THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19760, 10 April 1926, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

- ; WORK FOR THE WEEK. KOTE3 BX D. XASXOCK. F.B.H.S. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Geranium cuttings can still be put in. Continue to pot on the Chinese primulas and cinerarias to their flowering pots, and make preparations for putting in cuttings of pectstemons. calceolarias, marguerites, violas, and pansies. Prepare for housing the chrysanthemums, for we are liable to get frost at any time now, but there is nothing to be gained by placing them untL.- glass too soon. They like the open air and full sunlight, and the buds are quite safe until they show colour. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Continue to clean up leaves from time to time and keep the flower garden as tidy as possible. The rock garden should be overhauled now, and any of the aggressive kinds which are inclined to wander into their neighbours’ pockets should be cut back. It is not desirable to trim them back too much, for a trim rock garden has not the same effect as the semiwild one, but the weaker growing kinds have to lie protected. At the same time cut away all the old flower stems, and after renewing the soil, replant any kinds which are weak and unsatisfactory. Some grow up out of the soil, and will perish unless broken up and replanted, and others die off in the centre while growing vigorously on the outside. In any case there is no danger in replanting alpines at the present" season, and they will become established and flower quite well nest spring. Drainage is most important, and this has to be provided by putting a number of pieces of rock or brick in the bottom of the pocket, at the same time mixing in some soil of a light nature. AUTUMN-FLOWERING BULBS. Zephyranthus (Zephyr-flower), a beautiful plant, has been called the crocus of America. Z. Candida is the hardiest and best of the group, making tufts of rushlike leaves and producing white flowers with golden stamens, opening flat in the sunshine. The bulbs do well in a warm soil, and in the south should be planted in a well-drained, sunny pocket in. the rock garden, or in a sheltered, sunny border at the foot of a wall, where they get a thorough baking and plenty of moisture during the growing season. Amaryllis belladonna is a well-known plant which sends np its flower stems out of the bare ground in the autumn, and its foliage appears in spring. It is quite hardy, and will grow and flower in an ordinary border if the soil is not too heavy, fairly rich and deep. The position it likes best is in a narrow border at the foot of a wall or fence where it will pet the maximum amount of sunlight, and be sheltered from the cold south-west winds. It can also be planted near the front of a shrubbery border or in a dry, sunny part of the mixed border. When the oil is too heavy and wet it is necessary to remove it to a depth of about 3ft and to put in 6in of broken bricks to provide drainage. After putting in some rough soil, fill up with a mixture of good loam, sand, and leafmould, to which has been added a liberal amount of bone meal Plant the bulbs when at rest, Gin deep, and from Gin to 9in apart in groups of nine or more; and during the growing season see that they get plenty of water with at least two applications of liquid manure. Sternbergia lutea is called the lily-of-the-field, and is said to be the lily of the Scriptures. as it grows abundantly in the vales in Palestine. It is a very pretty, hardy plant, which thrives best in a light, sandy or gravelly soil, and is at home in a sunny pocket on the rock pardon, or in a warm, well-drained part of the mixed border. The bulbs must be large before they flower freely, and small bulbs take a few years to work up to the flowering stage. The bulbs sent up five or six leaves each half an inch broad, and about a foot long, appearing with the flowers in the autumn. Colchicum (meadow- saffron or autumn croons) is quite a hardy bulb which, like the Belladonna lily, sends up its foliage in the autumn and its foliage later on. As a rule the individual flowers don’t last long, but as they come in succession there is a long season of bloom. They are quite hardy and thrive in a light, wellcultivated loam which has been enriched by digging in well-rotted manure, and a moist, position is appreciated. They lookbest in masses and carpeted with some kind of dwarf annual which will prevent the soil from being spattered over the blooms. C. autumnale is a native of Britain and is well worth planting in broad masses. C. rpeciosum is a native of the Caucus and is a much larger and finer species than autumnale. Its colour is a clear red-purple, varving to deep crimson-purnle with a white throat, and it is a plant well worth growing in the mixed border or tb<» rock garden. With the exception of the Persian cyclamen all the species are quite hardy, and when planted in cool moist soil in a semishaded position near the bottom of the rock garden or under deciduous trees. C. hedraefolium (ivy-leaved cvclsmon) is a native of Switzerland. South Europe and the north coast of Africa, and is one of the best. The tubers are Ift in diameter and are covered with brownish rough rhind which cracks irregularly so as to form little

scales. The root fibres emerge from tha whole of the upper surface of the tuber, but principally from the rim, few or none from the lower surface. The leaves and flowers spring direct from the tuber at first. They spread horizontally but ultimately become erect. The leaves, which are variously marked, are very pretty and the flowers which appear in autumn and early winter, are purplish red, frequently with a- stripe of a lighter colour. Strong tubers will produce from 200 to 500 flowers and some are delightfully fragrant. C. europajum (European cyclamen) is also a desirable variety. The leaves of this species appear before or along with the flowers, and remain during the greater part of the year. Thu flowers are reddish purple, but there are several vavities in which they vary in size and colour. Where the soil is too heavy and retentive for hardy cyclamen, it should be taken out to a depth of £ft and replaced with a light loam, to which has been added some leafmould and some old mortar rubble. When planting place the conns just under the surface of the soil, and a top-dressing of leafmould occasionally will bo appreciated. Schizoetylis coccinca (Kaffir lily or autumn Ixia). —These are handsome bulbous plants from the Cape with the habit and appearance of gladioli. They are very useful in the autumn and early winter when crimson flowers are scarce. They form a nice edging for borders of iris, torch lilies, or other plants of that character. They like a good, rich, deep soil and one which can be kept moist during tlu summer when growth is most active. Th- autumn ixia differs from many of (he autumnflowering bulbous plants, which have been mentioned, in that they rest during the summer, send up their flowers without foliage in the autumn, and produce their foliage in the spring, when there '. usually plenty of moisture. When this has ripened they retire underground for the summer. The schizostylis is. therefore, not suitable as an edging for the bulb border, but should be planted in a sunny border in the south, and a shady one in the north. To keep the plants growing they should be lifted and divided frequently, advantage being taken to trench and manure liberally the position they occupy, and if the soil is of a light sandy nature it is better to replace it with a heavier and stronger loam. We grow quantities of a gladioli which wa< received from ?onth Africa through Mr Bathgate, and which is found to bo most useful in late autumn and early winter when flowers of this character and colour are scarce. So far it has not been named, and we cal! it Dunedin. It is a vigorous grower and increases at an amazing rate by the formation of small corms and spawn, and it is now quite common Dunedin gardens. The flowers have not the form of the garden gladioli, but tl - colour is a pleasing pink, and they last well when cut for house decoration. They flower in any kind of border provided it is not too dry. and .are better when left in the ground for two years. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Jimmy,” Otago.—Sweet peas can be sown in rows against netting now, but 1 prefer to sow them in pots or pieces of turf, winter them in cold frames, from which the sashes are withdrawn whenever the weather is at all favourable, and plant them out at a distance of a foot apart in the spring. Sweet peas are hard enough, but slugs are very fond of them, and in an open moist winter they are likely to be attacked. In the pots or boxes they are safe, and when put out in e spring they will grow right away. “H. C.,” Maori Hill.—lf you could persuade your neighbours to clip their olearia hedges just now. they would remove most of the insect-infested shoots, and the next growth would be clean. 1 cannot recommend anv spray. . “Murphy,” Aylesbury.—lt is app c blotch which is the cause of your apples cracking, and this pest can be kept in check by frequent sprayings with either summer Bordeaux mixture or lime sulphur. Spyay when at rest just after pruning with winter strength, then with summer strength just before the blossoms open, again immediately after the petals fall, and at intervals of from three to four weeks throughout the season. Unless your trees are stunted and fading to make satisfactory young wood, I would not recommend mulching with sheen manure. It is not desirable to allow grafts to bear fruit too soon.