THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18760, 13 January 1923, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

NOTES BY D. TANNOCK, F.R.H.& WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. With the increased temperature which we usually experience at this season there will be little need for fire heat, except in the warm orchid and tropical houses. ’ Give plenty of ventilation at all times during the day, and leave a little top and bottom ventilation on nil night in. the greenhouse and tomato house. The growth of ferns, palms, and other foliage plants is not so rapid now, and they can also get mo|e air to harden up the foliage so that it will stand the unfavourable conditions which exist when they are taken inside for house decoration. Keep the side shoots which arise up the stems of the tomatoes pinched out, and though it is not desirable to remove too much of the foliage, a few of the lower leaves can be thinned _ out to allow the sun to get in to the ripening fruit. Give plenty of air to vines when the grapes begin to colour, but bo careful to avoid draughts, which are one of the causes of mildew. A temperature of from 80 to 85 degrees with a fall of 10 degrees at night will not bo too high during the ripening period, provided the atmosphere is not jtagnant. Streptocarpus are doing very well, and are splendid for the fernery and palm Jiouso where thefo is little or no heat. They like plenty of moisture and a growing atmosphere, and if the seed pods arc picked off regularly they will continue in flower for a long time yet. Gloxinias require a little more heat than streptocarpus, and thought they can bo used for the cool greenhouse they are better in the tropical or sub-tropical section. Seedlings of both screptocarpus and gloxinias which were raised this spring will bo growing rapidly now, and the strongest plants can be potted up into 4i.n> pots, and they will flower and continue the display well on into the autumn. Poinscttias, which were shaken out and rcpoited. will bo growing rapidly now, and to prevent them from becoming drawn, they can be stood out in a frame or up near the glass in the cool greenhouse for the summer. They bright-coloured bracts are very welcome during the winter months, and, as they are both greedy and thirsty plants, they require careful watering and liquid manure once a week. The ordinary poinsottia is Euphorbia pulcherrime. and there is another species. Euphorbia jacquiniaeflora, which is also, very valuable for winter flowering, and which requires exactly the name treatment as the poinsettia. Coleus thyrsoidous is a blue flowering plant from Uganda, which flowers during the winter in the warm or ordinary greenhouse. Cuttings put in _ some time ago can be potted up into Sin pots, in which they will flower and the old plants can be shaken out, repotted in the same sized pots, and treated the same as the poinsettias. All winter flowering plants should be encouraged to make their growth now so that it may become well ripened by the autumn. Continue to stake and tie out chrysanthemums, prick out primulas and calceolarias, and as soon as the foliage of the pelargoniums and geraniums ripens they can bo cm. over, the stems being cut into pieces and put in as cuttings, and the old plants kept, a bit dry until growth commences aS ' U ”’ THE FLOWER GARDEN. Continue to stake all plants as they develop and to tie iu the shoots of ramblers trom time to time. Sweet peas will also require to be tied up to thoir supports and this can bo done by stretching strands of binder twine along the linos as the foliage develops and tying them in at intervals. Growth is very strong and soft this year, and a certain amount of thinning will be an advantage. It is also necessary to pick the old flower stems from time to time to prevent them from setting seed. Sweet Williams are just about at thoir best and they have again demonstrated their suitability for a moist arid unsettled season. They did not mind the wet and cold a bit and went on developing thoir flower sterns wliilo conditions were unfavourable for the halt hardy annuals. Mark the most desirable varieties for seed saving, for it is much bettor to treat them as biennials and to raise fresh batches of seedlings every year. Gaillardias and Canterbury Bells have also been most useful during the holiday season and both can be raised from seed sown now. Continue to keep all beds and boa-dors scuffle hoed, mow and roll lawns, and keep the grass verges neat and tidy. Though the main crop of roses is over wo must not neglect the plants, and constant spraying will bo required to keep the mildew and green fly in check. Any very strong growths which shoot away up and spoil the shapo of the bushes can be shortened back or cut right out altogether, ami thinning of the buds will ensure betlor blooms. Continue to bud and make notes of tho varieties you intend to order for uext season. There are quite a number of native flowering trees and shrubs out at the present, lime and most arc doing remarkably well. Tho rata (Metrosideros lucida) is again doing very well and being of a neat habit, retaining a. reasonable shapo for years, it is very suitable for a town garden and far more suitable than tho forest trees so olten planted. It, certainly takes about 10 years for a small specimen to reach the flowering stage but as it transplants so easily, quite big specimens can be obtained which will flower at once. Wo have several plants flowering now which were transplanted last winter and they look like continuing right on. Though it can he grown from seed and cuttings it is better to got a well grown plant from a nurseryman or to collect, it in districts in which it grows. It will transplant quite easily during (ho summer and if placed iu n shally place until the autumn will hardly loose a leaf. There is a yellow flowered variety which is comparatively rare but the ordinary typo is the most desirable. The Pohutukawa (Metrosideros tomon-t-osa) will also thrive and flower very well in and mound Dunedin and though not so bright as the rata it is a very desirable tree. It crows much faster than tho rata and re irhca the flowering singe se-nner. and like it will thrive in any kind of soil

and any kind of position. In fact bqtli plants are found growing in their native haunts where there ia hardly any soil at. all. The largo flowering ribbon wood (Gaya Lyallii) is also (lowering splendidly at present and it too is a very desirable tree for a small garden where it will thrive in the shrubbery or develop into a shapely lawn specimen. It grows at a considerable altitude on tho upper margins of the beech bush, and there is finite a grove of it beside the .Milford' Sound track. Though it seeds quite freely most of them are destroyed by an insect before they are ripe, but a few usually escape, and young plants can bo found under wcll-eslablisiied trees. It is very easily grown from cuttings of fairly thick young wood, which should he put in. in the iinlnmn. Young plants, if collected in tho hush and packed in damp moss, will transplant easily. Another small tree found in the bush near Dunedin, which is flowering very well at present, is the Piitapufawheta (Carpodetus sorratns). It s a neat-looking _ little tree with evergreen leaves and white flowers, which look like hawthorn at a distance. It belongs to the saxifrage family, and is quite a. good tree for the shrubbery. The common Pompom (Solaniim av iculare), sometimes called the native tomato, is flowering quite nicely at present and is quite an ornamental plant with its bluish inirple potato-like (lowers, which are followed bv quantities of drooping yellowish fruits. I understand the North Island ionn is quite a poor tiling, but tho one found round Dunedin is well worth growing in tho wilder part of the garden. There are also quite a number qf veronicas in flower at present, all well worth growing for their neat habit ami white or bluish white (lowers, V. Lewisii, V. Hillii, V. Traversii, V. Darwiniana, V. Barkeri, V. solicifolia, A r . rotnndata, and V. Ballonsii

being among the best. TUB VEGETABLE GARDEN. Continue to plant out broccoli and winter greens as land becomes available, plant leeks anti celery, and keep the soil stirred among all growing crops. The last sowing of peas for this season should bo made at once, and further sowing of French and butter beans can be made. So far beans have not done very well this year, and a sowing now might easily overtake the stunted plants which have struggled on during the wot weather.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

D. C. G., Stratford.—The host way to restore worked out soil is to give liberal dressings of farmyard manure. Failing this dressings of loafmould and bush soil will renew the organic the chemicals can bo supplied in the 'form of sulphate 'of ammonia, .superphosphate, and basic super, bone meal, and blood manure. Though it is not desirable to dig in qpw manure so that it will come into contact, wth your bulbs when planted, there is n® harm in putting in a few inches below them. The roots will find it later on when ready to take it up. Dip your newly-imported bulbs in a weak solid ion of formaline (a tablespoonful or two to a gallon of water) before planting should you fear blights. You can level your hods now, but as the results from imported tulips are not much the first year it would be bolter to plant them in the reserve garden at first. I would advise lifting tulips and freesias every year, though they will do for second year. I would keep anemonaes and ranunculus back for a little while, but plant all other bulbs as they arrive Wood ashes, uniess kept quite dry, arc not of much value, and I do not think they would spoil your narcissi, but phosphates are better than potash for all bulbs.