THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 11

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. By D. Tannock. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Conditions will still be very crowded in the propagating houses and frames, but it will not be long now before we can put a lot of the bedding plants outside in a sheltered position, or where they can be covered up at night with a piece of scrim. Many people are planting opt their annuals, but it is not safe to put out any except the very hardy kinds before the middle of next month. We are still liable to hartf*light frosts and cold winds, and when the plants ger set back in the beginning of the season, though they may not be killed, they are never so satisfactory as those which are grown right on without a, check. Cannas, dahlias, and tuberous begonias can now be started, and as soon as the new growths become evident they can be cut into pieces and potted or boxed up. Cannas are excellent for filling large beds, or as dot plants among dwarf dahlias or tuberous begonias, and as they have to be well-grown plants before fhey are put out it is better to put them in half-tins. Dahlias can be. broken up into fairly small pieces provided each has a growth, and then potted up in five or six-inch pots. Large tubers of the begonias can be cut into two or more pieces, the cut surface dipped in pow- * dered charcoal or lime, and then placed in boxes. Each piece should have one or more young growth. Encourage the growth .of the tomatoes by giving air on warm, sunny days and maintaining a dry atmosphere and avoiding draughts. Continue to disbud and tie down the young growths on vines. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The present is a very satisfactory time in the flower garden, weeds are not yet very troublesome, the lawns are so smooth, fresh, and green, and all the beds .. and bordei-s are neat and tidy. Continue to plant out hardy herbaceous perennials and gladioli, sow seeds of hardy annuals, and prepare for planting out sweet peas, violas, and pansies, gazanias, and marquerites. Thin out the young growths on michaelmas daisies, perennial, phlox, and delphiniums, and provide them with preliminary stakes. Aubretias are making a great show on the rock garden, as edgings for beds and borders, and where grown over stone edgings or walls, and their two companions, double white arabis and yellow alyssum, nrr also providing welcome colour. -e.. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. As soon as peas are well up they should be staked, not that they need support yet, but to provide protection from cold winds, and to shelter the other crops. Thin out the seedlings of turnips, carrots, and beetroot as soon as they art large enough to handle, and keep the soil hoed and forked among all growing crops. Continue to make sowings of peas, spinach, and other crops to provide a succession; plant main crop potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. Make up hills for growing vegetable marrows and pumpkins, sow the seeds, and shelter with a bell glass or a box covered with a sheet' of glass. Young plants of marrows can be planted in frames set on a gentle hotbed, and it is not yet too late to plant rhubarb roots. VIOLAS, PANSIES, SWEET VIOLETS, AND VIOLA SPECIES. The various -kinds of violas, species, hybrids and varieties are popular hardy garden plants, many of which flower more or less all the year round. The first pansies were raised in 1813. Fourteen were raised by crossing and selecting the best varieties of viola tricolour, commonly called heart’s ease. For a long time the pansy was grown mainly as a show flower, the blooms being pressed and dressed and spread out on paper collars on a box. Competition among enthusiasts was very keen and . the finer points of a show flower were Kwell understood. Of recent years the St old florists’ ideals have been departed from in many ways and what we now want ’in pansies is large flowers, well defined markings of pleasing shades and with strong stalks which will hold the flowers well up above the foliage. Pansies now come fairly true from seed if a selected strain is,, obtained, but there is great interest in raising lots of mixed seedlings, and selecting the best and most promising kinds to be grown on by means of division or cutvings. Pansies, like all the members of the viola family, like a soil rich in organic matter, one which has been well manured with stable manure being suitable, and cool, moist conditions during the summer are appreciated. Tufted pansies often called violas are hybrids of pansies and alpine violets and are even more suitable for bedding than pansies. Thejr have a distinct tufted and spreading habit, they hold their flowers well up above the foliage and they Can be had in distinct colours. So far they lack some of the colours of the true pansies, but they are ’continually being improved, and some of the fancy varieties are . difficult to distinguish from true pansies. Tufted pansies are even hardier than true pansies and are very useful for spring bedding. They can be grown from seed ■which come wonderfully true, but when we desire to increase any particular variety we resort to cuttings or division of the old plants.

Both violas and pansies are particularly useful for carpeting and edgings, and rose beds carpeted or edged with violas or pansies are ever so much more interesting and decorative than those with a setting of dirt or manure. Plants raised from cuttings put into specially prepared beds last autumn are now beginning to flower and they are ready to plant out. The soil in the rose beds should also be in a good state of cultivation, and plants put out now have time to become established before the warm, dry weather sets in. The slight shade provided by the roses is just what the pansies and violas like during the summer, and the manure which is provided for the roses is also appreciated by the pansies. As edgings they can be planted about 15 inches to 16 inches apart, and when planted, for carpeting newly planted or thin rose beds, they are planted 18 inches apart. An excellent place for growing th pansies and violas is a cool, moist and partly shaded bank or rock garden. If planted in" the autumn, or, if the old plants are left in over the winter, they will be a mass of flowers at the present time and flowering will continue well on into the summer, if the old flowers or seed vessels are picked off regularly. For real spring bedding it is better to divide the plants after they have provided a display for some time, and when they have to be lifted to make rooi for the summer occupants, and to line them out in a cool moist, and well-manured part of the vegetable o r reserve garden All flowers should be picked off during the summer, and by the autumn they will form nice spreading plants which nft easily with a ball ,f soil, and soon become established in their new positions. 1 hough they can be relied upon to come lairly true from seed we never really trust seedlings in the r< > and usually use those raised from seed sown in early spring along with the other bedding plants a ? e< T? lngs v r t° r car P et ’ n S newly planted shrubbery borders It does not matter if they are a bit mixed, and the best kinds can be selected and propagated by means of cuttings in the autumn.

In. addition to the hybrids between the pansies and mountain violets there are also varieties which are evidently hybrids between garden violas and the Grecian violet, Viola gracilis. One very good variety is like a small viola, deep purplish blue in colour, with a distinct yellow eye and very free flowering. The true viola gracilis is a very good garden plant either for growing in liberal groups on the rock garden, for covering a bank, or for carpeting shrubs or roses.

Viola cornuta (Horned violet) is a naflve of the Pyrenees and Switzerland, and i s a free flowering slender plant, growing to a height of six inches. It comes very true from seed, and the various varieties are largely used for spring bedding. It forms tufted plants with fibrous roots, and is easily propagated by division in the autumn or spring. The variety purpucea is almost the same shade as V. gracilis, but most of the varieties are light blue. Viola canina (Dog Violet) is the pretty little violet which grows in the hedgerows in England, jt is a neat little plant for the rock garden. Viola Vilmoriana is a yellow variety of the sweet violet and both it and the white ones are worth growing on a cool part of the rock garden. One of our native violets, Viola Cunninghami, is a neat little white violet also suitable for the rock garden or a semi-shaded bank. The various varieties of sweet violets are appreciated by every one, and when well cultivated they produce a few flowers during the winter and 'unlimited quantities in the spring. To get large blooms long stalks, a moist soil, rich in organic matter, and an open, sunny position are necessary. Whether heavy or light, a liberal quantity of teafmould or well-decayed manure should be dug in when preparing the soil; moisture during the dry summer weather and~good drain a,gs during the winter are necessary. To get ’ good flowers it is necessary to lift and replant the plants every year, and this can be done as soon as the flowering season is over. The old plants can be lifted, the soil shaken away ’from the roots, and then pulled to pieces, the strongest “crown being selected for planting. These are planted in rows or in beds at a distance from 12 to 15 inches apart, and if they are sprayed regularly during hot weather to keep down red spider and the runners are pinched off they will form nice crowns by the autumn If it is desired to increase the stock the runners can also be put in. and as these have few roots the old leaves should be cut off before planting. Violets will flower in the same position for more than one year, if top-dressed, but the best flowers are obtained from plants replanted annually. Violets like a cool, moist, semishaded position during the summer and full sun during tbe winter, and are therefore suitable for planting as- edgings for beds of deciduous shrubs.