THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26915, 29 October 1948, Page 9

THE GARDEN

Contributed by D. TANNOCK, A.H.R.H.S.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “Anemone,’’ Milton.—You should spray your anemones with arsenate of lead, one ounce in two and a-half gallons of water, or with powdered arsenate of lead when the foliage is damp. “Amateur Gardener,’’ Kaitangata.—The specimen with the yellow flowers is Berberis vulgaris, but X cannot identify the other from the small specimen sent. You could graft the good Cydonia japonica, which is flowering, on to the one which is not, and you could also graft the cherries with the good variety. Most likely the seedling will be a single white, and also the suckers. You could bud them in January or February and graft in September.

"Azalea."—You should give your azalea a mulch of cow manure and leafmould if you can get it; if not, a dusting of blood and bone manure worked into the surface, or liquid manure made from cow manure. This should be given now to encourage new growth, without which it will not flower. J. B. K., Mosgiel.—The kaka beak. Clianthus puniceus is sometimes called the red kowhai, but it is not a kowhai at all. The kowhai is Edwardsia microphylla, and it has yellow flowers. GERANIUMS Most of the plants which we usually call geraniums and are extensively cultivated in our gardens, both as bedding plants and for greenhouse decoration, are really zonal pelargoniums, but the name geranium is so well known and so generally used that I will use it also. There are several sections more or less distinct, these being the bedding geraniums, the variegated and ornamental foliage section, the scented leaved section, and the ivy-leaved ones. As a bedding plant there are few more useful. Its colours are so varied, though the principal ones are scarlet or some bright self-colours, that it always makes a bright display when massed in large beds or grouped in mixed borders. The plants are easy, to propagate by means of cuttings put in in boxes or pots of sandy soil in the autumn. They can be wintered in a cool greenhouse or a frame, and if potted or boxed up in turf in early spring as soon as growth starts, and gradually hardened off. they will be fit to plant out by the beginning of November. They will then be in flower, and they will continue right through the season, until we get frost or very wet weather. Being natives of a comparatively dry, sunny country, they will be more satisfactory in a warm, dry, sunny season. They are most effective when planted in dry borders against a wall or fence, where they form subshrubs, and if cut back fairly hard in the spring as soon as all danger of frost is past, and top-dressed with some soil and bonedust, they will continue to make a bright display for years. Near the seaside they make very attractive hedges requiring little .beyond trimming in the early spring. The many named varieties are also very satsfactory greenhouse plants, either for the winter or early summer display. As a rule, we have plenty of primulas and cinerarias for the winter, but geraniums come in very useful after the schitanthus are over, and before the tuberous begonias are fit to be put in. They are also most effective for window boxes and hanging baskets, a form of decoration not often seen in this country. The varieties used for bedding are Maxime Kovaleski, Soldier's Tunis and Paul Crampel. The coloured and v.negated leaved, geraniums are not as popular as they used to be when large specimens on a wire frame and several feet across were a feature of flower shows. They are quite attractive, however, and are worth growing either for the greenhouse or bedding out. IVY-LEAVED VARIETIES The ivy-leaved or trailing varieties are well worth growing either for baskets, window boxes, or bedding. Their treatment is similar to the zonals, plants being raised from cuttings put in in the autumn, and these make good plants to put out by early summer. When used for bedding they should be pegged down to prevent the wind from blowing them about. Mme Crousse is a strong grower, which makes good standards for associating with tuberous begonias or sub-tropical plants, and also for covering banks. The variety Charles Turner is the most suitable for bedding. The scented-leaved section Is a distinct and attractive one, useful for either bedding or growing in the greenhouse. They are as easy to grow as the zonals, but when planted in the greenhouse they are often grown on for several years until they form quite large bushes. In many the foliage is cut up and variegated, and they form good edging • plants for beds of the scarlet-flowered kinds. The folowing are some of the scents which the geraniums resemble: Lemon-scented, apricot-scented. lime-scented, rosescented. peppermint-scented, etc. A pot-pourri can be made with the scented geranium leaves as follows: On a dry morning, before the sun is high, and after several days of dry weather, pick leaves of the heaviest scented varieties with a pleasing aroma. Spread them out thinly to dry on pieces of cardboard, a warm, well-ventilated room without sunshine being suitable. Shake the leaves- daily to turn them so that they will dry evenly. They are usually ready in a week for the pot-pourri Jars. Next select some fixative scent. This will absorb the oils and scents and preserve them. One ounce of orris root to one quart of the leaves may be used. Place the dried leaves with the proper amount .of fixative in a jar with a lid, and add a tablespoonful of the following to each quart of leaves: Cloves, cinnamon, allspice, mace and powdered nutmeg, filling the jars only two-thirds full to permit stirring. Shake up the materials well to combine them, and then cover tightly for six weeks, only removing the lid long enough to stir the contents. SHOW PELARGONIUMS Though these are grown mainly for the greenhouse, they are practically as hardy as the zonals, and against a wall or fence, especially by the seaside, will grow into quite large bushes, and flower freely. They are very useful in the greenhouse during the holiday period, and. in the beginning they are placed in a warm, sunny position to ripen up the young wood, with a view to taking cuttings in February. These are put into pots and stood in a frame but not shaded in any way. By March they are potted up into three or four-inch pots and these are wintered on the greenhouse bench, or in a cold frame. In the spring, when growth starts, they are potted up into their flowering pots, which will be of five or six-inch size. The tip of the stem is pinched out to cause branching and while growing well they should receive liquid manure once a fortnight for two months. To get large specimens the old plants, when cut over, are again placed out in the sun and when the young growth starts they are shaken out of their pots, the roots pruned, and potted up again in as small pots as possible. In the spring they are re-potted into setfen and eight-inch pots, and any wandering shoots are pinched to maintain a reasonable shape. A greenhouse filled with show pelargoniums is a gay

sight towards the end of the year, and they make good exhibition plants. Green fly is the chief pest attacking pelargoniums and this can be kept in check by fumigating with X. L. All, or spraying with nicotine sulphate. DUNEDIN GARDENING CLUB At the next meeting of the Dunedin Gardening Club, Mr V. M. Dickinson will give a talk on his impressions of gardens and flower shows in England.