in the open ground when ripe.- Seedlings will need protection from frost during the winter months; or sowing may be left until spring. .