HORTICULTURAL GLEANINGS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19802, 29 May 1926, Page 3

HORTICULTURAL GLEANINGS.

FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Standard and Bush Fuchsias.—These plants in some of our local gardens have made splendid growth this season, and have flowered very freely. They are still a feature in some gardens, and their attractive flowers will last for some time yet. It may not be out of place, however, to remind growers that in the course of a couple of months or so pruning must bo resorted to. Cuttings of the best sorts should be set in boxes in the greenhouse to supplement the cuttings that may be taken at the present time and similarly treated. Care should be taken in the preparation of the potting soil of fibrous loam, well-decayed leaves, and sand, as otherwise good results cannot be relied on. Iris Mmuta.—This dainty little Japanese species is unknown in a wild state, and somewhat rare in cultivation. Of lowly stature, the non-flowering growths carry slender leaves which may be so much as 18in long, but the flowers rarely exceed 6in in height. The latter are yellow with dull purple spots, and very pretty. Although considered to _be fairly hardy. Iris minuta is a desirable pot plant for cultivation in a cold frame or a cool house. The roots are tuberous, and are found to bear many very small potato-like tubers, in shape and size somewhat resembling the eggs of ants; these tubers may serve the purpose of the large, fleshy tubers met with on the roots of certain species of asparagus. Forcing Lettuces in (he United States of America. —The lettuce ranks as one of the most important .vegetable crops in the United States and as a vegetable forcing crop stands foremost; commercial greenhouse establishments in the United States give more space to lettuces all the year round than to any other crop. It is estimated that the value of the lettuce crop in 1919 was more than 8,000,000 dollars. Like the commercial growers in Britain, American market growers use large quantities of stable manure for lettuces, and os this material, especially in glasshouses, tends to cause sourness in the soil, the practice of applying lime to counteract the acidity is very common in that country. With a view to investigating the effect of acid soils on ihe crop Mr J. W. Crist, of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Michigan, conducted several experiments and comes to the conclusion that, at least under some conditions, the lettuce is an acid tolerant plant; he observes that ordinary ' and often unusually high soil acidity is not detrimental to its growth. He found that (he crops succeed best in a medium that is distinctly acid in reaction when the necessary plant foods are present in proper quantities end proportions. That practices differ in the United States as well as here is shown by the fact that some growers there never use lime for lettuces whilst others apply it each year in amounts varying from 5001 b to 40001 b to the acre. Rose of Sharon.—As a dwarf flowering shrub to cultivate beneath deciduous shrubs and trees, the Rose of Sharon, Hypericum oalycinum, is an easy first in value. Rapidly increased by division, the plants thrive in nearly all soils anil produce their rich yellow blossoms freely from June to September. Growing from Ift to 18in high, it is worth while cutting the whole growths back to within 4in to 6in of the ground each year in spring when now growths are about to push up. This gives a neat and tidy appearance, as the old growths harbour many old leaves during the winter. Rock Garden.—The charming little sweet nlyssum is one of ihe best of subjects for the rook garden. It grows into a neat bush some 4in high, covered with fragrant white flowers. A form of this, called the lock nlyssum, forms a carpet-like mass close to the ground, producing sheets of snbwy white blooms. The seeds of tin"; plant germinate in about 10 days and come in f o flower in about six weeks. They should K. thinned to at least pin anort. W>*h flowers of brilliant colouring is Anagallis linifolia, var. coerulea having in terse gentian-bine flowers, while var. Brewer! has large brilliant scarlet ones. Carnnarni’a drabtefolia (C- nttica) is a neat little id aat with flowers about iin in diameter. those of the tyvio being rich bluish purple with white centres, the other form having white flowetp.