GARDENING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17777, 8 November 1919, Page 3

GARDENING NOTES.

Bz D. Tahkoce. WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GBEKKTHOtTSE. As cinerarias and primulas require a long season to make satisfactory growth, and at no time should they be hurried by forcing them on in heat, a few seeds of each kind should be sown to provide early plants, which oome in very handy for furnishing the greenhouse benches when the chrysanthemums axe in flower. Though the seeds are not very small they must be sown very carefully, and six inch poiß half filled with crooks, or deep seed pans, are the most convenient receptacles. Use nioe sweet, clean soil, a little of the loam which is used for potting the chrysanthemums will do, and the proportions will be two parts turfy loam, one of leaf-mould, and half a part of sand. Pass the whole of the mixture through a half-inch sieve and a little of it through . a very fine sieve for topping the pots and oovenng the seeds. Place Some rough materials on top of the crocks, then fill up to within an inch of the top with thei ordinary soil, top off with half an inch of fine soil to provide a nice smooth seed bed, and make firm and smooth. Sow the seeds thinly and evenly, cover with just enough fine soil to hide them, sprinkle a little fine soil on top, and make the surface firm and level; then water carefully. Stand the pots in a cool part of the greenhouse, cover with a sheet of glass to prevent evaporation, and shade with pieces of paper until the seedlings appear, when the shading and the glass should be removed and the pots plaoed in a light position to prevent them from becoming drawn and spindly. The display in the greenhouse at present is provided by the Prim.'ula oboonicas, which have flowered all winter, Primula Kewensia, cyclamens, oalceolarias, and sohizainthus. The schizanthus are very useful for' cutitng as well, as furnishing th» greenhouse, and when grown for springflowering, along with the calceolarias, they keep the greenhouse gay until the pelargoniums and begonias oome on. Pelargoniums will be growing rapidly and showing their flower buds; stake them out to give the flowers room to develop and to maintain a reasonable shape, and fumigate at intervals to beep down green fly. The tuberous begemiaa should be growing away rapidly now, and if not already potted up they should receive attention at once. Spray them overhead twice a day when the weather is warm and sunny, and maintain a growing atmosphere by damping tho i benches and 'the paths frequently. The begonia seedlings will be ready to prick out, bat these should be kept in the warn greenhouse for a little yet to encourage growth., Most, if not all, of the bedding plants should be pricked out by now, and as they become established in their boxes they should be shifted out into the frames and gradually hardened off in preparation for planting out. Maintain a growing atmosphere by damping and syringing, and give those plants which are potbound a little liquid manure once a week. Tomatoes should be well established now; give air whenever outside temperature is reasonable, and maintain a dry atmosphere. Tomatoes, unlike vines and cucumbers, must be kept dry above ground, and care should be taken when watering them not to spill water over the paths or the beds; it is also advisable to give good soakings at intervals, instead of a little nearly every day, for a moist atmosphere causes damping off, encourages a strong growth of stem and leaf with considerable intervals between the bunches, and is also responsible for the early buds and flowers dropping off. Provide strings or stakes to support the stems as they grow, and pinch out all side growths. Yines should be growing away rapidly now in the unheated houses. Disbudding should receive attention, _ and as the shoots_ grow they should toe tied down to the wires to keep them from pushing up against the glass. When the bunches appear pinch the shoots two leaves above them, and as a rule one bunch is quite enough for each shoot. . In a short time after stopping the buds in the axils of the top leaves will grow out, and these will be stopped at one leaf, for though it is desirable to have the whole roof covered with foliage it should not be crowded, and the leaves should not shade one another. THE FLOWEK GARDEN.

Continue the bedding out, and though there is very little growth yet, well-grown and properly hardened plants soon - start root action, and they are ready to grow when warm weather commences. . Thin out the Michaelmas daisies to five \ or so shoots on each plant, and provide a small 1 preliminary stake to prevent them from being broken over by the strong winds. Herbaceous plants, such poeonies, and oriental poppies are growing rapidly, and they will require some support. Stick in a few strong stakes round the clumps, and, in addition to fixing strings round them, fix a few across to , prevent the flowers from falling to one side during wet weather. Roses are making satisfactory growth, and, wherever they were sheltered from tho cold S.W. winds, they came through therecent gales quite safely. _ Both mildew and green fly are appearing, and spraying will have to be undertaken at once to prevent irreparable damage being done. A severe attack of green fly will cause the ibuds of the ramblers to drop off, and both mildew and bladk spot are more plentiful when the weather conditions are unfavourable.

The shrubs, small trees, rhododendrons, and azaleas |are flowering quite freely, and are providing l the chief display in the flower garden at present. As usual, the three least common and most conspicuous shrubs or jmall trees, for they will eventually grow to considerable height, are Em bothrium ooceineum, Halosia tetraptera, and Styrax Japonica. Thi3 Embothrium coccinetrm, commonly known as the Chilian fire bush, is flowering as freely as over in the gardens this season, and i 3 very beautiful, every twig carrying a cluster of its fiery rsd flowers, and as these are firm and fleshy in texture they stand the cold winds very well. It is still a rare shrub and difficult to obtain.

Hafcaia tetraptera is the snowdrop tree, a native of Ameria, and one of tho prettiest of flowering trees. The plant in the garden is still a shrub, but when it grows to a height of 20ft to 30ft, with a rounded head, it will be a very fine feature, and a fit companion for the double cherries! Styrax japonica is not out yet, but the undersides of the branches are hung with buds. It is also called the snowdrop tree and its white, bell-like flowers are even more like snowdrops than the hdlesia. It is quite hardy, and in Japan, of which oountry it is a native, it grows to a height of 40ft, but, unless its growth in the future is much greater than it has been in the past, it will be a long time before the plants in tho gardens reach that height. The'lilacs are flowering freely, and they, too, seem to be ablo to stand un to the stormß and the cold winds. They aro great favourites, and as the grafted kinds commence to flower when quite small, and can be kept down by reasonable pruning whoii they aro in flower, thoy are very suitable tog imall gaxdeot.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Owing to the cold, showery weather, the growth of all vegetables is very slow, and as the supplies carried over from last year are nearly, if not quite, exhausted, they &ro both scarce and dear. Keep the surface soil stirred with tho hoo or cultivator, and thin out crops as soon as tho seedlings axe large enouglh to handle. Continue to maks further sowings of beans, turnips, lettuce, radish, and peas, and make small plantings of cabbage and cauliflower. Keep tho soil stirred among tho potatoes, and earth them up from time to time to steady tho foliage. As diseaso w not likely to attack the early varieties before they are dug, it is not necessary to spray them, but it is worth whilo spraythe second early and main crop varies. It is not yet too late to plant the lato varieties provided good stwd can bo obtained, and as food of all kinds is dear it_ would bo advisablo for cvoryono with suitable soil to plant as many as possible.

Parsnips have a higher food value than potatoes, and they produco quite as heavy a. crop if the soil is well trenched and fairly rich. Sowings oan still be made to provide roots for the winter and spring: and really they are not at their best until the foliage ripens off, when the cold weather sets in. Owing to the cold weather both leaf-curl and mildew ore appearing on the fruit trees. They oan be sprayed with Bordeaux (summer formula) br self boiled lime and sulphur.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "B. 8.," Stirling.—Rust is very troublesomo on carnations grown in pots for winter flowering l ,,but as a rule those grown outside are quite clean. Spraying with any fungicide will be suitable, but probably the most suitable will be sulphide of potassium. Dissolve loz in two or three gallons of soapy water and syringe your plants, taking cans to thoroughly wet both the under and upper sides of the leaves. , "S. G.," Bay of Islands.—lf your wisteria is growing in a dry position at the foot of a wall it ougiht to flower. Give a dressing of lime or basio phosphate; tramp the soil firmly round its roots, and keep as dry as possible, to ensure the proper ripening of the wood. . '

"J. 8.," Stirling-.—The name of the shrub you mention, is Exochorda grandflora—the pearl bush. It is one of the' loveliest of hardy shrubs, allied to the spiraeas, but with larger flowers, and forming, when full grown, a bush about 10ft high. It flowers best when growing* in a dry, warm, poor soil; but in somo cases it flowers beautifully when growing in a well-culti-vated, rich border among other shrubs. It seems to vary considerably, and Mr Solomon's plant is ■ one of the finest varieties. It could be obtained through any of the local nurserymen or seedsmen.