ARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 11

ARDEN.

7.WORK FOR THE WEEKSSfe NOTES BY

D. TANNOCK. F.R.H.S

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. The greenhouse will still be gay with •nd various kinds of primulas, cyclamen and cinerarias, and these should last in flower for some time yet. Seedlings of clarkias, godetias, and schizanthus will soon become established in the sin pots, and before they become potbound they can be potted on to 7in or Bin pots or planted in tins, with from three to five plants in a tin. Tomatoes are growing rapidly, and they, too, should be potted on or planted out in the borders now that the weather is better. Those intended for fruiting in the open can be potted into 6in pots and, later on, into tins.

Calceolarias and hydrangea will be growing rapidly, and as soon as the pots are well filled with roots they can be stimulated by giving an application of weak liquid manure once a week at first. Continue to put out the most forward of the half-hardy annuals under a skeleton frame, which can be covered with scrim, and prick out lobelia pyrethrum and the other late bedding plants. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Fork and hoe’ among all the spring flowering plants such as wallflowers, primrose polyanthus, narcissi, and anemones, trim verges, mow lawns, and dig the herbaceous borders. Spray roses with lime sulphur, and clean up all dead leaves and other rubbish, which would shelter slugs, on the rock garden. Delphiniums, perennial phlox, and Michaelmas daisies are now sending up their young growths, and these should be thinned out a bit to give the selected flower stems room to develop. Young growths can be put in as cuttings if it is desired to increase the stock. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Complete the spraying of fruit trees before growth is too far advanced. Continue to make sowings of all the quick maturing vegetables, plant potatoes, cabbage, and cauliflower, sow the main crop of parsnips and onions, and make a sowing of celery. Fork or hoe the soil among growing crops, and protect young crops from birds. HARDY ANNUALS. Hardy annuals are a very useful section of garden plants. Their seeds are reasonably cheap, the plants are not at all exacting, they are very varied in colour, form of flower, and inflorescence, and if thinned and treated properly they will continue to flower for a long time. An annual is a plant which germinates, grows, flowers, and ripens its seed in one season, and a hardy one is one which can be sown right out in the open, preferably where it has to grow. A number can be transplanted quite well, but it keeps them back, and several with tap roots do not transplant at all satisfactorily. The position for annuals should be open and sunny. It should be bastard trenched or deeply dug, and a reasonable dressing of farmyard manure dug m. Failing farmyard manure, a dusting of bone meal or blood and bone can be worked in when preparing the ground or when sowing. They are very useful for filling beds or borders by themselves, for filling up the gaps between newly or recently planted shrubs and the open places in the herbaceous border, where early flowering bulbs have ripened off. Many of them are very useful for pro viding cut flowers for house decoration, and others, such as mignonette and night scented stock are remarkable for their perfume. Some of the dwarf spreading kinds are very useful for furnishing a newly-built rock garden, until a collection of true alpines can be got together. Sowing can be done now, and the soil preparation ■will consist of forking over the beds or places in the borders, breaking up the soil to a depth of at least six inches, and keeping the fine soil formed by the frost during the winter on top, and then breaking down all lumps with the rake, at the same time removing stones or rubbish.

When sowing an annual border the groups should be in proportion to the size of the border, but they should be as large as possible and irregular in outline, taking care to mix the spike flowered kind with the flat-headed kinds, and to Keep the taller kinds mainly at the back. Some consideration has also to be given to the colours, and it would be better for those who are not very familiar with the various kinds to pre pare a plan on paper, numbering the seed packets, and sowing them according to plan. Labels should also be written and everything got in readiness for suitable soil and weather conditions. The depth to which the seeds should be covered is very important, and as a rule it is safe to bury them to a depth of twice their diameter, and to secure even covering it is also an advantage to have some clean soil sifted and stored away in a dry place. In a small border and in openings in an ordinary mixed border a good method, is to make a ring with an Bin flower pot by pressing the rim of the pot into the loose soil to the desired depth, to sow the seed thinly, cover with the prepared soil, and then to firm with the head of the rake. It is most im portant to sow thinly. As a rule the

seed is good, and even though thinning may be undertaken at an early stage, the plants are apt to become drawn and to damp off. On larger patches it is better to sow broadcast, then to rake in lightly, and to cover to the desired depth with the prepared soil, and to firm with the head of the rake or the back of the spade. If the bed or border was not manured with farmyard manure in the autumn, a dusting of blood and bone or hone meal can be sprinkled over the seeds after sowing, or it can be sprinkled over the surface and worked in when preparing the soil.

Those with a limited area who desire to grow a large collection would have to limit their selection to one or two varieties of each kind such as one godetia, one clarkia, one larkspur, etc., in which case it would be better to get a packet of mixed colours; but where space is available it is better to get packets of separate colours.

The following are some of the most popular annuals: —Calendula, or Scotch Marigold. These are often sown in boxes and treated as half-hardy annuals, but they are quite hardy, and can be sown in the open. Prince of Orange is rich orange, and Meteor is yellow marked with pale lemon. Candytuft is a very old-fashioned plant which can be had in carmine, pink, lilac, and white colours, but dwarf hybrids (mixed) are very satisfactory. Calandrina grandiflora is a fleshy annual, with bright, rosecoloured flowers, suitable for a warm, sunny position. Annual chrysanthemums, both single and double, are very useful, and the variously marked daisy flowers are very attractive. Carinatum varieties are scarlet, purple and banded with various colours, the Coronarium varieties are either white or yellow. Clarkias are among the most showy and useful of the hardy annuals, the flowers are both single and double, and the colours vary from pure -white through ruby-purple and salmon to salmonscarlet. Salmon Scarlet and Firefly are two good varieties. Cornflowers arc remarkable for their blues, though there are also white and pink varieties. They grow to a height of three feet, and are very useful for cutting. Coreopsis show a range of colours from rich yellow to crimson, but the yellow and brown varieties are the most useful. Dimprphotheca aurantica is a quickflowering daisy suitable for a warm, dry, sunny position. There are now various coloured hybrids w'hich include a wide range of shades of primrose, apricot, buff, and salmon. Escholtzias, or Californian poppies, are very usual annuals for a poor soil and a warm, sunny position. There are now orange-crimson, orange and pale yellow and white, both single and double varieties. Though the perennial gypsophila is the most popular, the single annual one, C. elegans is also useful. The godetias are quite as popular as Clarkias, and can be had in both singles and doubles. The long, graceful sprays of the taller varieties make a handsome decoration for vases. They ' can be had in white, shell pink, rose' mauve, and crimson. Helichrysums are frequently treated as half-hardy annuals, though they are really quite hardy. They are very useful for winter decorations. Jacobea is useful for bedding, but no use for cutting. lonopsidium acaule, violet cress, is a neat little annual useful in the rock garden. Levatera Sutton’s Loveliness is a useful pink mallow, very effective either in the garden or for house decoration. Linuin grandiflorum rubrum, the scarlet flax, is an elegant annual valuable for bedding. Annual lupins are poor compared with the perennial kinds, but useful for furnishing a dry, poor bank. Larkspurs are great favourites both for supplying cut flowers and for garden decoration; the colours are scarlet, old rose, shell pink, blue, white, and mauve. There are stock-flowered and tall branching varieties Mignonette is one of the most fragrant of flowers, and one of the most popular annuals. It can be had in white, red. and yellow, but the colours are not bright. Nasturtiums are wellknown annuals suitable for covering dry banks. There are tall and dwarf varieties. . Nemophila insignis is a dwarf blue-flowered plant which will grow in any kind of soil. Nigella (love-in-a-mist) var. Miss Jekyl is an elegant plant with _ cornflower-blue flowers. Annual poppies provide a great wealth of colour throughout the summer, and they provide -useful flowers for house decoration. Shirley and Tulip poppy are the most useful. Sweet Sultan is somewhat like a cornflower, the flowers being very useful for cutting. Swan River daisy is a neat little annual suitable for beds and borders. Colours: Mauve, white, purple, blue, and rose. Six most useful annuals would be Clarkia. Salmon Scarlet, Godetia Shell Pink, or Cherry Red, Lavatera, Sutton’s Loveliness. Linuin grandiflorum rubrum, mignonette (giant red or yellow), larkspur (stock-flowered, mixed colours). If twelve were desired I would add poppy (the Shirley), cornflower (double blue), gypsophila elegans, coreopsis, annual chrysanthemum, and eschscholtzia varieties.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS S. L., Portobello. —It is not usual to raise Statice Dicksoni from seed, but some of the nurserymen should be able to supply plants. M. A., Otakai. —You could keep down the young docks by constant cultivation or regular mowing if your orchard is in grass. The large ones would have to be dug out. A weed is a plant 'in the wrong place, and many of the plants mentioned by you might be worth growing in some gardens. You will have to establish a quarantine plot in which to trv out the plants you receive from your friends.