GARDEN FLOWER

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1924, Page 16

GARDEN FLOWER

WHAT TO DO NOW

Prepare beds in open, but sheltered positions in the garden in readiness /or sowing hardy annuals and perennials. Dig the soil deeply, and incorporate with it a liberal amount of sharp sand, that from the aide channels of metalled roads for preference. If leaf soil is procurable, a quantity of it may also be added with advantage. Make the surface of the bed slightly higher than the surrounding soil, and render the surface fine ami even. Remove the faded blooms from asters, zinnias marigolds, etc. If the beds or other positions they occupy become at all dry. give water in plenty, and in any case afford, if convenient, an occasional dose Of liquid manure—French marigolds excepted. Do not pull iip salpiglossis that have finished flowering unless the plants have ebmpletely died away. Although, strictly speaking, these subjects are half hardy annuals, they display a perennial babit in some soils and localities. The chief requirement of herbaceous phlox, Loins, and paeonies at this season is plenty of moisture. Anything the plants may have suffered re.ently through want of this element may not be noticeable now, but next season the effects will be evidenced by the diminished quantity and size of the blooms. Cut back the tops of pansies and violas that have passed the ornamental stage. If the plants are healthy, new shoots will soon spring up and these can be used for cuttings. Water the old roots copiously in dry weather. Give attention to the staking of and dahlias. Water must be afforded when needful, but liquid manure should not be applied to chrysanthemums until the flower buds commence to form.

Continue to use the mower on lawns once each week to keep down any coarse grasses. Ground intended for putting down in lawns should be prepared now, and the seed sown towards the end of the present month or in April. HARDY 7 PERENNIALS. The number of hardy herbaceous plants that are available for the embellishment of gardens is so large that even a list of their names would occupy considerable space. A list, however, ip of little value to those commencing gardening, or even to those whose experience in the art is limited. A bare list of names of plants with the prices attached has caused disappointment to many an amateur gardener. One is apt to consider prices first when there is not much money to spare, consequently cheap priced plants have before now been purchased to fill up a garden, with very little thought as to their suitability for the situation. The result is, in all probability, a failure; the subjects grown become weedy or fail to make headway at all, the flowers being small or ill-coloured, and the owner throws up .bis hands in despair, very likely vowing at the same time never more to

spend time and money upon gardening. This is an extreme .example, but anything approaching it may be averted if a little care is taken in the original selection. And this should not be a difficult matter to do, for there are dozens of choice and easily grown perennials available from which a selection can be made with confidence, and with the certainty of giving satisfaction if proper treatment is accorded them. The process of raising hardy perennials from seed is not difficult, and during the present month is a suitable time to sow, but the beginner, who requires only a limited number of plants, would do well to purchase his requirements for the start. Seedling perennials are generally procurable onwards from April. The ‘following ar e recommended: Aquilegia, agathea, calliopsis grandiflora, campanula pyramidalis, and carpatica, clianthus, delphinium, geum, gerbera, lupinus polyphyllus hybrids, pensteno, Iceland poppy, pyrethrum, nil - beckio, helenium, thalictrum and ver-

benas. RUDBECKIAS. When constructing his system of botanical clasaifieation, PinnaeuS, the celebrated botanist, named a genus of showy hardy plants in honour of two learned men named Rudbeck, whom he had succeeded in the professorship at the University of Upsula, in Sweden. Hence the name Rudbeckia is retained by the plants to the present time. The flowers of many kinds of Rudbeckias are yellow with raised 'black or brownish centres, being in form and colour very similar to a miniature sunflower, but smaller, and instead of growing tall and bushy they form dense tufts of greenery close to the ground, from which the blooms arise on slender stalks, thus rendering them most useful for cutting. The various species are by no means difficult to cultivate from seed, and if a good specimen can be procured to start with, it is an easy matter to increase the number of specimens by dividing up the original plant after it has become well established. The old plant may be divided into two or more pieces, as may be necessary or convenient, planting these separately in late autumn or winter. An old plant may be lifted with a spade and pulled to pieces by the hands—a business readily performed, or pieces may be cut off by means of a sharp spade. Rudbeckia Newmanni is the name by which one of our brightest and best hardy plants is known in gardens. The blooms ar e like small sunflowers—bright gold with a black, conical centre. The blooms when cut last such a long time in water that plants in many places are grown purposely for the production of flowers to supply markets. Rudbeckia pupurea is most distinct, stronger in habit and with larger blooms than the former; consequently it will need a position towards the back of the border. The red-purple flowers are bold and effective, but in my opinion they are less elegant in a cut etate than those \of its yellow brother. Rudbeckia maxima, as its name implies, is th e largest member of this family; so robust is it that in a rich soil and with plenty of room, it grows sometimes seven or more feet in height, while its flowers are often more than four inches in diameter—yellow, with a black disc. The first mentioned species is by far the best to grow in small gardens.