HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3193, 26 May 1915, Page 8

HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Ey J. Gebeie.

GARDEN EDGINGS. In the villa or cottage garden there is nothing prettier than informal evergreen edgings to the garden walks or beds. When the right things are employed the edgings will appear beautiful and interesting with flowers for a considerable period of the year. Boxwood finds favour with many for edgings to the bods and borders, but it has a stiff and formal appearance, and none of the beauty which is to be seen in an edging of flowering plants, such as violets, thrift, aubretia, or several others which are suitable for the purpose. Rough pieces of stone in conjunction with every green subjects makes a- very pretty edging. If the stones are informally laid and interspersed, with flowering plants a very pretty effect at flowering time is obtained. In a few gardens about here this style of edging has been introduced with: pleasing results. PLANTING ROSES. As the planting season has again come round, the question crops up. How should roses bo planted? The National Rose Society gives the following hints on planting, which if followed out will give satisfactory results. Whenever possible loses should be given a bod to themselves in an open spot, away from trees, and not, planted among other flowers. The distance between the plants for dwarfs should be from 18in to 2ft, and for standards from 2ft 6in to 3ft. The beds having been made ready and l the position of the roses in them marked out, the next thing, and the most important of all, is to see that they are properly planted. Some of the plants should be carefully removed from the trench'where they had been “heeled in” and brought to the side of the bed they are intended to occupy. A mat or some other covering should bo thrown over them to keep their roots from drying by exposure to sun or wind. A hole should then bo dug from Ift to 18in wide and of sufficient depth to allow the junction of the stock and scion to be about lin below the surface of the bed when the operation is complete. The tips of the roots should be cut off with a sharp knife, and any bruised roots cut away. A plant should then bo taken from beneath the mat, dipped in a bucket of water, and held with the left band in the centre of the bole, while with the right the roots arc spread out horizontally and evenly in it. Some of the finest soil available should next bo sprinkled over the roots to as just to cover them. Over this lightcovering place Sin more soil, which may then be trodden in and the hole filled up. Tread the soil firmly round the plant when this has been done.’ Firm planting is very necessary for the future well-being of roses. As flic, work proceeds, lightly fork over the surface of tho bed where it may have been trodden down, and- leave the soil loose at tho top. In planting roses singly on lawns or in borders, a holo should bo dug for

each 18in wide and 18in deep. The soil removed from the holes should be well mixed with one-fourth of its quantity of well-decayed manure before being restored to them. No grass should be allowed to grow within at least 9in or 12;n of the stem of roses planted on lawns. For climbing or other roses of very vigorous growth the hole prepared for their reception should be 2ft square and 2ft deep, and care be taken that the soil is of a suitable character and well enriched with manure. It must be borne in mind that such roses require much more root room than those which are pruned back every year, and in most cases are intended to occupy the same positions for many years to come. Therefore any extra care and attention bestowed on the planting of strong-growing roses like those referred to will sooner or later be well repaid, VIRGINIAN CREEPER.

This is a very old inhabitant of our gardens. When first planted it must be trained carefully, securing the growths. Having obtained a framework of shoots all oyer the house or round the verandah, the young growths can be cut back annually during winter. Each year the voung shoots will grow 10ft to 20ft in length, hanging down gracefully. Planted in suitable positions, they form splendid shade in summer, and being leafless in winter do not darken the rooms. The bright colour of. the leaves is effective in autumn. Another plant of the same family is Vitis- inconstance, better known as Ampelopsis veitchii. This attaches itself to a wall or fence in a similar way to ivy, requiring no support. For this purpose it is preferable to the Virginian creeper, but it does not make the long slender growths and hang down in such a graceful manner as the first-named, CYCLAMEN. The Persian cyclamen is one of the most charming of winter and spring-flowering plants. Its native habitat is Greece, the Greek Islands, and the whole_ of Eyna. The. genus Cyclamen is by botanists divided into 10 classes, but the flowers of C. persicuin are much larger than those of any other kind. The type is scentless, _ but a form is found in Palestine which is very fragrant. One of the chief points in a good variety of cyclamen is the sweet odour oi its peculiarlv-shaped flowers. The leaves of some of the kinds are so beautiful that they may be cultivated for their foliagealone ; most of them are marbled and beautifully veined, while the under surfaces are usually of a purplish crimson. Cycla mens may be kept for a number _ of years, but the general practice is to raise plants from seed every year or so, and to throw the old conus away or plant them in some shaded spot. Seeds may be sown at different periods; they germinate irregularly, and do not retain their vitality any length of time. It is a good plan to sow them as soon as ripe. Valuable medicinal properties and virtues were at one time attributed to the cyclamen. The roots were called sow-bread, from the fact that pigs were said to delight in rooting them up and eating them. Although the Persian speciec is the handsomest of the genus, some_ o. the other kinds are very pretty. Jhe hardy cyclamens are a lovely class, but seldom seen. Anvone who grows alpine or rock plants will find those cyclamens a valuable addition to their collection, and if, after being planted, they are not disturbed they will produce fine masses of flowers m autumn and spring. In half-shady nooks, if kept free from weeds, they soon make a grand display, their flowers being of various shades of colour, set off to advantage by luxuriant foliage.

HARDY HEATHS.

The heaths arc most beautiful, small"■rowinsr shrubs, and may be had in bloom practically the whole year; yet they are seldom seen in any garden. Although peat-loving plants, they will grow and do well in any good garden soil to which a little leaf mould has been added. They should bo planted in autumn or early spring in an open place exposed to the sun. Ihc heaths all flower very freely, and the flowers remain a long time on the plants. They are easily increased, either by layering or pulling to pieces and planting immediately. There arc many varieties, all being worthy of cultivation. HYBRID BRIARS. Tho most intense yellow of all yellow roses is Rayon D’O, a. vigorous-growing plant of branching habit and glossy green foliage, free from the attacks of mildew. The flowers are large, of fine form, and tho colour is superb. Juliet is a distinct, and attractive rose, blooming over a long period. The outside of the petals arc old gold colour, the interior rosy-red changing to deep rose, large, full, and delightfully fragrant. These are tw r o roses which should find a place in every collection, as they are quite distinct from all others.