THE AMATEUR GARDENER

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 151, 1 August 1914, Page 3

THE AMATEUR GARDENER

SOME GOOD WINTER FLOWERING TREES.

Acacia Baileyana in warm situations is now in full bloom, and its masses of golden-yellow flower trusses quite light up the garden. A striking colour contrast is given by the crimson flowered Japanese apricot, Prunus mume. This ornamental flowering tree is a great ac- • qui.siliori to our gardens, as there are j not maT.y early flowering trees that give us biuh rich and bright colouring at this season, and the fragrance is very sweety and penetrating. Both the foregoing) subjects are a little, lute in flowering I this yenr. The heavy rains we got in late autumn madrt the* ground much eolder earlier than usual, with the revsult that these plants are about a fortnight late in flowering. Arctostaphylos glauca and A. pungens are both flowering profusely at the present time. They ; are somewhat alike in general appear- j ance, having leathery, ovate, evergreen '• leaves and many, flowered racemes of | lily-of-the-valley like flowers, the fnxt' named having the flowers of a pale pink I shade, while the flowers of A. pungens are white. As the flowers open in sue cession the flowering period is considerably lengthened. The flower buds of the purple leaved Prunus cerasifera Pissardi, are well forward and the tree will soon be in*.bloom. This also is a little later in flowering this year, a tree in a warm corner being usually in flower about the last week in July. The weather conditions have apparently affected that fine winter flowering shrub, the laurestinus, adversely, too, as the flowers have been much scarcer, than usual and not nearly of as good quality. . SEASONABLE NOTES. With the incoming of August, lengthening days and increasing sun power, the new garden-year may be said to commence, and all work left over, such as trenching, pruning, excepting peach and nectarine trees, planting, etc., should be completed without delay. In reference to the peach and nectarine, these may be pruned now, and the knife should be used carefully and sparingly, The fruit of the peach and -nectarine is borne on the wood of the preceding season, fclv flower buds being mostly produced on the outward half of the branch. In shortening these fruit-bearing shoots, it is essential that the <-ut be made to a I wood bud, which is easily distii.guished at this season by,reason of its long thin shape in contradistinction to the round plump form of the flower buds. If the cut is not made to a-wood bud so as to I ensure growth .from the apex of the pruned shoot, the wood will most probably die back to a wood bud at the base of the shoot. The pruning of these fruits should consist chiefly of thinning out the young wood, and "leaving the best placed and most fruitful looking, moderately strong, sturdy shoots at their full length, cutting out all bare two-year-old wood, keeping the tree as sturdy and compact as possible, giving a sufficiency of room to the growths loft so that sun and air. may .penetrate throughout the tree. Carefully cut put every piece or twig of dead wood as it is generally from ■these that fungus spores are distributed later on. Clean up and burn the priinings to the smallest pieces, and then spray the trees thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture using the 10-10-40 winter formula. The use of this mixture is a good precautionary measure to use for all fruit trees, apricots especially. It is perfectly safe to use while the trees are leafless,- or in the case of the peach and apricot the flower buds unopened, but it is better not to delay beyond the middle of August. Sowing Vegetable Seeds. Garden peas and broad beans may ■now be sown without the necessity of choosing specially warm and sheltered spots. Spinach and 4 e t tuee ma y b e jsown on warm' borders. Sweet Peas. I Now is a good time to sow sweet peas. The ground should have been well prepared and" left rough. This should now be forked over five or six ! inches, deep, breaking up the lumps and leaving a good tilth. Sow the seed thinly in drills about one and a-half I inches deep, and when they are well through the ground thin them out to six \ inches apart if only wa*nted for garden decoration and cut flowers for the house. But if wanted for exhibition they should be thinned to one foot apart. The general practice is to leave the plants much too thick in the rows. Sweet peas in pots or boxes should

(By AOTEA.)

have as much air and light as possible, so as to keep them stocky and hardy ready to plant out on the first favourable opportunity when September comes. ' -^ Work in the Greenhouse.Tuberous begonias may be potted up or re-potted. Cuttings of chrysanthemums, geraniums, fuchsias, heliotropes, etc., may be put in, and seeds of tender and half-hardy annuals sown. Gitfs plenty of air on all favourable occasions and avoidgany excess of artificial heat, conserving the .sun heat by closing the ventilators before the temperature falls too much. The weather at thaK season is very variable. We often g<jjfe bright, hot sunshine while there is. Ip cold cutting wind blowing. The ventl|; btovs should be kept closed on tfa§j windy side, and draughts avoided, fe; On the Land. jj| i Keep the hoe f?oir t g wheneve*- tTfijjg ground n in fit ' Virion to tread it 7>ot only ma- • for wc<ilj growth, but ' .< - r.»- r h c moisture sßs dry soils aj .J s.-.-. n: 1( { 5-wxjetenH-tw| su'l wliere iX •* Jno* r-* +•• -r/c = has been dcm>.i ' - '- v especially tb.it mM 'n in:". - !.- -*>'•- ;„ • 1"/ tarn affinity for nurogui, y,ui ju f -t<iw t -V pass'through it wilhout leaving some-s|£ this most valuable fertiliser behi«4s| Ground that has "been left rough digging or trenching should now forked over, leaving a good' tilth 1j%5-1 from lumps. This will a lot? In labour when seed sowing becomes moH general, as the lumps will be easier jw| break now* than when baked harder-'wß the sun's increasing heat, s- ■■* M I have to think "G.H.C." for"™ appreciative letter. I shoufft like to h«H him to-"a little, more light,on-how 'mjs tell a Tea (rose) from-a H.T., or &JMI from Per. or H.P. -He - writes: * would like .to be able to go up t6j||| rose bush and say from < appearan<M| (leaves,' etc) that this is a I H.K. orffil H.T. as the case may be." ' TwentyrnMi or thirty years agio it would not been a very difficult matter, and *4-P£ffi| sent the extremes are easily rerogmJaH if we take the typical. Teas* "Buch JSpf Annie Olivier or Marie van. Houttey agjfjl such H.l', 's aa Duke of red Colomb, and Marie Baumann. ; though Captain Christy Franc*were classed as H.P V; it ,was fairly easjj, to see that there'was a'something* about' them different *to the ■ general', class -, o£ H.P. 7 s. -But bow, what with .the crossing; - and re-crossirig of Teas and and H.T.'s, with the infusion of Rossi' lutea—the Austrian briar—and j"£ is a very hard task to say~ whiclf s*£ which* amongst the newer garden For our most popular Frau Karl Druschki; is a cross Caroline Testoutand. Merveille de-Lyep£r and should certainly be classed ai..*%5 H.T. Margaret Dickson, ; is from M. Fitzwilliam crossed.' with -Merr veille de and has one-fourth. blood in it—Devoniensis. ( '.Many otherinstances coulu be also, ■where, varieties classed as teas t have.a large admixture of H.P. blood ip them.' -Th'a Rev. Foster-Melliar, wrijting in 1894," says: ".Hybrid teas are "at present a. very unsatisfactory class. Jt is very: difficult even now to decided." line as to where there is sufficient strain from the teas to warrant tha division; and-it seems more than probable that the task will befeome almost, impossible when the hybrid teas-.ai'eV* crossed back again in the E"P.'s« -teas, as they have been already-in t||i| or three instances." Twenty %eflH have passed since that was what- was then f oreshartftwpifl Jyffijll'Jßß to pass in a much fuller' perhaps the writer thoiighfc' It is doubtful if even .'the >n^^; keep count of the and just dub them H.T. oc pearance, fancy, or dictate. The reputed genus rosa are quite' as puzzle to the botanist. The Speei&&|||l indica from which are Teas and' the Chinas, is split many divisions, some quite suf&CAe£f§|l distinct to warrant classing R. gallica—the origin of the H.fertOTp in part the Bourbon and, the roses is in much the same case. I shoitiil like to suggest to the Domain Board, who have done yeoman service in advancing the interest of the garden rosa by establishing so fine a rosary, that they might extend the service by forming a garden of rose species and -wild forms, which I am sure would be very much appreciated and would form a fine corollary to the present fine rose garden.