GARDEN NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17950, 30 November 1932, Page 4

GARDEN NOTES

mmiimtiiiilrtiiiiiiiiniiiiiuiiHiHiiuiiiHiimmmmnHiu, THE VEGETABLE PLOT

If the gardener’s policy is to have a steady supply of vegetables from one year’s end .to the other, seed sowing must not be a duty .confined alone to the spring, but must be continued at | regular intervals. Among the sowings advisable at'present are some which are most important. There is that of the Bolivian variety of endives, for instance. This succeeds splendidly on any light, rich soil where the position is open and sunny. Plenty of space should be allowed between the rows; 13in, apart, with plants Iff. between each, is not too much. If the soil is very light greater success may be achieved by sowing in Bin. deep trenches.

A winter supply of parsley also should receive attention. These plants should be given ample space. The seeds must have, a very shallow covering and be attended to so that they do not become dry. A. sowing near a tap is advised.

Another useful sowing with a view to winter salads is that of Black !Spanish or China. Rose radish. These radishes, to those who do not know them, will afford a welcome surprise. On good soil, with plenty of water, they may be grown up to 41b. in weight. Prickly-seeded spinach is another autumn supply that should not ibo omitted. This is a good follow-on crop planted where peas or other croppings have been taken off. The rows should be lflt. apart and seed sown lin. deep. The seed may lie soaked in water for 24 hours to hasten germination, and, should- the dry period extend, the drills are advised to be well flooded before sowing. A sowing in the seed bed of winter cabbage also should be made now to have plants ready for use when space permits. SUMMER STIMULANTS Whore a good showing of cabbage has slowed off during the dry spell a stimulant of sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda will greatly benefit the plants if scattered near, but not on them. ‘Beetroot likes a dressing of a stimulant by watering the rows with loz. of sulphate of iron dissolved in one gallon of water. Poultry manure in the form of a mulch also aids this crop. This may be given to both scarlet runner and dwarf beans as soon as the pods begin to set. Carrots will derive great benefit from a dressing of soot. Enough of this can mostly be obtained, with care, from the chimney and should be left out in the open in a box for two days before being used. Parsnips also appreciate soot and sulphate of ammonia. The soot may be sprinkled along each row after thinning out the crop, and the sulphate applied 14 days later. JAPANESE IRISES Because the Japanese iris (Iris Kaempferi) is called a moisture loving iris, many people imagine they must have a stream to be able to grow them well. This, however, is not the case. For many years the writer grew them to perfection in the lowest part of bis garden without ever giving them any water other than that provided by nature. True, they are moisture-loving and do best in moist spots, but they will flower in the driest and poorest spots imaginable. The writer bad a flourishing plant of a specially line Wedgewood blue by a tap on the drive edge (most of the taps are hidden in the foliage of Japanese iris). This seeded itself, and a seed blew across the drive to the top of adesperately poor dry bank where only gazanias grow. It germinated and every year gives one bloom about din. across and only Sin. from the ground. Obviously it does not enjoy life in such a position, but there it is, and there it lives year after year: a poor little dwarf with a- parent 3ft. high and blooms 6in. across.

There is no reason why Gisborne gardens should not grow the finest Japanese irises, and, to the writer’s mind, these and the bearded group are quite the most magnificent of the huge family. The Japanese iris grows straight and tall, and, when well grown, attains a height of 4 to sft. (one called by the family “Patches” grows nearly 6ft.). gome of the varieties have much branched stems, others quite unbranched, with flowers only on the top. Their flowering season lasts from earliest November till the end of January, and a big bed of a large variety is u magnificent sight in December. The blooms of somo varieties are as much as lOin. in diameter at their best, but tbq general average of a good bloom is from 6to Bin. They have a wonderful variety of color, embracing almosteverything except yellow. Blues, however', predominate, and their variety is astonishing. The writer’s collection of about 120 varieties was raised from seed, and surpasses any collection in commerce. To grow these magnificent flowers to perfection one requires a deep, rich, sandy, moist soil free from lime. Japanese irises like a very rich loose medium to root in, and by no means object to well rotted manure. lake the bearded irises they are very fibrous

surface-rooting plants, and start to make next season’s roots lmmcdiatelj their flowering season is over. I U \Y> however, a-lso root- deeply, so require a much deeper bed than their bearded cousins. The writer grows Ins m a pool sandy loam heavily manured with sheepyard sweepings and very deep and well drained, but kept thoroughly well worked and very moist till the blooms are over. After that they look after themselves fill the following spring, except for a mulch of manure. Two beds were made in September, 1931, for the Japanese iris. One was dug out of rock and made 18in. deep, then filled in with a mixture of good rich loam and sheepmanure and a drain of field tiles runs along the bottom for subterranean hligation. The other was poor sandy soil into which he dug much sheep manure. The first bed was watered by flooding underneath, but the other bed had to ho watered by flooding with a. little stream from a tap. The writer considered the bed dug out of rock and watered from beneath would be very superior, hut he was wrong. The irises planted in the manured poor sandy soil and watered from tho surface have done far better than those in the rock bed, though both were treated equally well. In November, 1931, there were no blooms as the irises were not established. However, they grew into wonderfully good plants and this year they are heavily set with hud and have started to bloom. Had they been planted in January or February instead of September they would, with tho treatment they received, have flowered the first season.

Japanese or bearded irises cannot he expected to do well the first season if they are not planted very early in the year. Blooms should not be expected tho first season if the plants are received in the winter for planting. Small plants put in in January should, if attended to, he nice well-rooted clumps the next spring. Tn Japanese irises there are both doublo and single. . One has three broad petals, the other six, but both are really .single blooms large and fiat after the shape of a clematis. Every garden should grow a few of these wonderful flowers. Rich, moist soil is all they need, and a position in (lie full sun. They do not like lime. Watering may be discontinued at the end of December, which is fortunate, as from then on water is often rather scarce in Gisborne.