GARDENING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17324, 25 May 1918, Page 3

GARDENING NOTES.

By D. Tannock. WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GBEENHOUSE AND NURSERY. The hardiest and easiest to grow of all indoor orchids, Cypripedium Insigno is now making a bravo show, and will continue in bloom for some weeks, and Cymbidium Lowianum, another strong-growing, hardy kind, is also pushing out its flower spikes. These two aro among the easiest to grow of all orchids, and) where there is a desire to havo orchids represented in the greenhouse these two ought to be selected. The flowers of C. Lowianum will last almost all winter, and aro very attractive. As most of the large flowering chrysanthemums aro in bloom now, notes should be made of the most satisfactory varieties, and the number of each which you intend to grow next season. Somo of tho most desirable varieties so far aro—Edith Cavcll, a large incurved Japanese, colour, light chestnut, with gold reverse; Gallipoli, a 'verv large flower, light mauve pink, with silvery reverso; Mrs R. C. Pulling, also a very large flower, with very broad petals, colour, lemon yellow. W. Turner is still one of the largest and best whites, and other good varieties aro Mrs R. Luxford, Mrs C. Benfold, Mauvo Beauty, Meudcn, Lloyd Wigg, Miss Hinde. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Continue to trench and prepare beds and borders for roses, and to plant them as soon as they arrive from the nurserymen. Autumn planting is the best, and it is a pitv that people won't send on their orders early, with the request that the plants be forwarded as soon as they can bo lifted with safety. Continue to clear off herbaceous borders, to rake up loaves, clip hedges, and prune rambler roses. Autumn planting of trees rind shrubs is also the most satisfactory, and beds and borders should! bo trenched now that tho soil is in good working order and a little time is available. Unless the soil is very poor it is not necessary to manure borders or holes for trees or shrubs, but if peat leaf-mould or oompost-heap is available it should be added to the 9oil as trenching proceeds. A fair amount of organic matter is an advantage. Though manure is is not necessary for tho shrubs, it is usual to grow crops or annuals or biennials in new borders until tho shrubs grow up and fully occupy the space. To help these it is advisable to dig in a liberal dressing of manure after the trees and shrubs have been planted and the surface levelled. The carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) is almost as much appreciated ■as the rose, both for garden decoration and for supplying cut flowers for house decoration. It is quite as hardy, and if tho different kinds are grown they can be had in flower right through the year. Carnations like a soil and situation which suits roses —nice, open, and sunny, well away from the roots of trees, hedges, and stronggrowing shrubs, and a well-trenched loam, with good drainage, overlying a clay subsoil Many make the common mistake of coddling their carnations too much and giving them too much manure. When trenching beds for carnations the stable manure should be buried at' least a foot below tho surface. Bone meal or basic slag can be forked into the surface soil when planting, and if the soil is heavy a liberal application of lime rubble worked into the top spit will be an advantage. Carnations associate very well with roses, and we usually plant them in the newlyplanted borders. There is plenty of room for a row of them between cach row of roses the first year. Layers which were put down about the end of January arid severed from the parent plants a week or two ago can now do lifted, and if the borders are ready and the eoil does not become too stiff and wet during the winter, they can be planted out at onco. If they aro. only intended to remain 'in the beds one year they can be planted at a distance of 16in to 18in apart, but if they are left to grow into large plants they will require more room. If tho soil is inclined to bo oold and wot during tho winter the layers can be lined out in a well-drained border, or potted up into 3in pots and stood on a bed of ashes :n a cold frame for the winter, .and planted out in Spring. It is satisfactory to note that one of the largest carnation growers in the Dominion is recommending selected raised in the Dominion in preference to the weakgrowing imported varieties. I have for a long time advocated raising "tarnation from seed, but it is a very difficult matter to obtain good fresh seed worth sowing. The special features of the newer varieties aro their vigour, their freedom of flowering, the strength of tho flower stalks, and that they don't burst. The winter flowering, tree, or perpetual varieties havo been greatly improved of late, and wo now have varieties almost as hardy as the border kinds; their flowers have strong, stiff stalks, which mako them so useful for cutting, and they flower all tho year round. Seedlings raised last spring are coming into flower now, and they will continue right 'through the winter; but to get them to do their best they should be planted in a sunny, drv position eheltercd from tho south-west winds. Marguerite carnations havo been particularly good this autumn, and I think if it were know how easy they are 'to cultivate they would be more extensively planted. By sowing seed in spring along with the ordinary half-hardy annuals, and planting the seedlings out on a well-cultivated, sheltered border in November, they will commerccc to flower in March, and continue right cn into tho winter. TTXK "VEGETABLE GARDEN. Continue to dig or trench the vacant ground in the vegetable garden, adding Btablo manure to tiie places where you intend to grow the oabbage, cauliflower, peas, beans, potatoes, lettuce, and onions. As it is advisable to trench a portion every vear, that intended for tho potatoes should be selected, and. into it all the garden rubbish, leaves, compost heap, etc., should be buried! As potash is very expensive, and it is a valuable manure for potatoes and root crops, all wood iwhos should bo saved. The best plan is to store them away in a dry place until spring and to work them into the surface when forking ovor the ground in preparation for seed-sowing or planting. Of course by burying garden refuse and compost heap you are also adding potash to the eoil, and valuable organio matter at tho sarno time; so it is is a safe rule to dig in everything which will decav readily, and to burr) only that which won't rot, or that which is attacked by fungoid or insect pe?ta. Among tho vegetables suitable for winter use tho parsnip should take first place; if properly cultivated it will yield a larger weight of food than any other erop on tho same area, and its food value is also much hicrher than moat other crops. Tts botanical name is fPastinacea satrval, and it in found growing in a wild state on the roadsides and wast/.:- places in England. There aro two types—the loii£. smooth, hollow crown variety, and the shorter and stouter rooted student, tvpo. Parsnips like a loose, deeply-cultivated soil, tlie top 1?1 inches being free from farmyard manure, whieh unless buried dreplv has a tendency to cause forking and tho development of side roots, instead of the long trrnering. smooth root so much appreciated. Most people make a mistake in using parssifs toe ssriy in the season; 1116/ havo a

far bettor flavour if loft, until they got a littlo frost, or thoir growth and the the leaves begin to ripen off. Though fresh manure should not bo dug in when preparing tlie soil for parsnip;;, thev should follow a. crop far which the soil w;is well manured, and an application of superphosphate, guano, or bone meal forked into the surfaco when preparinii tho ground for sced-.HOiving will bo tui advantage. As parsnips require a long season to grow, seed should bo sown in August, and as tho leaves require plenty of room to develop the rows should be 16 to 18 inches apart, and tho seedlings should be allowed, a distance of from 10 to 12 inches in the rows. As large roots are ever so much better than small ones, it pays to go to some trouble to obtain them, and the most desirable way of growing parsnips, even where the soil is free, is to prepare holes. With a erowlxir make a Irale at least, two feet deep, and wriggle it round until it is five to six inches wide at the top and tapering to the bottom. ]' ill this hole with nice light soil— old potting soil to which a six-inch potful of bono m(\il and superphosphate lias been added to each barrow-load will'do; fill the hole to the top. making it fairly firm; make a little dent with the knuckles about two inches deep and iii this sow a few seeds, when thev germinate, thin out to two in each hole and later to one. The plant will All the hole, and in the autumn it should bo possible to dig; roots 20 inches long, weighing 2ilb each. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. ' Albury."—Tho specimen sent in flower is Arbutus uiiedo, the strawberry tree, it likes a peaty soil and a damp position, and now that it has started to flower it should continue. No. lis Euonymus europseus, or the spindle tree. It is valuable both for its ornamental fruits and its autuinntinted foilage. It can bo grown from cuttings of young wood put in now. Michaelmas daisies require to be lifted and replanted every year. Manure the soil well and plant back a small piece of tho outside of the clump. Tbin out the shoots to five to each plant in spring, and stake out each stem. Gcrbera jamcsoni is somewhat difficult to grow from seed, but plants can be obtained from tho nurserymen. Tho climatic conditions you describe should suit it. Plant at the foot of a wall and cover with branches during the very frosty weather. Keep dry in winter and water well in summer. "A. H." —Hippeastrums, sometimes called amaryllis, should have ripened off now. Keep dry until spring, when they can bo top-dressed and started into growth again. The flower bud should appear before the leaves. Pelargoniums can be potted up into their flowering pots in another month or six weeks' time, and tho size of the flowering pots of Primula malaeoidcs should be fivo or six inch; Cinerarias, ordinarykinds, six inch; stellatas, seven and inch. B