IN THE GARDEN

Taranaki Daily News, 8 May 1930, Page 18

IN THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

the flower garden - . The recent rains have started work with earnest. The first to make a start is the weeds, and a hoeing now will get rid of a lot of seedlings. In many cases seeds sown outside have not started till this rain came. Where this ifi so, keep them weeded and the eoil stirred along the row. It is advisable to get as much.growth as possible in young plants before ; , the winter sets in. Anemones and ranunculi can be planted. ■. Earlier planted are now showing up : and will need the soil stirring around J : them. ' - ‘ ' Before cutting off the dead stems of ; lilies clearly mark the position of the bulbs. .... / _ ' Chrysanthemums are now in their glory •■ and it ,is many a long year, since » we have had such a good season. Keep the weeds away from the roots and as soon as a variety is done cut it down to encourage the production of suckers'. ' . any bedding plants that have been held back owing to the dry ... weather. • The majority of hardy perennial and herbaceous plants that are but of flower can be transplanted now. Stocks, both.ten-week and beauty sorts, . can be planted out. Seed can also bo . eown. Cinerarias, primulas, primroses, polyans' thus, mysotis, aquilegias, pansies, : violas, wallflowers, can be transplant- ■ . ed now. Sowings of mignonette made now will flower in early spring. Cut down any herbaceous plants that ( ' • <' are done. This is a good time to coneider the reconstruction of the border. . re THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Get a.ny previously dug ground ready for sowing. Raised ' beds are the best means of growing winter crops. Seed of lettuce a,nd radish should be • '' sown to keep up a supply. < Cabbage and cauliflowers can be sown. ’ Where plants are obtainable ■ they . can be planted out. ■ A sowing of, broad beans can. be made. v These are more suitable for heavy ', soils and cold districts. Celery should be moulded up as jt requires it. Remove all side growths and bad leaves before adding the soil. Leeks require the soil • pulling up to them. These will also respond to ..liquid manure. Silver ‘ beet planted now will give a supply of a green vegetable in early spring. Potatoes and kuinaras should be dug as - soon as the tubers are matured. When digging potatoes pick out any that are required for planting. Seed potatoes should be boxed so as . to sprout ready for planting. 1 Prepare ground for planting early potatoes. Prepare ground for strawberry planting, add a good dressing of bonedust, also potash. Clear away all rubbish and. bury -.it deeply. An open trench at least thirty inches deep in a good place for rubbish. As it gets filled it can be covered in and another one opened.; It is good for the soil and will turn rubbish into good plant food. THE FRUIT GARDEN. Gather late apples and pears with care; Store in a cool, dark, airy room or . cellar. Prune bush fruits such as currants and gooseberricts, • The planting .of currants and gooseberries should be done as soon as possible. Early planting and plenty of manure is essential to success. Plantings of loganberries. and raspberries sh6uld_.be made as soon as possible, and on established plantations the old canes should be cut out and a dressing of manure applied. Prepare the ground for planting fruit trees of all sorts. Place your order for fruit trees as soon as possible. The earlier your order is in -the nurseryman’s hands and the trees in your garden the better. Go over the trees and cut out any unwanted or dead shoots. It is quite easy to see them now before. all the foliage falls. ASPARAGUS CULTURE. To prepare an asparagus bed, a welldrained position must be selected. The surface soil should be removed to a depth of six inches, and the bed dug to a full spade depth. Fill the bed up to ground level with old stable manure; mix thoroughly with the fork, and then cover with several “ inches of surface soil. Two-year plants, as fresh as possible from a reliable nursery, should be placed in rows two . feet apart, with 15 inclies between the' - plants, spreading the roots with soil, and when the shoots appear recover with about two more inches of surface soil. ’ ' For green asparagus the shoots should be allowed to grow a few inches above the surface of the soil, but if blanching is needed there must be a good depth of soil so that the ■ stalks can grow to a length of about nine inches below the surface. Green- * in, gives a peculiar and very much - nicer flavour that is not to be found : " in blanched shoots. No cutting should be made from the bed during the first season, since a 1 good leaf growth is required to perfect the stools to give a good crop the following year—the shoots being , produced from the stored-up energy of the plant, and not from the soil. Beds should be kept clean and free from weeds, and the surface soil carefully broken occasionally or covered with a good mulch of leaves. In the autumn the tops die down and should be cleared off to prevent tin. seeds from falling and giving a crop of seedlings. During the- winter months keep the beds well drained . and sprinkle freely with salt. A little , fine sulphur also keeps away insect pests or snails, which abound freely if the bods are neglected. 1 DON’TS FOR ROSE GROWERS. ; , ' I Don’t plant too deep. Some amateurs plant deeper than the trees were plant- •

ed in the nursery. This a great mistake. Don’t plant in holes which are too small. Take out holes which are of ample size to allow all the roots to be spread out evenly. , Don’t plant loosely. The soil n, ret be well firmed about the roots, or else the frost will. loosen the trees and the winter winds will damage them. Don’t try to grow roses in soil only dug flin deep. Dig at least 2ft deep, and mix in plenty of well-rotted stable manure, keeping it well down. Don’t let any animal manure come into contact with the roots of the roses when planting. The manure should be placed well below, so that the roots have to go down to find it. . Don’t mulch with animal manure after planting in winter. The mulch only does harm, and is quite useless if ap-' plied at that time. The proper time to apply it is in the spring. . THE IRIS. One of the directors of the Orpington' Nurseries of Kent writing in regard to the best varieties of iris, says: ' Our main object in writing this note, how-’ ever,’ is to 'criticise the list of varieties which are recommended in the article to which we refer. Some such as Micheline Chairaire, Purissina j and Shasta are varieties which in bur view are unsuitable for ordinary cultivation in our English climate. Others such as W. R. Dykes, Pink d’Or, Sir Michael and Golden Glory, are novelties which are still so scarce and expensive as to be beyond the reach of the ordinary buyer. This criticism is tempered) however, by the reflection that it is well to ■ draw th v attention to the fact that quantities of modern and improved varieties of irises, which are a reasonable price, do exist, And further that the' varieties , found in the average garden are generally very old and out-of-date .‘sorts, which, are no- more representative ’of what should be grown than a collection of’ the hybrid perpetual roses of thirty years ago would be repesentative of the modern rose. We should like to urge readers: “To keep their eyes upon the iris,” to discard many of the «old inferior sorts which are still being grown, and work up stocks of the more° modern and better ’ things. It 'is always risky to recommend lists of varieties,- but as ; it may .be helpful to some, we suggest the following- 36 • bearded irises as a good sound collection at reasonable prices. ' These include some of the new colour blendings which., are such a delightful feature of the modern iris.— Whites: Athene, White Knight, Mystic. Yellows: Sunset, ghekinah. VariegatasFlaming Sword, Fro, -Dalila, Kuysua, Argynnis. Yellow Blends: Quaker Lady, Steepway, MmC. Chqbaute, Afterglow, Dora Longdon, Bronze Blonds: Ambassadeur, Prosper Laugier, Lieut. A. Williamson. Blue Purples: Harmony, Souv de Mme., Gaudichan, Yeoman. Red Purples: Imperator, Rosalba, Opera. Pinks: Seminole', Susan Bliss, Mme. Cheri. Pale Lavenders’and Blues: Ann Page, Corrida, Goldcrcst, Queen Catherine, Viking. Amoenus; B. G. Morrison, Eclaireur, Rhein Nixe, Salonique. x . . BULB-GROWING IN ENGLAND. At a meeting of the Spalding and District Bulb Growers and Market Gardeners’ Association,' Mr, H. V. Taylor, Commissioner of Horticulture, was the guest of honour. Replying to the toast of “British Horticulture,” Mr. Taylor said a member of Parliament was astonished to find that the value of the country’s horticultural produce exceeded the value of the wheat crop. It was a fact of which the country could be proud. He was always preaching that a nation such as theirs fiad got to foster and look after the creation of the horticultural industry within it. With regard to flowers he thought the advance had been tremendous. Flowers were naturally a very important item in the commerce of this country. Last year over a million and a half of money was spent in bringing bulbs “into England. It would be a big piece of business on their part if they could capture some of that trade. VIOLETS. Manure the violet borders, using welldecayed stable -litter or bonedust. scatter the stable manure freely. Half cover the plants if you like,, but don’t use new manure, or you will burn the violets. A handful of bonedust to every three yards of border will do no harm. GERANIUM BLOOMS.

When cutting geraniums for use in the house, take off a piece of the wood with the flower stalk.. You will get the flower to last if you do this. There is not sufficient life in the stalk to hold the blooms together. Six inches of the plant will keep the flower heads going for days.