THE Garden

Otago Witness, Issue 4048, 13 October 1931, Page 11

THE Garden

jfWORK FOR THE WEEK

•' NOTES BY

TANNOCK, AH.R.H.S.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY The bedding plants should now be out in the cold frames, hardening off in preparation for planting out about the middle to the end of this month. Vines will be growing away now, and the latest rods will require disbudding, the more advanced tieing down and the early ones .pinching. When pruning, it is usual to leave at least two evident buds in case of accidents, and often others which are not evident come away. Reduce to one on each spur, selecting the best placed and strongest to develop into the young shoot. The tendency of the young shoot is to grow up against the glass, and it has to be brought down gradually to the wires. They are very brittle and have to be brought down gradually, a little bit at a time. As soon as the bunch of flowers appears the shoot is pinched at two leaves beyond it, and any further growths which it might make are pinched at one leaf. This is to regulate the growth, and give the leaves room to develop and carry out their functions. Maintain a growing atmosphere by syringing twice a day, morning and afternoon, and shut up the ventilators early in the afternoon to keep in the sun heat. Put the dahlia tubers into the greenhouse, water well to start them into growth, and later on divide them up; taking care to have a shoot on each piece of tuber. They can then be potted up into five-inch pots and grown on in preparation for planting out when all danger of frost is past. The young plants of chrysanthemums, which will now be in three-inch pots, should be placed out in the frames and grown on under cool conditions. THE FLOWER GARDEN It is now quite safe to plant out sweet peas, violas, pansies and pentstemons. The violas and pansies are very suitable for planting among, and edging, rose beds and borders, or for edging shrubbery borders, where they will be kept cool during the summer, and receive a little shade. If the ground was well manured after the roses were pruned all that will be necessary now will be to break down the soil, making it fine, to lift the plants carefully from the cutting bed with a ball of soil attached to the roots, and to plant them at from 12 to 15 inches apart. Sweet peas are usually planted near a wall or fence, or at the back of a border, where they will be supported with sticks. Break up the soil, making it fine and level, working in a good dusting of lime at the same time, and plant out the p°as at from 12 to 18 inches apart. Put in some pieces of twiggy sticks to provide both support and shelter, and, should slugs be troublesome, dust along both sides of the row of plants with newly-slaked lime. Those intended to produce exhibition flowers should be confined to two shoots, but, if they are grown in the ordinary way to provide cut flowers for house decoration and to decorate the garden, all the stems may be left to grow. There will not be more than three or four to begin with. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN Continue to plant and sow main crop vegetables of all kinds, thin out seedling crops of carrots, beet and turnips as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, earth up and stake early peas, and keep the soil stirred among all growing crops. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is a native of North America. This is a strong growing plant, which when well grown produces quantities of underground tubers, which provide a very good winter vegetable. Owing to its strong growth, it is often planted where it can shelter other more delicate vegetables from strong winds, and in such an open position, where it grows up above the surrounding crops, it obtains plenty of light and fresh air. The soil for artichokes should be deeply dug or trenched and well manured with farmyard manure or bone dust. Plant the tubers at from 14 to 18 inches apart in a single row, keep the soil round the plants stirred with the scuffle hoe, and’ in the autumn earth them up to steady the stems and cover the tubers. In the late autumn the stems can be cut over and the tubers dug and stored in sand, in a shed or cellar, or they can be left in the ground and dug as required. THE ROCK GARDEN

Spring is the most important time in the rock garden, and it is now gay with the various types of arabis, alyssum, aubretia and mossy phlox, and many more of the smaller things. When one plants a rock garden for show, he can not do better than put in liberal groups of the kinds just mentioned. When one specialises in botanical species it may still be possible to have them represented, but on a much smaller scale. In addition to being specially useful on the rock garden, they can also be cultivated by those who have no such garden, as edging plants for beds and borders, for covering banks, on a dry wall, or over a rocky edging. Aubretia deltoidea (purple rock cress) is native of the mountains of

southern Europe, and is a feature of most gardens at the present time. Though extensively planted, it is a thing which never seems to be overdone. There are a number of named varieties which are a great improvement on the wild type. Though these do not come quite true from seed, they produce a number of plants quite equal to the parent, and these can then be increased by either division or cuttings. Cuttings made from the young, partly ripened shoots can be put into boxes of sandy soil in early autumn, and if these are placed in a partly shaded place or in a frame which can be shaded in bright, sunny weather, they will soon root and make plants ready to put out in spring. Another method is to lift the old plants after they have finished flowering, to line them in firmly on a shady border and sprinkle them regularly during dry weather, until they break into growth. By the following spring they can be broken up into little pieces, with roots attached, and lined out in the vegetable garden, where they will develop into fine large plants by the autumn, when they can be planted out in their flowering positions. Varieties to grow are Dr Mules, rich violet; Fire King, ruby colour; Leiebtlinii, rose coloured; Rosea Splendens. rose pink. Arabis albida (White Rock Cress) is a very useful spreading plant, but the single variety is a poor thing when compared with the double form, which has white flowers like miniature stocks. It is easily grown from cuttings of young growth put into boxes of sandy soil in the autumn. By the spring the plants will have formed roots, and are ready to plant out in their permanent places. This plant makes a very good edging for a shrubbery border. The yellow Rock Madwort, Alyssum saxatile, is a native of Southern Russia, and is one of the best of the yellow-flowered spring flowers, being suitable for associating with Aubertias and white arabis. There is a variety called citrinum with lemon-coloured flowers. Saxifraga cordifolia, sometimes called Megasea, is a strong growing plant suitable for large rock gardens for covering banks, or for forming an edging for paths under trees. There are several varieties, all of shades of pink or rose. S. Dalevayii is the best of the broad-leaved saxifrages, and is a recent introduction from China. In the autumn and winter the leaves assume a rich red colour, and the handsome umbels of flowers are a rich wine red on opening, though paling somewhat later. It is happiest in cool loam or leafsoil, but is quite suitable for the rock garden. S. muscoides (Mossy Rockfolia) is a very ornamental plant, suitable for a cool semi-shaded or moist part of the rock garden. The type has white flowers, but there are several varieties with red flowers such as Crimson King, Rhea superba, and Apple blossom. Phlox subulata, the Mossy Phlox, is also an excellent spreading plant, suitable for the rock garden or a well drained sunny bank. The moss like evergreen foliage is simply covered with the little flowers, which are white in Nelsoni, and rosy carmine in Vivid. The mossy phloxes arc easily grown from cuttings put into boxes of sandy soil in the autumn and stood in a cold frame for the winter. Other plants in flower on the rock garden at the present time are Soldanella alpina, Omphaloides verna, Iberis Gibraltarica, Auricula alpina, Lithospermum prostratum, Armenia caespitosa, Viola canina, Viola gracilia in several varieties, and Cytisus Beanii. SWEETLY PERFUMED FLOWERING SHRUBS Colour is very important in the spring garden but so also is perfume, and there are a number of hardy shrubs with rather inconspicuous flowers which are well worth growing for their perfume. Azara microphylla is a shrub or small tree, sometimes growing to a height of 30 feet, with neat evergreen leaves and frond-like branches. The flowers are greenish yellow, very tiny and very numerous, giving off a sweet, vanillalike fragrance, which is perceptable yards away from the bush. Nuttallia cerasiformis (Oso berry) is a deciduous shrub, usually from six to eight feet high, native of California. Its pendulous, greenish white flowers are not striking, but the almond scent is evident, and is ample compensation for the lack of colour. This is a very hardv shrub, which will grow anywhere, but it should be planted near the house or* near a path. The male and female flowers are usually on different plants, and the fruits are bitter and strongly almond scented.

Probably the best known and most popular of the shrubs with sweetly scented flowers is the brown flowered boronia (B. megastigma). It is a neat, slender little shrub, far hardier than many people think, and not difficult to accommodate in moist loam in an open position. They are not plants which live long, and are so frequently picked that they soon become scraggy, but are easily renewed by raising them from .seed, or obtaining them from a nurseryman. The pinnate leaved boronia, B. pinnata, lias pink flowers, but it is not nearly so hardy or so sweetly scented as the brown flowered

one. Daphne indica is a sweet scented species, native of China, but not veryeasy to accommodate. It likes good drainage, and, when preparing a spot for it, dig a fairly deep hole, placing stones or clinkers in the bottom to provide good drainage. Mix some leafmould and. sand with the soil. Plant in a semi-shaded position, and place some rocks round it for shelter and to retain heat, which assists in the ripening of the wood.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

11. C. P., Ashburton.—You should have pruned your walnut tree in the late autumn or early winter to avoid bleeding, and it is also advisable, when removing large branches, to trim the rough edges with a knife and to paint over the cut surface with tar. Though bleeding may weaken your tree it is not likely to die from this cause. “ Roses.” —It is really rather late to plant out roses, as they are in active growth. Alberic Barbier would be a suitable variety for your purpose. Use Gow’s Mildew Destroyer. “ Inquirer,” Clydesdale.—You should cut away the dead and frosted part of your olearia hedge. We may not have such hard frosts for years, and it is a pity to dig out established plants. Lime is quite good for roses, and it is better to spread it on the surface and hoe or fork it in. Single daffodils should not become double through being planted in the grass. We have some planted 17 years ago. and they are still all right.