The Home Garden

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 15 December 1939, Page 3

The Home Garden

GENERAL WORK The Flower Garden. —Keep sweet peas tied to their supports. If exhibition blooms are required disbudding must be done. If mildew appears spray as advised for mildew in this week’s chrysanthemum notes. Keep the growths of climbing roses and other climbers strictly in the direction required. On no account allow them to be entangled. Spring and early summer flowering plants should be pruned as they go out of flower. Plant Bougainvilleas, Lucullus, Poinsettias, and other tender subjects. Sow Clarkia, Eschscholtbia, Mignonette, Shirley Poppies, Zinnias and Marigalds in the open ground. Disbud border Carnations, and give supports to the plants. Prepare soil for layering purposes. The Greenhouse.—Fumigate if aphis puts in an appearance. Shading will be required to keep the house at normal temperature. Dampen floors and benches occasionally to keep a moist atmosphere. Seedlings should be transplanted or poted up as soon as they can be conveniently handled The older the seedling the more it will be affected by the change. Every care must be taken to prevent wilting after the shift. It is advisable to use sterilised soil for all seed boxes. The Vegetable Garden. —Planting and sowing are now in full swing, but do not neglect cultivation of growing crops. Sowings of turnip, lettuce, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and celery can be made. Kumaras can be planted but the ground must be well prepared. Sowings of cucumber, marrow and pumpkins can now be made in the open, but protection must be given if cold nights are experienced. Corn grown amongst the vegetables will supply just the shade necessary during the hot months of January and February. Continue planting out tomatoes, these will give not only a late crop, but will also provide suitable fruit to be picked green for preserves. Continue sowing peas for succession. The tall variety can still be sown, though the dwarf varieties are more suitable for sowing after the end of the month. Cress, radish (long), mustard, and lettuce should still be sown in small quantities for salads. Prepare the trenches for leeks and celery. Both need good, rich soil and the bottom of the trenches should be filled with rich soil or old manure. The Fruit Garden.—Graft over any cut back trees. Spray stone fruit with lime-sulphur I—l2o to control brown rot. Clean up the orchard. Leave no fallen leaves or old prunings about. It is advisable to burn all fallen leaves as they may carry disease if thrown on the compost heap or buried. Any pruning or shaping of citrus fruits should be done now. It is important that spraying for codlin moth be done if this work is not already attended to. Calendulas for Winter. During recent years Calendulas have become increasingly popular with gardeners everywhere, and really, one must admit that taking everything on the whole there is no better plant for winter and early spring flowering. During th coldest months of the year they are working overtime to provide our gardens with gay colours and our homes with brightness and warmth. Laterly there have been notable introductions in orange, orangered, yellow and art shades. They are extremely hardy and will grow anywhere, but if large blooms are desired they must have liberal feeding. The soil should be as rich as possible and the seedlings planted one foot apart. Sow the seed in a seed bed and transplant or sow two or three seeds where they are to grow, and pull out the weak ones. The latter is the best method, as the transplanted seedlings take a few weeks to get over their move. They like plenty of water, and being winter flowering need all the sun they can get. See that the faded flowers are kept picked. By regular attention to this the flowering peroid may be doubled and the size of the flower maintained over a much longer period. The place to grow them is the mixed border or in beds to themselves. The latter should not be too large if they are to be seen at their best. Chrysanthemums From the present time until February, plants that are well treated will grow rapidly. After the end of February few flower buds are formed, active growth of branch lessens considerably and the wood and leaves already formed begin to ripen quickly. This is the proper condition of a well managed plant. Of course, a certain amount of ripening goes on in the summer months, and to further such conditions of growth we must see that the plants receive the necessary shelter and sun. If the rows have been run due north and south they will be receiving the maximum sunshine. The staking of the plants should be done at planting time so as not to damage the roots, however, this, if not already done, should be attended to at once. The branches can only be trained before the wood ripens. Once ripened the wood becomes brittle and the branches easily snap off. The branches should be loosely tied and spread fan-shaped or, for garden decoration stakes may be placed around the plant and the branches tied to them. A careful watch must be kept for green fly and the points of growth sprayed or powdered with tobacco dust or other insecticide. The tobacco powder is simply scattered on the affected parts. Rust, mildew and black spot on leaves are the most likely diseases to affect chrysanthemums. In the case of rust, the best remedy is sulphide of potassium. Syringe all parts with a solution at the rate of half an ounce to a gallon of rain water. Mildew is treated with flowers of sulphur, either in powder form or in a solution of )ime-sulphur. A common cause of mildew is a cold, damp atmosphere. Black spot is likely to appear in plants that have been potted and is caused by too much damp at the roots. Making Cut Flowers Last In the first place, the flowers should be cut as early as possible in the day, before the run has dried out the natural juices. It is obvious that newly-opened buds will last much longer than more mature blossoms, while some sorts, such as Shirley and Iceland poppies and eschscholtzias may be cut even before they have burst their green caps. The poppies will last much longer if the ends of the stalks are lightly charred in a candle flame, or sealed with molten candle wax and the same thing may be said of chrysanthemums later on in the season. The woody branches of flowering shrubs last much longer if the end of the stem is split a few inches, or an alternative plan is to bruise the-bottom part with a hammer. The dwarft annuals, such as godetia and collinsia, should be pulled up bodily by the roots, and placed direct in the vases. They will last a surprisingly long time treated thus, and will go on opening their buds over some-considerable period. Flowers should not be kept in hot sun when picking them, nor should they be tightly clasped in a hot hand. If they cannot -be placed in the vases straight away, they should be put in in a bucked of water, which is stood in the coolest and darkest part of the R6use, a favourite place being under the pantry shelves. When arranging the flowers do not cram them too tightly in the vases, for they must have light and air if they are not to droop. Another common fault is to dump the ends of the flowers on the bottom of the vases. This stops them from absorbing moisture, and, though the vase is full, they wil} nevertheless die of thirst. The stems should be cut on a slant. Cut flowers should not be kept in a room where gas is burning. Besides drying the atmosphere, the fumes given off are very harmful, and will soon kill even the hardiest plant. Plants with sappy, leaf-clothed stems, soon decay under water unless changed every day; wiry-stemmed flowers like coreopsis and scabious will not give the same trouble. A few knobs of charcoal in the water will keep it fresh and clean over a long period. Blossoms that have, perhaps, been received through the post or have travelled some distance, will usually arrive in a wilted condition. If they are placed in tepid water in which is dissolved an aspirin tablet, they revive remarkably well, after which they should be placed in fresh,’ clean water. Camphor and salt are said to preserve cut flowers, and, though the writer has never had experience with them, it may be worth while to try dissolving these substances in water. The Celery Crop. Celery for the main crop should now be planted, so that no time should be lost in preparing the ground. To produce solid, crisp, and the bestflavoured heads the ground not only requires to be well enriched with rotten manure, but the plants require to be kept growing unchecked from the time they are planted until ready for use. During the summer frequent applications of water should be made to the celery trenches, especially should dry weather prevail though the amount needed will vary according to the varieties grown and the method of cultivaton adopted. With the varieties requiring earthing-up for bleaching, planting in prepared trenches, either in single or double rows is the best method of growing, and where plenty of space is available the singlo row is preferable, as the plants are less crowded, while earthing-up is more easily performed. Celery is a moisture-loving plant when making its growth but as it is necessary to mould it up with soil to bleach the stems, any soil’which holds too much moisture in winter is apt to make the stems rot. Helpful Hints Chives.-—A useful vegetable for soups, salads and flavouring. It is more dehcate in flavour than the onion, the top of the plant being the part used. When undisturbed the plants make neat and compact tuft* To increase divide in spring and autumn. Single bulbs may be used but small clusters are preferable. They need not be disturbed for two years after being planted. 6 Oyster-shell Bark Louse or Common Apple Scale.—The eggs of the oyster-sheii bark louse will now be hatching out, and if fruit trees are to retain their vitality suitable steps should be taken to destroy the voung larvae while in a state of activity, as this is only for a few days They will soon be attaching themselves permanently to the bark where they make their final home. Care must be exercised in the spring that the young growth is ot injured by too severe a spray—weak and often is the safest Lime and sulphur and nicotine sprays are effective.