Amateur Gardener

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 217, 17 October 1914, Page 5

Amateur Gardener

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SEASONABLE NOTES. Many amateurs like to grow a few mixed plants in conjunction with the grape vine. There can be no objection to this if suitable plants are chosenT'and the care of these is not allowed to interfere with the cultivation of the vine at certain critical stages. One of these occurs when the vines are in flower. It is very necessary at this period of the vine's growth that a light buoyant dry atmosphere should be maintained until the fruit is set. The usual damping down should be abstained from at this season, and plenty of air given day and night if the outside temperature will allow it at all. When the house is heated a little extra warmth in the pipes will make up for the little extra ventilating. The cause of unevenness in the size of berries in the bunch is generally caused by irregular fertilisation, the pollen having been kept too damp and sticky to scatter freely. Keep a good watch for black fly on peaches, especially those on walls or fences. They spread remarkably fast this weather. An extract of quassia chips and soft soap is about the most effectual wash for their destruction. It is. a very difficult job to thin out the kitchen garden crops, such as carrots, onions, etc., this dry weather, for this operation the ground should be in a moist condition. Where this work has to be done, and the surface soil is dry, it would be as well to give a good soaking with clear water along the rows the evening before the work is undertaken; then if another watering be given after the thinning is complete the young plants left will not suffer harm. A small sowing of an autumn broccoli such as Knight's, or Veitch's Protecting could be made now with advantage, as they will come in just as the late cauliflowers are over The sowing for the main crop may be delayed for another fortnight. The hoe must be used very carefully this weather. The mere loosening of the surface is sufficient amongst the small seedlings, but between well established crops it may be Used as usual. Continue to sow salads and other vegetables as required for succession. Driblets of water are of very little use. Where watering is nesessary it should be given in sufficient quantity to reach down to the bottom of the roots, but yet not so much as to over-cool the ground. Scarlet runners may now be sown. They are generally sown too shallow. In. light soil 6 inches is not too deep to plant the se ie, and in ordinary ground a minimum of 4 inches may be sufficient. It is well to plant in, and to maintain a shallow drill, as it will be found most convenient when water is required. " Gardeners who have been in the habit of visiting the Spring Show of the Canterbury Horticultural Society; for a number of years —and incidentally here ; I may say that by "gardeners" I do not' mean to imply that it is only those who make their living by doing gardening work who are entitled to the name; in fact if the gardener by profession does not have the same incentive and ■object which animates the amateur gardener, 'then he certainly occupies a much lower standard vthan they who are, as the name implies, amateur —a '' lover of'' —gardening. But to return to the Spring Show —the. point I ■wish to make is, that' the demonstration by increasing exhibits of hardy flowering trees and shrubs, in bolder specimens and increasing variety of

late years, especially at the late show, show, by contrast with the paucity of similar exhibits at shows of only a few years back, that this useful class of plants is becoming more and more appreciated. If it were possible to order and plant while "the iron is hot," that is, when we see the plant in its beauty of flower, no doubt they would be planted more freely still, but very often, when dull winter and planting time comes, our memory has lost the brightness of the picture, and the plant and its name is forgotten. The flowering of trees and shrubs has been very profuse this season. I have already mentioned in previous notes the earlier flowering sorts. At the present time there are a large number of species and varieties that are now at their best, or just passing, or giving promise of a continuance of bloom. The genus Pyrus bulks largely jn any list of flowering trees, the sectionmalus, or apple, being the most prominent. Probably if a plebiscite were taken as to the most ornamental flowering tree, Pyrus (malus) schedeckerii would head the poll. It is a low growing tree, well branched and furnished, and when in full bloom there is nothing else to be seen than a mass of white, tinted pink, flowers, the buds being a rosy-crimson. P.m. floribunda is better known, and is just about passing before the former comes into bloom. P. Neidwetzkiana is a species of later introduction, a good grower, of handsome appearance, with purple bark and dark coloured leaves. There is a hybrid between this and P.m. floribunda called P.f. purpurea. It has the deep purple bark and dark leaves of the former, while to the latter it owes its more spreading habit and its floriferousness, the flowers being produced in profusion on long willowy-like branches. The colour is rich crimson, and has the darkest coloured flowers in the genus. A remarkable trait in this plant is that the wood is of a purple colour right through 1 , and if a few twigs are put into the fire it gives off a strong odour like roasting apples. Another species of distinct habit and flower is P. coronaria flore pleno. The flowers are rose colour in 6-8 flowered drooping corymbs. They are the largest flowers in the gdnus, double and sweetly scented. There is another section even more directly allied to the cultivated apple called flowering crabs. Some of these have two distinctly ornamental periods of flowering and fruiting. The variety John Downie is one of the best; the flowers are single, white when expanded, but crimson in the. bud.' The growth is upright, and free; the fruits are plumshaped, about the size of a large prune; the colour is rather hard to describe — bright orange-apricot is about as near as I can get. They are said to make excellent jelly. '' Orange'' is another desirable sort. The tree is more spreading in habit, while the fruit has a very orange-like appearance, hence the name, and is not at all bad to eat. ' The double-flowering cherries are now too well known to need much "bush." They have been exceptionally fine this season, and would have lasted much longer if the bad nor'-wester experienced last Saturday had not knocked the flowers about so much. Arbutus Menzesii is very conspicuous just now by reason of the wealth of white Lily-of-the-Valley-like flowers. This plant does not transplant readily. Pot-grown plants are the only safe ones, and they should not have been too long in the pots, either. Wistarias are making a brave show in many gardens, but I should like to mention W. brachybotrys as a plant worth noting. It is an excellent doer,

soon covering a good-sized space. The flowers are ivory-white, of good substance; the spike is rather short in comparison with the common variety, and the flowers are placed closer together, the individual blooms being larger. It is sweet scented and a desirable plant in any garden. The whiteflowered variety, W. sinensis, should not be overlooked. An accidental combination which struck me as rather good was the double crimson peach backed up with two large plants of Berberis darwinii. The apricot of the berberis was warmed up considerably by the contrast, while the peach took on a much more brilliant colour. The crimson flowering currant, Ribes sanguinea, too, makes a very good combination if planted in conjunction with Forsythia viridissima. Another combination is a clump of plants of Leptospernum chapmanii. The rose-coloured manuka a little distance in front of some plants of Prunus pissardii, the purple-leaved plum. I commenced these notes with a reference to flower shows, and I do not think I can do better than finish with a further reference. A true gardener is always ready to enlist others into the gardening cult by exhibiting the cream of his labours. He is also, if anything, kind-hearted —his intercourse with Nature at first-hand must make him so. Therefore, when it can be shown that by helping others to a more intimate- knowledge of garden craft, he can also gather in a few shekels to aid the distressed in Belgium, I feel sure that the opportunity will be taken. There are very few districts throughout New Zealand that do not possess a "gardener" or two; also a hall or even a sehoolhouse, and there is' nothing like bringing in the children to help a charitable object* Where, with a little organisation, a flower show could be held, and when it is known that the profits are to be used for such a good purpose, special prizes and gate, money, will be forthcoming plentifully, and, except in cases where special plants are heirlooms or something of that sort, the exhibits will be generally given for auction for the benefit of the fund. To put this suggestion past with the remark that "It's very little we can do in this small place," will be found after consideration to have no weight. It is the pennies that make the pounds, and where the need is great nothing is too small unless it can, with a little energy, be made larger. Correspondence from J. G. Coalgate will be answered next week. j