ANEMONES AND RANUNCULI

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 27 October 1928, Page 4

ANEMONES AND RANUNCULI

These beautiful spring flowers will shortly be over, and seed should he saved. Save the seed from self colours and good blooms. Anemones and ranunculi need much the same treatment. Ranunculi are deeper rooting than anemones; therefore they need a deeper soil, with plenty of manure put under the ground to encourage the deep-rooting habit. Ranunculi take longer to come into bloom, and so they must he planted earlier in the autumn if they are to bloom in early spring. Anemones and ranunculi are seldom a success from old bulbs; they do best grown from small young bulbs or seedlings. On the heavier soils young bulbs seem to he preferred, and on the lighter volcanic soils seedlings are the most satisfactory. For the young bulbs, the seed is sown in autumn in boxes, or in lines in the garden. These (lower very little if at all in the spring. In (lie summer they die down and are (lien lifted, soil and all, and the whole sieved in order to separate the small bulbs, which in anemones are about the size of a pea. In the autumn the small bulbs are planted in beds of good rich soil. For seedlings, the seed is sown in October or November in boxes or in the open ground. Tho seed of anemones is woolly and

cliilicult to separate. A little fine dr.y soil and sancl rubbed well with the seed will help them to separate, and will also make the sowing much more even. Make the seed bed quite firm before sowing the seed, and just cover with soil. The seed often takes six weeks to germinate. Cover the seed bed with scrub—-tea-tree or fern, and keep well watered. Tho seedlings will need the fern covering right through the summer; also plenty of water will la* nocessarv, as the young plants must bo kept green and growing during tho hot summer months. The end of February or in March, the seedlings should lie transplanted into their flowering quarters. No manure should he on the surface of the ground, but just underneath there should be a good supply of old manure or boiiodust. The ground should be made quite firm before planting. Fern or tea-tree will ho necessary in order to shade the seedlings until they are established, and if the weather is dry, they will need watering every day. The seedlings are best planted in rows from nine to twelve inches apart, and four or five inches apart in the rows. If well treated, anemone seedlings will commence blooming in May.