THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22498, 16 February 1935, Page 5

THE GARDEN.

THE WEEKijji 'a "‘■l-* W 0 _—■■ i . - jLrJ£'^imsJ^>a^L

NOTES BY 'WPB' W 1! TANNOCK, A.H.R.H.s.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS W. M., Oamaru.—The top-dressing «oi I for chrysanthemum* would consist of good loam one part, leafmouldhalf a part, lime rubble and sand a quarter part, with a pix-inch potful of Standena or Clay’s fertiliser or Iva plant food, to every barrow load of the soil mixture. Remove weeds, stir up the surface soil with a sharp stick, and ram the new soil as firmly ’ as the original ball of soil-and roots. “Amateur.”' Mornihgton.—Club root is caused by a fungus which persists in the soil.- after any crop of brassicas. and soil well when digging! it .over in (cabbage, cauliflower,’ etc),. Lime preparafion for the crop, again just before planting, and later at thrceweeklv intervals. •V: (■ . “ Hillgrove.”—Your wistaria should not be pruned back until/the leave* fall in the autumn, but . if it is blocking out light from the window* it can be cut right away/: Give it a good dressing of, lime. “ Anxious,” Oamam.—You should spray your apples with lime sulphur, 1 in 120. for red spider and mildew. “Blue Gum.”—Your bluegum tree is infected with scale-insects. As: if is a young tree, you could spray it with an oil spray or. kerosene emulsion; Some years; ago ladybirds were libeiated in bluegum plantations to check the attacks of -scale insects. ; “Amateur,” Roslyn.—You have to pollenate the female flowers to obtain begonia seed, and it is better to collect the capsules just before they are ripe,. and;- to hatig them up. in a paper bag-in a cool. dry, airy place. ’ Sow the seed in aprinrf, but it will rev quire- some heat. Tuberous begonia* •; ' ‘can alio be propagated by. means of cuttings in; »pring, Young shoots; when-about three inches long, will • root in: sandy soil. The tuber; can also be divided, taking care to have a shoot on each pieee,-ind to dip the cut surface in powdered charcoal or : sulphur. This ia done, as 1 growth com: mences’ inthe,:*pring. - s’ “St. Clair.?—To trap wood lice hollow out some potatoes and lay them on your mushroom bed. The wood lice

round will shade the plants for a few days until the new roots become active. ;. Sow shorthorn carrots, white or yellow turnips, . lettuce, spinach, radish, and mustard and cress. Earth up celery, plant leeks/ harvest shallots and onions, and keep the soil stirred among growing crops. Clear off spenferops, andput all vegetable matter bn the compost heap to rot, or trench it. ih. Prepare/ground for planting strawberries in. the autumn, and manure and .. dig or trench all vacant ground. ■ • • PANSIES- AND VIOLAS; Pansies and violas, are so closely related that it is often difficult to distinguish one from the other, though originally they were derived -from different species of the genus’ viola. The; pansy .was obtained, from the wild British plant,' “Viola tricolor,” which is-found growing ,in corn fields/and cultivated ground. The florist Iran aimed at getting-. a flower circular in outline,/with all the colours segregated, into? even gones and blotches in the case of ehow Varieties, those.'less distinct or striped ar«v termed fancies,.;and .others are one/colour / all over the fljawer,., The violas were in the first place derived from the mountain pansy Viola lutea, and these have’ been crossed with Viola cor- ■ nuta, another’.wildling with blue flowers.

; pio into the potatoes and art easily shaken out into boiling water. [", Livingstone.”—Names of trees are: (1) " 7 Tilia vulgaris lime tree, (2) FaguS sylvatica English beech, (3) I am not sure, (4) Carpinus Betulus Hornbeam;, T'

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Continue to Vpnt ‘in 'cuttings- of pelargoniums and geraniums, placing them on a bed of ashes in the cool greenhouse or in a frame. Syringe the old cut oyer plants regularly during dry weather to encourage them to break into new growth. A start'can also be made to pUt in cuttings of the bedding geraniums. The , wood is firm and well ripened, and should we get rain now it will break into soft growth again,.' They can be put into pots or boxes of sandy soil. Continue to take the buds of large-flowered chrysanthemums as they! show, - but the single and decorative kinds can. go on to the second crown or the terminal buds. As a rule ws take up three shoots from- the last break and' thin out the buds to one, three, or flye, according to the sire we want them to develop. '?■ Pot the: last ;of the cyclamep to: their flowering pots and stand oh a bed of ashes', ytfi/.a y.old frame. Cinerarias should, also be ih ;five-inch ; pots,, and as soon as they take .to the hew.soil stand them out in a cold, rframc, wharavthlejl can; be, shaded from! ,the : sun abd opened up to |he -dew on rftill hightd f i v •1? ,the-- leaves of , '■ „>he : . chrjkabthemum< ;pnll‘ off . and' burn them. Spray overhead in the even; r ings on warm, dry days with clean water, ‘ but add blsiekleaf 40 should fly appear, and dime, shlphhr or Bordeaux summer »t rengtha-f or; mildew, Tomatoes will be ripening rtpidly/ hoW, i and- the foliage whiehlis 'shadinjiiHhe fruit can be thinned. Give plenty of . water. THE FLOWER GARDEN . 1 I Continue -to water dahlias and sweer peas wherever water is v available, and, ifter the clean water, give liquid manure. Thin the buds of the dahlias, pick off the old flowers and see pods of both-dahlias and sweet peas. Cut the seed vessels off antirrhinums, and cut the. # old flower stems off herbaceous perennials. Cleap put'annuals as soon as they are, over, and keep the soil scuffle hoed among roses and dahlias. . ' The soil is rather hard to plant daffodils in the grass, but th«r can be planted in cultivated ground. Tulips, hyacinths, anemones, ranunculus, freesias, lachenalias. grape hyacinths, and crocus can also be planted. These, can he put in . groups in the mixed border as a carpeting for. rose or shrubbery beds, or amopg thc summer occupants of tKc flower beds. Layer carnations, and put in cuttings of - pinks'.' ',T : 'V ‘7 - The present ; is -a good time to build new rock gardens or to remodel old. ones, and to -trench and form new beds and borders. There is not much grass to cut, ■weeds arc easily destroyed and the soil if dry and easy to work. Continue to spray roses -for mildew, and cut away the old shoots of ramblers, tying in selected young ones'to'take their place. - ' ■ - # ' - Plant out Sweet Williams and Canterbury Bells in their flowering positions. If: given one good watering they will soon become established; ; { THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT w GARDEN s ; “(Spray for codlin moth, plum and pear leech, with arsenate, of lead and for red spider and mildew with lime sulphur, one' in 120. Winter greens such a & cabbage, savoys and .broccoli,, can he planted during the • dry weather if the plants aye .lifted with a ball of eojl and water in well. Any kind of water will.do, and a few twiggy branches stuck

The, flowers are more oval in shape than the pansies with a colour range of softer shades, and they may be selfcoloured, edged; or striped with broad or narrow stripes. So close have the two become that in some cases the garden violas are fcalled tufted pansies on account.- of; their more, compact growth. Violettas are' a face ofi, miniature violas useful for the rock garden of small bedsi The present summer has been rather dry for either, pansies or violas unless it was possible to water 'and spray them regularly, but they were very satisfactory in spring anfl early summer, and are very valuable for carpeting dwarf shrubbery or rose beds or for edgings in, a cool semi-shaded place, -y> They are itaised from seed; from cuttings, or by division of the old plants, but cuttings are, the best method of perpetuating the distinct varieties. Conditions are now, or soon will be, suitable for putting in cuttings, and as the plants are perfectly hardy they can be put into a specially prepared bed in the open. The soil if retentive should be taken out to a depth of nine inches. At least three inches of clinkers or brickbat* should be put in the-bottom to provide good drainage, and over this a layer of leaves or strawy manure can be spread. Next .put in six inches of cutting coil made up of loam, leafraould and clean sand in equal proportions, and top of this soil, after it is firmed, spread a thin layer of sand. It is better to put boards along the sides and ends to keep the soil in , position, anfl to erect a framework over the bed to support a piece of thin scrim which is tacked on to provide shade during the autumn and shelter from snow and .frost during the winter. If the plants are examined it will be noted that there are young growths springing from the base of the old shoot, which have flowered.. It will also be noted that the young growths are solid, and that, the old flower stems are hollow. These young growths are pulled off, and as they often have little roots spring from their base if they are not more than three; inches long, they can be dibbled in roots and all., - If more than three inches, they are cut across immediately below a node or joint, and the lower leaves removed. Care ha s to he taken to prevent the cutting from wilting, and as soon as made they are wrapped up in a piece „of; wet scrim or covered with damp moss. They are dibbled in two inches apart in holes an inch deep, the soil being made:-firm round them with the propagating peg. As soon as inserted, they are well watered and shaded with the piece of scrim, which is fixed on firmly as soon as the bed is finished. When the weather is warmer in the spring the scrim is removed, and the plants, which will be well rooted, can be planted out in their permanent positions as soon as the'soil is in a good working condition. Old plants of pansies and violas can also be lifted, all the old flowering shoots cut off, and then divided up and replanted at once in their permanent places. This should not he done while the weather is dry, hut by the end of the month it should be quite safe. Plants treated in this way will become established before winter and flower well in the spring and early summer". There are two useful species for the flower garden, Viola gracilis from Mount Olympus, and V. cornuta, the horned pansy, which has sweet-scented pale, blue or mauve flowersBoth can be increased by means of cuttings or by division like the garden pansy.

ESCHSCHOLTZIAS (CALIFORNIAN POPPIES

These, are a race of hardy plants very suitable for poor soils and a dry season. Though they are strictly perennial, they are usually treated ag annuals, and sown outside in the position in which they are to grow. Like the nasturtiums and petunias, they have been very useful this dry, sunny season, and, though they do shut up in the evenings, the flowers open again early in the mornings and provide gay patches in the mixed border while the sun is shining. They are very suitable for growing on dry and rocky _ banks, and when once established seedlings will come up year after year. Like other hardy plants, they

have been greatly improved during recent years, and there are" now a number of exceedingly beautiful varieties which show a distinct range of brilliant colourings. There are double and semi-double varieties with the colours found in the singles, some of these being orange-crimson, buffpink, pink, orange, and several other art shades. Brightness, Carmine Queen, Red Chief, The Geisha, and Mikado are good varieties. The flowers are suitable for house decoration if picked in the morning in the bud stage.