GARDEN HINTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14948, 22 March 1912, Page 9

GARDEN HINTS.

A BEMARKABLE PLANT.

Osttiowskla magnifies is the name of remarkable plant from Central Asia, producing stout, ereyfc stems, sft and upwards in height, having large, fleshy leaves in whorls, Iho flowers are very largo, campanulate, 1,1 "J 6ui m diameter, varying from pale lavender to ma/jvc, suffused more or lesa with white, wltflo the veins are deep purple. It is easily grown, in coarse, gritty, limestone, soil, rapid drainage.

PARSLEY. card In "v.* l ° ha >; C , vl ™I of parsley in the mJEw' occ ™ * 'coks so nice as a garrn,n K ' *? d . ior thjs wo prefer the t^T ed . dwarf, and the very dark L,™ '""?', moss-curled, as being tho V™ ' melltal !,orts ' Another reason for »rtE5 ", colurMll Pauley is that there s t-nen no chance of nourishing a viper in nt s lov ttl Xl 01 th ° vcr Poisonous foola K* J 4 ™™** cvnapium), a native plant nllnlr.«..r °, a *l>' distmguisliablo from, utilised with.excellent effect in a market ESS 1 ! V° form of a dwarf compact 3 Th' ° fh sidosof a *°ng ™ rt „["• m l j'f .Y as a I»PPZ combination iinffi,? v a,ld » rofit whlc » m '? wll he hodof \J"? mo .market growers protect a suhnlv -R? i' s! ° y , in iU,t,mm for a winter S/Ir'i ?- d W0 I""' 0 GVen known {t tTa " s - SvS™ '! lX<> col almshouses. .In private fcihV 1 ,.'? wdl ,° havo OT1 " 0 '» a frame,' .lauuig which good methods of prolonging a„?, "°" Ul '° J° cut arsle dow » >n early ™< ;!"' , li . order to induce a sturdy new g*Wth which will stand a -rood deal of cold, ,°/ '«> STow some iii a well-sheltered spot, /■feera aro plenty of failures even in so Minnie a matter an growing narslcy: broad •casting, neglecting to thin, and picking in anyhow fashion aro ways that the good gardner shuns. The seeds aro often sown too wop, and they germinate badly in dry weather. The. reader is likely to havo noticed now well a stray parsley plant grows, which snows very clearly that to attain perfection it requires what is so rarely forthcoming— plenty of room. .Soil inclining to heaviness. put not extra rich, is suitable, and it is helpful to firm, light soils. On the other nana, we havo never seen finer parsley anywhere than in gardens near the sea in Norfolk, where tho soil is almost pure sand, and tho plants feel tho influence of tho salt. ■this is remarkable, seeing that parsley is a naUvo weed, and is found wild only on old walls Hamburg, largo rooted or turniprooted parsley, grown for its edible fleshv loots, which attain a diameter of 2in at their thickest part, and have a flavour like that of celeriac, is not often met with here, but it is popular in Germany. There aro early and late varieties/ the former being sown early, and tho roots fit tor use from September onwards, as aro , parsnips, It is probable that other umbelliferous plants . might be made to produce useful fleshy roots of novel flavours by patient selection and cultivation. Hie parsley of to-day in its varied forms provides an excellent illustration of what the gardener's skill can do. The finest curled strains havo tho defect of being less hardy than the older sorts- , SOWING SWEET PEAS. March is the best, time to make an autumn sowing of sweet peas. The main factors in the successful culture of this increasingly popular flower are deep and thorough cultivation of the soil, good drainage, plenty of light, and lots of space between each plant. Dealing with the subject of working the soil before sowing, this cannot be overdone. Again and again wo have seen the value of deep cultivation in splendid displays of bloom extending over a lengthened'time. We have also seen poor stunted plants, with Weakly blooms where no trouble has been expended in soil preparation. If the soil is } virgin in character, no added food supply is necessary, but where tho soil is light and poor it, will bo necessary to add manure'/ .(stable manure for preference) before sowing. This manure is best nut in the bottom of a trench dug out of the ground, at tho . depth of about 18in, and filled un to about halt with manure. On tho top of the manure put a layer of soil, in which tho seeds may bo sown. As the plants develop in growth, tho soil may bo drawn about the base of the plants, similar to moulding up celery, Ihis, however, should not be overdone, as the roots may bo buried! too deeply. All this applies to a soil that may be tight and well-drained. Where tho soil is of a heavv nature and liable to flooding, the soil mav atoll be worked deeply, but the manure must, be placed) nearer the surface and the seeds sown high enough to escape the extreme wet and cold winter. In such a soil bonedust could lie used instead of stable manure if this manure is not easily procurable. Wo prefer the stable manure for flight and hungry soil, but hero, again, bonedusfc may boused if fresh manure is difficult to obtain.: Perhaps the best addition to spent soil is to bring in fresh soil from; elsewhere; this from a grazing paddock, or. 'better still, rotted turf or leaves. One of tho greatest mistakes made is sowing too thickly. Plants should not be grown closer than lOin apart, 12in for preference, although enthusiastio. growers, who exhibit, now advocate as much as 15in apart. This, they find, enables the plants to stool out and strengthen themselves, and bear abundance of nigh quality blooms. ■ :-. i ■■ ; -' : . ? -. :A

Ihe following are some of the best vane ties to sow:— Alexandra; cerise, Coccinea; orange, Henry Eckford* and St. George (requires shade); lavender, Lady Grisel Hamilton; light blue, Flora Norton; dark blue, Lord Kelson; mauv.e Mrs. Walter Wright; maroon, Black Knight; marbled 'blue, Helen Pierce;) white with pink edge, Dainty. -"' Waved or Spencer Sweet Peas: A number of, varieties have been bracketed, as they are practically synonymous, but '■ have received different names from ; different raisers, i No two mentioned of these bracketed varieties should be shown in a collection of 12 (or less) distinct "varieties, if the exhibitor wishes to avoid the risk of disqualification White, Etta • Dyke (White (rem, White Spencer); cream, Clara Curtis (Primrose Spencer); blush, Mrs. Hardoastle Sykes (Florence Morse Spencer); . cream, with pink picotoe edge, Evelyn Hemus;i white, with pink picoteo edge, Elsie Herbert ; creamy pink, Constance Oliver pink on cream, Mis, Henry Bell I (Mrs. Routzahn Spencer); . pink, Countess . Spencer.. (Paradise) ; crimson, King Edward Spencer (The King, sunproof crimson); orange (bi-colour), Helen Lewis (rcnuires shade); rose and,carmine, John Tngman (George Herbert); rose (bircolour), Mrs. Andrew Ireland , (Apple Blossom Spencer) rose, arjorie Willis (.Marie Corelli) (shade); lavender, Asta Ohn (Mrs. Charles Foster); light ' lavender, Frank Dolby; medium blue to mauve, A. 1. Cook;, mauve, The Marquis (Tennanfc Spencer).; maroon, Othello Spencer (Black knight Spencer); red strined, America Spencerl;. chocolate striped, Senator Spencer.

IMPROVING CLAY SOILS.

Very bad clay and other water-logged soils should be removed from gardens.or burnt. Nearly all others may be led and fed into fertility, 'but these are better removed once and for all, and good friable loams substituted for them, to the depth of 18in. This is not a very deep tilth, but it will suffice to grow most garden plants creditably, and when the bill comes in for the work of sugstituting so much good earth for bad it will be held sufficient by the payer- But there are not many such soils, and something \ may generally be done by incorporating new and )!x?ttcr earths with those found on the spot. Dressings or admixtures are often better means of improvement than the application of manure.

THE MOSS ROSE.

The original moss rose is believed to be ' ,;; sport from the Provence, or old cabbage rose, and was introduced to England from Holland about the beginning of the 17th century. These roses are distinguished from all othersJby the moss-like substance which surroundsW the flower 'buds, and by the marked Provence scent. , The shoots are thickly covered with small spines. As a, -' r class, they aro subject to mildew. With a few exceptions they need pretty severe pruning, good,, rich soil, and high cultivation. They aro mostly fair growers, but in our warmer climate the plants do not thrive as well as they do in cooler countries. It is seldom that we see moss roses at our rose ,''s exhibitions, and we have heard manv per- '4 sons deplore their absence. At English rose shows there are usually separate classes for , >'■ moss varieties. . • V '.', The moss rose, has of late been much, neglected because of the craze for teas and hybrid teas, which are freer and more con- ; i tinuous bloomers than are tho majority of ,—j mosses. Even in England these roses/are •* less popular than they one© were. Still wo J; , ]i read that the flower girls hawk about the streets of London immense numbers of the crimson pink moss. This variety is grown by the thousand around some of the market; * '■ gardening centres; tho plants are mostly on their own roots, obtained from layers or by rootcnttings, which is far bettor than props* gation by budding. , . .