THE GARDEN

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12022, 27 December 1924, Page 13

THE GARDEN

NOTES BY "RATA” SEASONABLE HINTS. Tlie Vegetable Garden. Sow lettuce between rows of garden peas. Dust the onion bed with old soot at frequent intervals. Make another sowing of dwarf beans for succession. Runner beans Heed strong supports in exposed places. Feed tomato plants liberally ae soon as the fruit starts to swell. In the Flower Garden. Plant cosmoas in a sheltered position, and support them early. Out back genistas which have done flowering. Sow brompton stocks. Gloxinias coming into hloom should be protected from the direct rays of the sun. Tie gladioli securely to their supports. CHIVES. It is exceptional to meet with chivee in the average garden to-day, though one finds onions largely grown. Chives are not so pronounced in flavour. The slender leaves can he brought into use in the making of salads, and adds piquancy where the onion flavour would not be welcome. Chives can be cut over several times in a season, and a few plants are generally sufficient to meet the demand of the average household. Plante can be raised from seed, or by division, and they will grow in almost any kind of soil. PRACTICAL HINTS. Continue the planting of all winter greens. Water celery often, and give it a little bonedust. Water tomatoes and vegetable marrows always with water wbioh has bee® exposed to the air during the day. Remove the flower stems from rhubarb, because if they are allowed to remain the plants will be considerably weakened. Where cucumbers are growing in cold frames be careful to avoid overwatering where there is a spell of dull weather. Don’t out the lawn too close during a spell of hot weather. .It is a good plan also to leave the clippings on the surface occasionally, as the light mulch benefits the grass. Don’t refrain from hoeing because you are fortunate enough to have no weeds; hoeing aerates the soil, and prevents the escape of moisture. Sweet peas, like many other plants, are greatly benefited by being: syring ed after a hot day. This applies particularly to those growing in poor or very light soil, as they naturally feel the effects of hot weather sooner than those growing in deeper and stronger land.

Unless strawberries are required to produce runners for the planting of other beds, all runners should be removed whilst the plants are fruiting. If they are left the bed soon becomes a tangled mass.

CARE OF WINDOW-BOXES. Window-boxes now need daily attention, and in very hot weather they may require watering twice a day, if they contain the thirsty white or yellow marguerites. No matter how heavily it has rained, window-boxes should be watered in summer, as the rain often falls in the wrong direction to b eno fit the plants, and no matter whichever way rain is driven it never reaches the hack of the box.

Every fading flower and shabby leaf should be nipped from the plants, and the little seed cases whioh form over the dainty fuchsia blooms should be removed, even if the ■ flowers have fallen. This is most important, if fuchsias are to flower over a long period, as it prevents any seed ripening. and until a plant has formed eeods it will do its beet to flower and bear seed. Surface soil in window-boxes should not become hard and caked, and the best thing to use for breaking up the Soil is an old kitchen fork. One should turn the various geraniums with discretion. Geraniums often hear a few fading florefgN in their massed blooms, and these are easily nipped out with a pair of scissors without removing the entire bunch of bloom.

Fading marguerite blossoms should be removed_at once, as they look par. ticularly weary, and just a few of these will spoil the entire appearance of an otherwise bright window-box, apart from their preventing any buds from expanding quickly, to take their place. The question of editable plants ia largely a matter of the owner’s choice, assuming that the position is suitable. Zonal and ivy-leaved geraniums, fuchsias, blue lobelia, ana white alyssum are too well known to need description. Sweet-peas, phlox, nasturtiums, stocks, godetias, marigolds, canary creeper, and larkspurs are some of the most popular annuals which can be successfully cultivated for this purpose. In considering the winter and spring aspect of the boxes, bulbs (hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, etc.), should be largely used with wallflowers, polyanthus, primroses, and violas, and windowboxes can be so .planted to give unending interest and pleasure. Plants can readily be found for all positions throughout the year. Window gardening will appeal most to those who live in cities, hub delightful use can be made of wide window-sills by all flower-lovers. The scarlet and pink ivy geraniums, white marguerites, and blue lobelia are the most popular, easiest grown, and very effective. The boxes need not be elaborate, any strong, well-made box is suitable, and it should be given a coat of green paint, and a few boles bored in the bottom for drainage purposes. A compost of loam, leaf-mould and sand, with perhaps a little rotted manure added, will meet the requirements of most plants. To fill the boxes with soil, first cover the bottom with one inch or so of broken flower-pots, brick rubble, or some other drainage material. Bad drainage ruyis many win-dow-hoses, the soil in badly-drained boxes becoming sour and water-logged. Cover the crocks with' rough soil, and then odd the compost, leaving a clear inch of watering space at the top of the box when planting is completed. PROPAGATING PINKS. These delightful plants may be easflj propagated now by utilising healthy young growths as cuttings. Inserted in a shady part of the garden in sandy soil, these cuttings will root readily. DAFFODILS. Where it is necessary to lift daffodil bulbs, this is the time to do so, the foliage being now ripened off. The bulbs of this plant take little or no rest, for immediately the ripening period is over the bulbs begin to make fresh roots, bo unless the lifting can be carried out soon, much harm may be done should it he taken in hand later. Tho bulbs alter being dug up should be spread out to dry in an open shed, sever, in the full sunshine.