THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18766, 20 January 1923, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

NOTES BY D. TANNOCK, F.R.ILS. WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Cinerarias which wore pricked out some time ago will now bo ready to pot up, the large flowered varieties into 3m size and the stellatas into 4in size. Uso a ruco light rich mixture composed of two parts loam, one leafmould, half-part sharp sand, and half-part well-rotted cow or stable manure, with a liberal dusting of bone meal. _ Don’t pot too firmly; and stand in the warm house for a few days until the roots penetrate the new soil, when they can bo placed out in a frame where they will bo shaded during sunny weather and kept as cool and moist os possible. It is quite a job keeping the winter flowering plants such as cinerarias, primulas, and, calceolarias cool should wo have warm dry weather during January and February. Seedling wallflowers should now bo ready to transplant into the ground which has been manured and prepared for them. Wallflowers like lime, and if it ia lacking in the soil give » good dressing which should be worked into the surface. Water the seedlings well the night before transplanting, mark out the ground in rows 9in to Ift apart with an extra space between every five rows, plant firmly with a trowel or dibber, and water at once to settle the soil among the roots. Should the weather ho very dry it will bo necessary to sprinkle the plants in the evenings for the first week, and though they look very wilted-and miserable at first they soon pick up. and growth is very rapid. Sweet Williams will also be ready for planting out soon and, like the wallflowers, they like a nice rich soil. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Work in the flower garden is mostly maintenance, but a start can bo made to plant daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs, and if there are any spaces in the herbaceous border these can be filled with, biennials such as stocks, Canterbury bells, and wallflowers. Keep the growing plants staked and tied, cut away the old foliage of Oriental poppies, delphiniums, and lupins as it ripens, and keep the beds and borders neat and tidy. Dahlias should be making a good show now and to get reasonably good blooms it is desirable to keep them to three main stems and to keep the side shoots looped up. It is also necessary to keep the old flowers picked off as tney wither, and to give them liquid manure once a week. To keep pansies and violas flowering during the summer and early autumn it is necessary to pick off all the seed pods and to keep them well watered and fed during dry weatner. Carnations can be layered now and cuttings of pinks put in to provide plants for next season. The new Allwoodii pinks are becoming established, and as they produce plenty of young shoots, called grass there should be no difficulty in increasing them. Wo received some seed from Messrs Allwood and I think, every one came up in a few days after sowing. I know that wo will not get many equal to the named varieties sent out from Havward’s Heath, but we should get a number well worth growing. As the rambler roses wither the old flowering stems can bo cut right out where it is possible to get sufficiently strong young wood to take its place, and in other cases the flower heads can bo cut away. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Continue to plant winter greens and broccoli as soon as a piece of land is available, for it is most important that they become more or less established before the warm, dry weather sets in. It is too early to dig potatoes to keep for any length of time yet, but sufficient can be lifted to last a week or two if it is necessary to get room for planting, or the tops can be tied to each side with a length of binder twine and the plants put in between the drills. Continue to plant nut celery and leeks and to make sowing of lettuce, radish, shorthorn carrots, golden ball turnips, and onions. Continue to summer prnn«» fruit trees and bushes, cutting away much of the surplus growth which prevents the light and air from getting into the centres of the trees, to secure ripening of the fruit, and the development of flower buds for next season. As a rule the lateral shoots can be cut back to a few inches and the leading shoots from 9in to 12in if the trees have nearly reached their maximum height. Keep the soil weeded and cultivated under the trees and bushes, and where they are growing in grass a circle from 4ft to 6ft in diameter should bo kept cultivated round the stem. For shot-hole fungus which attacks plums end apricots spray with ammoniated carbonate of copper, which will not discolour the fruit, and later on with summer Bordeaux, after the fruit lias been picked. EXOTIC FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS. There are quite a number of exotic trees and shrubs suitable for small gardens which, with the natives mentioned in last week’s notes, will keep the shrubbery quite bright and interesting. There are two brooms— Gobista iotnensis. a native of Sicily, which in its early stages has a few small leaves, which disappear altogether in the mature plant, their functions being performed by the green twiggy branches. It is more or less pendulous, the flowers are small and of a bright yellow, but they are produced in such abundance that it looks like a golden fountain. ; It will thrive in a dry, poor place. Spartium junceurn (Spanish broom) is better known than the Mount Etna broom, and is to bo found in many gardens. It has green rush-like shoots and few leaves, and bears erect clusters of bright yellow fragrant flowers. It will grow whore the common broom will thrive —and that is everywhere. Carpentaria California is still in bloom, bearing clusters of largo white fragrant flowers. It is nearly related to the mock orange, which it resembles, but it is handsomer. Another useful Californian shrub is Fremontia Cnlifornica. It has largo yellow bowl-like flowers 2in across, which are produced in abundance up the twiggy stems. It grows to a height of from 10ft to 12ft, and likes a nice well-drained soil and a warm slid tored position. It can bo raised from seed quite easily. Buddleia variabilis, var. Voitchiana. is a strong growing deciduo:,.. shrub which bears groat long arching branches, with dense panicles of lilac It has large_ white flowers like fragrant and , this is very much, finer than the type. Another variety which we have planted freely about Dunedin is var. mag-

nifica. It is similar in habit to Voitchiana, but commences to flower later. It has bright violet-purple flowers. A nr. Wilsoni has flowers of a rosy lilac, with a deep orange centre. All the forms of B. vanabilis like good' rich soil, and the stronger they grow the belter they flower. I hey flower on the young wood, and should bo cut right back during _ the winter. Iho cuttings root quite easily, and soon grow into flowering plants. There is still one rhododendron in flower called Maddouii, ns far as I can ascertain. It has large white flowers like fvagrantissima, and is almost as fragrant, but the 'branches are stouter and more erect. It is mentioned in tire Rhododendron Rook of Present-day Gardening by Mr Watson that Maddenii is also known as Jenkcnsii, but wo have a Jonkensii which is quite different, though they both flower about the same time, and resemble one another in some of their chairactori.siticsi. Rhododendrons rV'o making very good growth this year, and unless intended for seed-saving, all the seed pods should ho picked off the more special species and varieties. Prostanthcra Insianthts (t)io Victorian dogwood) is a nice little tree which flowered particularly well this year. Its flowers, which smother the tree, aro white, tinged with red, the throat of the corolla being tinged with red. 'lt is much stronger in growth than the better-known P. rotundifolia, which is found in many gardens.