THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27157, 12 August 1949, Page 10

THE GARDEN

Contributed by § D. TANNOCK, A.H.8.H.0. |

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS C. H., Dunedin.—The name of the shrub is Senecio Greyii. It is a native of the North Island—Wellington, from the Pahu River to Cape Palliser—and is rare ana local. It is a good garden plant. “ Constant Reader,” Peebles. —You should spray your roses with lime sulphur, one part to twelve of water. This should keep them free of mildew until January, when *ou can spray again with lime sulphur, one part in 125. Morning Glory is a name applied to a number oi Ipomoeas, but I presume the species you refer to is I. rubro-ccerulea, and this is an annual. It can be treated as a hall hardy annual, the seed being sown in pots in September, and after hardening off, the plants can be planted out in November. Clematis Jackmanii will grow in any good garden soil, provided it is well drained, and some good compost or leafmould is added. A. J. M., Concord.—You should just tip the branches of your pear trees, and tie them down in as near a horizontal position as possible. If this does not induce it to form fruiting spurs, you can lift the true, prune back the strong roots a bit, and then replant it. This is root pruning but you should try bringing down the branches first. If there ate more than six, the rest could be tied round forming a hoop. SPINACH PLANTS

The true spinach is Spinacea oleracea, the name referring to the spiny seeds characteristic of one of the varieties, but there are several other plants used as spinach. Some are hardier than tne true spinach, and are, therefore, suitable for winter' and spring supplies, and some stand the dry weather better. There are two varieties of the true spinach, one with prickly seeds, which is considered to be the hardier of the two, and another with round seeds which is known as the round or summer spinach. It is now known that one variety is as hardy as the other but still the prickly seeded variety is usually sown to stand through the winter. To maintain supplies, small sowings should be made at intervals of three weeks, and as it is a crop which matures quickly it is often sown as a catch crop between the lows of peas or beans, the -hade provided bv these plants preventing it from running to seed too quickly. Seen can be sown now, and at intervals for the next two months, and a start can be made again in the middle of February and continued to the end of March. Spinach does not like an acid soil, and to get large, tender leaves there must be plenty of food • available. When breaking down the ground in preparation for sowing, a good dusting of lime should be worked in. and, after sowing the seed in drills an inch deep, give a dusting of superphosphate, about three ounces to the square yard. As soon as the plantcan be handled they are thinned out to six inches apart, when a dusting of superphosphate can be hoed in, and as soon is the leaves are large enough 'to use every second plant can be pulled, leaving the plants at a foot apart to provide the final crop.' To stand through the winter, the plants can be left at six inches apart. During the summer, and in very dry and hot districts, the New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia expansa, is very useful. It is a spreading plant with succulent leaves, which have a very agreeable am : pleasant flavour appreciated by some •"people who do not like the slight bitterness of the common spinach. This plant likes a warm, sunny, well-drained position and a soil rich in organic matter When preparing the soil, a quantity of farmyard manure or compost should be dug in. Seed can be sown in October or November in drills 3ft apart, and the seedlings can be thinned out to 2ft apart. This is a pick-and-come-again plant, and supplies will be available until growth is stopped by frost. SILVER BEET Sliver beet, Swiss chard, or seakale beet, is 'a very useful and perfectly hardy vegetable. It is really a twonurpose vegetable, the broad midrib being cooked and used like seakale, and the green part being a good winter and early spring spinach. A sowing can be v nade now if the leaves are desired dur'ng the summer, but it is better to sow in December in drills an inch deep and to thin out the plants to from 15 to 18ir> As the plants transplant easily, it is better to sow the seed in a little bed like "abbage and to transolant the seedlings in February to a position which has beer occupied by early potatoes or peas. A little top-dressing of sulphate of ammonia worked in round the plants will stimulate Growth in the spring. Spinach beet is really a beet which does not form a fleshy root, but the 'eaves are useful when cooked like spinach. To get good, succulent foliage, the soil should be weil manured and deeply cultivated. Two sowings can be made one in October and another about the end of January. The rows are 15in apart and the seedlings are thinned out to lft apart If the outer leaves are kept picked off the plants will produce leaves for a longer period. Orach, Atriplex hortensis (mountain spinach) is a native of Tartary, and has broad, slightly crimped, soft, pliable '"aves. Stems grow to a height of sf( to 6ft, and are angular and furrowed. 1+ J s an annual, and seed is sown where the plants are to grow, from Reptembeto January, in drills lain apart. Wher the seedlings have made three or four leaves, they are-thinned out to lft apart The leaves are picked and boiled like spinach. There are two varieties,, white orach and one with dark red leaves. The colour disappears when cooked. OTHER TYPES Salsify and scorzonera have fleshy tap roots like beet and parsnips, but have quite a distinct flavour. Seed should be sown in well-cultivated but not freshlymanured ground in early November, in drills an inch deep and 15 inches apart. Groups of seed can be dropped at nine inches apart, and when the seedlings can be handled they are thinned out to one" at each station. They require regular hoeing to keep down weeds and conserve moisture. The roots, which are like small parsnips, are .fit to dig by the autumn, but it is usual to leave them in the ground through the winter and dig them as required for the kitchen. Some of the plants can be left until the spring, to provide chards. These are the young flower stems, which, when cut while quite tender, are cooked and used much in the same way as asparagus. The roots of salsify are white, and this plant is called the vegetable oyster. The roots of scorzonera are black. Celeriac could be described as a turniprooted celery, and it is a wholesome and excellent vegetable. To secure the finest roots, seed should be sown in pots or a box at the end of September, and the seedlings pricked out into boxes of rich soil as soon as they are large enough to handle. After being hardened off they are ready to plant out. Though they do not require a trench like celery; it is better to take out one about a foot deep, and practically fill it with manure and compost and top off with fine soil. Put out the plants at 15 inches apart, and see that they are provided with plenty of moisture during the growing season.