THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22102, 4 November 1933, Page 7

THE GARDEN.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT "Apricot” (Dunedin). —Apricots frequently fall off when quite email, ; and this may be due to their not ‘ being fertilised, or to setting too heavy a crop. They have to be v thinned out in any case, and . if a reasonable crop is left there is no '-need to worry. When growing - , against a wall or close fence they ■ frequently suffer from lack of moisture at .this season. Give a good soaking with clean water and then an application of liquid manure or a dressing of blood and bone manure, which is afterwards watered in. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Pot the later chrysanthemums into five-inch pots, pinch those intended for bush plants, and keep those intended for big bloom* to one stem. Late-struck . cuttings produce very good blooms in six or seven-inch pots. Pot the tuberous bszonia* into five or six-inch pots and reduce the stems to not more than three on each plant if good flowers arc desired. Continue to put the later bedding plant* out into frames to be gradu-

WORK FOR THE WEEK

NOTES BV . Id. TAN NOCK, A.H.R.H.S.

ally hardened off. Pinch and tie down vines and thin the bunches of the early varieties. Keep the tomatoes . grown under glass to one stem by pinching out the side shoots. Stake or tie up to strings. Break up the old tubers ot dahlias and pot the pieces into five-inch pots. Pot . rooted cuttings. Eemove the cyclamen from the greenhouse and place in shady frames to be gradually hardened off. Pelargoniums can take the place of the cyclamen. Break up and pot or box old plants of begonia manieata. THE FLOWER GARDEN . Eemove wallflower which is now past its best. lift and line-in daffodils and tulips, and manure and dig the beds and borders. Plant out bedding plants of all kinds except tuberous begonias, cannas, heliotropes, zinnias, salvias, and fuchsias. The soil is in very good order and sufficiently moist in most cases to render watering unnecessary. Disbud the roses to one on each stem, and remove any voung shoots 'which arise in the centre ot the plants. Such shoots seldom flower, and they choke up the centres of the bushes and prevent a free circulation ot air. Give an application of liquid manure—about two pints to each busfi. Liquid manure can be made by soaking a sackful of cow, sheep, or horse manure, or all three, in a barrel of water for a week and then diluting it with equal quantities of clear water. If .liquid manure is impossible give.* dressing ot Tonk’s manure and hoe it in. 1 climate the best flowers of primrose polyanthus with a view to seed saving. Mulch rhododendrons and azalea* with lawn mowings or well-rotted manure. If growing in a dry place give a good soaking before mulching. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Sow beans and peas to provide a succession and stake up th® earlier crops. Sow salad plants of all kinds in small quantities. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, leeks, and onions. Plant late potatoes, earth up and spray the early kinds. Plant out vegetable marrows in frame* or under shelter, and sow seeds under bell glasses, handligbts. or frames. Sow seeds of melons in frames on a mild hotbed, made up, with strawy manure and leaves in equal quantities. Thin out carrots to two inches, using further thinnings for the kitchen until they are six inches apart. Thin turnips and beet to nine or 12 inches, and give a little liquid manure made by dissolving an ounce of sulphate of ammonia in a gallon of water if growth is backward. Form and manure celery trenches, and plant'out early kinds. Thin out the young growths on gooseberries, currants, peaches, and apricots. Mulch strawberries with strawy manure. Spray apples with lime sulphur and arsenate of lead for black spot, mildew, and codlin moth. BEDDING OUT Wallflower and other spring flowering plants with the exception of anemones, ranunculus, and primrose polyanthus, are now past their best, and the beds, ana borders can be cleared, manured, and dug and the summer and autumn flowering bedding plants with the exception of tuberous begonias, fuchsias, heliotropes, salvias, and zinnias planted out. Dahlias can be planted out if they are well rooted and properly hardened off, but they can be kept back to take the place of the later flowering spring flowers. ; . , The scarlet geranium is still one of tfie best drought-resisting bedding plants, and as it begins to flower early and continues right on until the late autumn rain spoils the flowers, it is very suitable for filling prominent beds in the lawn within view of the windows. The ivy-leaved kinds can be trained up as standards when it is desirable to relieve the flat surface, and they are very suitable for associating with cannas, heliotropes, and fuchsias, with an under-planting of either tuberous or fibrous-rooted begonias. Dwarf dahlias of the Coltneas Gem or Charm type are very suitable for falling beds or grouping in the mixed border, and if the old flowers or seed pods are kept picked off regularly they will continue to flower right on into the late autumn. These dwarf kinds are more suitable for windy or. exposed positions than the tall, largeflowered kinds, which must have shelter if they are to be satisfactory. Sheltering scrub should be removed from hardy annuals as soon as they germinate, and if too thick the preliminary thinning should be given as soon as the plants are large enough to be handled, GARDEN PEAS AND BEANS

. Garden peas are much hardier than either French or runner beans, and can be sown at intervals from the earliest spring right on to about the end of the year. r Dwarf early maturing kinda are sown first, but now the tall or main crop ones are put ill, and as they require fairly tall stakes and room to develop, they are planted in a flat drill six inches wide, one to two inches deep at a distance of two to three inches apart. ' The ground should have been well limed about three weeks ago and a dusting of superphosphate or bonemeal can be put in the drills along with the seed: Runner beans require more room, and these are planted m a flat row nine inches wide at froin sis to nine inches apart, dusted with bone dust or superphosphate, covered with about two inches of soil and firmed. They should be protected from birds and shaded with a few twiggy branches until germination takes place, and when it is removed some black cotton should be stretched along the lines to frighten off birds, until they are staked. _ Peas should be staked with twiggy branches, which should be at least a foot higher than the height to which the plants are supposed to grow, according to the packets, and if the situation is windy it is advisable to drive in a few strong stakes and fasten a string or wire along each side to keep the sticks in position. Runners are provided with a stick from six to seven feet for each plant, but as their stems twine,-it is not necessary for them to have, twiggy branches like pea stakes. They, too, should be fastened to a wire or string fixed at a height of about five feet, to keep them in position.' Should the first sowings of Canadian Wonder French bean or runners be damaged by frost or 'cold winds it is better to root them out and sow again, for stunted plants are never satisfactory and those which are sown later and grown right on soon overtake them. Slugs are very fond of both beans and peas in their young stages, but fortunately lime, which is appreciated by the plants, is also a protection against these pests and _ frequent dustings should be given especially during rainy weather, for it is no longer effective when wet.

Marrows, and pumpkins can be sown now on specially prepared hills or beds in a cold frame. After the bedding plants are hardened off, if the frame is not required for either tomatoes or cucumbers, a foot or more of soil and manure should be put in and a few seed dibbled in, say, three or four to each sash. If they all germinate the young plants can be reduced to one, or at the most two. The sashes are put on and kept on until germination has taken place when they are tilted up at first, but gradually opened up more and more until the plants are hardened off. If the plants do well they will extend beyond the frame before the antumn. They can also be sown under a bell glass or hand light in the open and protected until all danger of frost is past, and the nights are warmer. It is too to plant out seedlings which have been raised in pots in the greenhouse unless a frame is available. I have frequently recommended the compost or manure heap ns a suitable place on which to grow marrows or pumpkins. The soil cannot be too rich and the vigorous foliage' hides the heap from view during the summer. RANUNCULUS There are several species and varieties of the ranunculus or buttercup family which occupy an important position in the spring or early summer flower • garden. Foremost among these is the large white native buttercup Ranunculus Lyallii, which is sometimes called the “ Mount Cook lily,” though it has no claim to being a lily, and is found more abundantly in some other districts than Mount Cook. It is a remarkable-looking plant,

with large peltate or saucer-shaped leaf, bright green, up to 12in in diameter on a stalk 6in to 12in long. The waxy white flowers, which are 2in to 3in in diameter, are borne on stalks 2ft to 3ft high arranged in open panicles of 10 and up to 60 flowers. Plants collected on the hills flower well the first year as a rule, and afterwards dwindle away, but seedlings are more vigorous and they flower in two to three years and continue for two or three years more, but they also weaken in time. At one time it was considered necessary to have a rock garden for their successful cultivation, but now we find they do better on a well-drained border in ordinary garden soil, and treated like hardy perennials. As they require moisture but not stagnant water, they should have a clay subsoil which will retain moisture during dry weather with a sufficient depth of well-drained soil to keep the crowns dry when at rest. Seed is produced in abundance, and if this is collected as soon as ripe and sown at once in a well-drained bed in the open, and shaded until the spring, it will germinate readily. If not too thick the plants can be left for two years, when they will be ready to plant out in . the border among the old plants and continue the display until they begin to deteriorate. Eanunculus Lyallii is flowering here at present in a semi-shaded border among shrubs, but, though the original border is making good growth, there are few flowers. E. Buchanani and E. Matthewsu have both white flowers, but there are a number of species with yellow flowers, not unlike glorified buttercups. These are E. nivicola from Mount Egmont, B. Godleyanus, E. Monroi, E. lobulatus, and E. insignia. Flowering about th© same tijne as the native ranunculus are various garden forms of ranunculus, a native of' the Levant usually known as the Persian ranunculus. In its native country it grows in meadows which are moist during the winter and the growing season, but baked dry during the greater part of summer. The Claremont strain is wonderfully vigorous, producing large double and semidouble flowers of the most gorgeous colours on long, stiff stalks, which render them very suitable as cut flowers. As they continue to send up a succession of flowers for a period of two months, they are really more valuable than tulips, are much cheaper to buy, and easier, to 'manage. They like a well-drained, fairly rich ground, well limed a few weeks before planting, and dressed with bone dust at the rate of four ounces to the square yard. The dry tubers are planted not less than two inches deep and 12 inches apart in the autumn. These are flowering now, and, as. they are quite easy to raise from seed, the best colours should be marked and the seed collected as soon a s ripe, or a little before it commences to fall off. This can be sown at once on. a well-drained border either broadcast or in shallow drills six inches apart. Just cover with fine, light soil, firm and shade with scrim until germination takes place. If too thick, some of the seedlings can be transplanted as soon as they are large enough to be handled, and in the spring a number will flower, but all will make nice little tubers which can be planted out in their flowering positions in the autumn. i Anemone coronaris, the Poppy Anemone, is also a member of the ranunculus family, and a native of the Levant, and is the parent of the double and semidouble strains known as St. Brigid anemones which are quite as effective and bright in the flower garden at the present time as the ranunculus. They are grown from dry tubers planted in the autumn, but can also be increased by means of seeds which are saved from the best and most desirable coloured flowers. These are marked just now. and as soon as the seed shows signs of ripening it should be collected and put into paper bags to complete the process. As it is so light and fluffy it is easily blown away with the wind. To separate.it easily and render sowing effective it is mixed with dry sand, then sown broadcast on a well-drained border, just covered with fine soil, firmed and shaded until germina-. tion takes place. If too thick, the seedlings can be transplanted into rows about two inches apart, and a number will flower the following spring. The seedling tubers will be small, but they will flower well the next year. Young plants recently raised from seed are more satisfactory than old v tubers broken up, and, as the process is simple and does not take up much room, it is recommended.