THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23649, 5 November 1938, Page 24

THE GARDEN

; ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS '•Amateur," Outram.—You do -right to •>. lilt your freesias after the foliage ' has ripened off. They should be replanted in a warm, well-drained border where they ought to flower. You can lift daffodils as soon as the tips of the leaves become brown 1 provided you line them out again ' to complete the ripening process. Unless the ground they occupy is ,' required for another crop, it is better to allow them to ripen right off before lifting. The tiny dorms of \ gladioli called spawn can be sown like peas in a flat, shallow drill and they will soon develop into flowering corms. It is not neces- ' sary to remove the outer scales. ,' Clematis montana rubra is a good, i rapid-growing climber suitable for ] covering a shed. Helichrysum bell lidaeoides would be a good carpet- ' ing plant. m , , .'"Hyacinth," Tahakopa.—The plant i with a loose roceme is Enochordia ' grandiflora, and the one with the <' close cluster Chorysa ternata. >F. F„ Lawrence.—You could still move \ your Cydonia japonica. It will get a check, but will come away again • later. ' GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY I flie schizanthus should be making a )good display in the cool greenhouse at ithe present time, and a few of the (most desirable colours should be /marked and pollenated to provide seed /for next season. Tuberous begonias .can be potted up into five-inch. pots, to 'be transferred to their flowering pots (later, or they can be Dotted direct into i their flowering pots. J Vines in unheated houses will be i flowering now, and the syringing can \he stopped to allow the pollen to be {distributed, tie down the shoots and 'stop them at two leaves beyond the bunch. A new growth will at once \ spring from the axil of the top leaf and (this is stopped at one leaf. i 1 Tomatoes are making rapid growth )and all side growths will have to be regularly. Maintain a dry

"WORK FOR THE WEEK;;

*~D. TAN NOCK. AHR.H.S"I

atmosphere with plenty of air on warm days, but give a good Watering at the roots once a week. Seeds of Primula obconlca and P. kewensis can be sown now and continue to put in cuttings of fuchsias and perpetual flowering carnations. THE FLOWER GARDEN Sow hardy annuals and thin out those which were sown earlier; continue to plant out the, summer and autumn bedding plants including all except salvias, cannas. heliotrope, fuchsias and tuberous and fibrousrooted begonias. The polyanthus primroses which were lifted from the beds and borders can be lined out in a cool part of the vegetable garden or the shrubbery, if the plants are young; but if more than three years old it is better to throw them out. Provide stakes for the delphiniums, perennial phlox and other herbaceous perennials; tie up sweet peas and keep those intended for cut flowers to one stem, cutting sway all tendrils. VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN Continue to spray apples and pears for codlin moth, and by combining arsenate of lead with lime sulphur the one application will also check powdery mildew, black spot, and brown rot. One part of lime sulphur to 80 of water and 21b of arsenate of lead will be a suitable strength. Thin out the young growths on gooseberries and reduce the number of suckers on raspberries to five or six to each stool. Continue to sow maincrop carrots and beet, Golden Ball turnips, pannips, and make sowings for a succession of peas, broad oeans, runners, French beans, radishes, spinach, and mustard and cress. Make small sowings of autumn cauliflower, leeks silver beet, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Plant out tomatoes, vegetable marrows, ridge . cucumbers and pumpkins, also cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. NATIVE PLANTS Though the native plants may not be as bright and decorative as the azaleas, rhododendrons, prunus, pyrus. and Crataegus, they are of special interest to many, and there are kinds with bright and attractive flowers and decorative foliage, suitable for gardens of any size and position. There are trees for the large garden, shrubs for the medium-sized one, and alpines and herbaceous kinds for the very small garden.' with ferns for the damp and shady one. They are also of special botanical interest, and no garden should be without a few representatives.

For the large garden there are trees, such as the red beech (Hothofagus fusca). The best of this family are rata pohutukawa, kowhai, North Island ribbonwood, kauri, karaka, kamahi, the various pines, and many others. Of the trees in flower at the present time there is none more interesting than Knightia excelsa (the rewarewa). It is perfectly hardy with us; it develops naturally into a shapely tree, with beautiful evergreen foliage, which is attractive at all seasons. The flowers, which are produced on the old wood inside the foliage, and therefore often overlooked, are in racemes, velvety, and a dull crimson, with the petals curled back. This is one of the honey-producing plants, and it depends on the honeysucking birds for the fertilisation of the flowers, which are remarkably like two other small trees in flower in the Gardens at the present time. Embuthrium coccineum (the Chilian Are bush) has orange-scarlet flowers which turn back in the same way, and so also does.the Tasmanian waratah (Telopea truncata). They all belong ro the natural order ." Proteacea," and though natives of distinct countries, flower at the same time. The rewarewa eventually groWs into a tree between 80 and 90 feet high, but as its growth is not rapid, it will take a long time to become a nuisance in a town garden. It is surprising thar such an ornamental and interesting tree is not more extensively planted. Among the small trees in flower at the present time the Pittosporums are important. It is true their flowers are not very conspicuous, but they do show up. and the seed pods when they burst and expose the black seeds are also attractive. As small evergreen trees for the shrubbery, or as lawn spcimens, they are hard to beat, and though not a success when planted and trimmed as a hedge, they make good shelter belts when planted sufficiently far apart to allow them to develop naturally. P. eugenioides has glossy leaves with a wavy margin and showy yellow fragrant flowers. P. crassifolium and P. Ralphii are much alike in habit of growth, both having white tomentum on the undersides of' the leaves, and their flowers being purple. One of the most desirable for a small garden is P. Dalli, a bush with dark green, sharply-toothed leaves, and dense masses of white flowers which are very fragrant. It is only found in one district—north-west Nelson, at an altitude of 3500 feet—and it likes a good deep soil and a semi-shaded position. It has flowered regularly in Dunedin for some years now and seems to be quite at home, although no seeds have yet been noticed. Pittosporum undulatum is a native of Australia, and P. Tobiri of Japan. Corokis cotoneaster is a twiggy shrub with small, starry yellow flowers, which are produced in abundance, and these are followed by berries which are orange, yellow or red. C. buddleoides, with dark green shiny leaves, has yellow flowers and the fruit is dark red. One of the most showy of all New Zealand shrubs, Clianthus puni' ceus. is in flower at the present time, and when planted at the back of a rock garden or on the top of a bank where it can be looked up to. it is very effective. There is a creamy-white and a pink variety, but neither is so effective as the red. It unfortunately becomes infected with a disease which causes malformed growth, but as it is easv tn rnise frr.rr, cee<i and this if produced in abundance it is easily re placed. It should be grown on in a small pot. and planted out when quite Mnall, for like many of the other mem bers of *he pea family it does not transplant easily when large. Ariothe? shrub which is very attractive at the present time is the purple-leaved variety of the fuchsia It is really as at tractive as any of the coloured-leaved plants, and is easy to grow from cuttings. It goes off colour a bit during Mie summer, but in the autumn the leaves colour up again, There are a number of dwarf creep in? plants which are very useful for carpeting under shrubs, covering clay banks, or growing in pockets in 'he rock garden. Helichrysum beliidioide?, forms beautiful close mats from which rise on slender cottonv stalks white (lower-heads These are pro rtuced in such abundance thai the*, form sheets of whi'e flowers. Pimelk prostrata is a neat little plant with flowers like a veronica Oxalis lactea is a low creeping herb suitable for a moist position.. It has white flower.? half an inch in diame'er and is a desirable little plant. Other dwarf spreading plants are the \?ariou-; rotulas. raoulias and the more ornamental of the Acaenas (piripin) Ranunculus Lyallii (mountain lilythe most beautiful of all buttercups, is in flower at the present time and though not a common plant in gardens, it is one not difficult to cultivate. It likes a moist and semi-shaded position if growing in an ordinary border, but if planted in the scree it will do quite well in the open. When the plants flower they deteriorate, t-nd to keep up a supply it is advisable to l raise a batch from seed every year I If seed is sown as soon as ripe it germinates well and seedlings will ! flower in the second or third year I R. Buchanani is a true scree plant, ' and there is a range of hybrids to be ! found with folia?e varying from the much-cut-up ' glaucous leaves of • Buchanani to the round green peltate ones of Lyallll.

Both of the parents and the hybrids have white flowers. Species with yellow flowers are Pi. insignis. R. Godleyanus. R. Monroi, and R. nivicola. Myosotidium hortnsis (Chatham Island lily) is not a lily at all, but a giant forget-me-not with large rhubarblike leaves, bright green and shiny, and the flowers, which are held well up above the foliage, are blue in the centre and more or less white on the margins. It is a native of the Chatham Islands (where is grows in peat, but it will thrive in moist loam, to which a considerable amount of beach sand has been added. There are a number of Celnisias in. flower at present, but they are so interesting and so varied thrt they are worthy of an article to themselves. Native climbing plants in flower at present are the clematis, which is most effective when growing up through trees or bushes or trained over a pergola. Senecio sciadophilus. with yellow flowers, and Parsonsia heterophylla. with large clusters of white flowers.