PLANS FOR SPRING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22320, 18 January 1936, Page 8 (Supplement)

PLANS FOR SPRING

THE BEDD!NG DISPLAY With the summer display of bedding plants just coming to its best, it may seem premature to bo writing of spring bedding, but the prudent gardener must necessarily think about the next lot of plants as soon as the summer display is off his hands. There are some flower enthusiasts who dislike to see a bed broken up so long as a few flowers are still available for display, but in most cases this seriously handicaps the gardener who has prepared his plants for the spring display some months ahead in planting on a certain date. If planting is delayed tho plants deteriorate in tho boxes, and the ultimate display of bloom falls far short of what it would have been. In the congenial climate of the northern part of tho Dominion, it is not unusual for the summer bedding plants to continue a display far into the winter, but this makes the spring display correspondingly later. In southern districts tho matter is much simpler, the first frost will usually finish off the summer bedding display, allowing the preparations for spring to be taken in hand in good time. Plants From Seed Many of the spring bedding plants are easily raised from seed with the assistance of a cold frame, while there are quite a number which may be raised successfully in tho open garden. The advantages of raising one's own plants are not confined to the matter of expenso. The homely polyanthus is among the brightest apd best for spring. This is a flower which for some years has been tho subject of the breeder's attentions. In the best modern strains, the size of the individual pips is amazing. The colours have also been strengthened and improved, and from seed many of the varieties come very true.

One point of importance with polyanthus, and indeed with almost every type of plant, is to obtain only good quality seed. The difference between a good quality strain and an inferior grade is astonishing. It is never worth while spending time and labour on what can never be more than second rate plants. Present Sowing

Canterbury Bells, Iceland poppies, wallflowers, including the bright orange Gheiranthus Allionii, myosotis and the Brompton and East Lotiah stocks may all be sown now with good results. Both the single and calycanthema or cup-and-saucer varieties of Canterbury Bells may be obtained in several delightful shades. There are occasions when some of the plants may fail to bloom the first season. If such plants are left undisturbed they will make a doubly fine show the following season. January is the best month in. which to sow the wallflowers. It is a great mistake to defer the planting until the spring. As soon as the plants are large enough, line them out in nursery beds, where thev will make compact plants and lift with a better ball of roots than if they had not been transplanted.