GARDENING NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1935, Page 14

GARDENING NOTES

THE WEEK'S WORK.

THE FLOWER GARDEN.

Spray chrysanthemums with arsenate of lead for grubs and caterpillars. Dahlias will need attention in tying, disbudding, etc. “Take” chrysanthemum buds as tney show. , The rain has caused a sudden burst ot growth, and the effects of manure dressings, which have remained latent, can be seen. D „ Lift gladioli corms as soon as the flower stems have partially matured. Lift and replant madonna lilies. Some of the early-flowering sorts can be replaced. Plainly mark the position of any Illium or other bulbs while the tops are to be seen. Sowings of mignonette, pansies, moyosotis, stocks and wallflowers can be made. Prepare ground for planting anemones and ranunculi. Hedges of escallonia, privet, eleagnus and piitosporum can be trimmed. Stir the surface of beds and borders. THE GREENHOUSE. Pot freesias and lachenalias. Hyacinths, narcissi and tulips can be potted. . Prepared bulb fibre is the cleanest lightest and best medium for bulbs to be grown indoors. No drainage is required. Cuttings of coleus, helitropes pelargoniums, lobelias and other soft-wooded plants will root easily. Fumigate regularly to prevent pests getting a start. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow spinach, turnips, lettuce and radish. Sow cabbage and cauliflower and thin out, leaving some to mature quickly. Sow early dwarf peas. These will give_ a late crop if sticks are ’put to keep' the haulm off the soil. Stop the growing points of pumpkins, marrows, etc. Onions should be dried, cleaned and put in store. Potatoes should be lifted if the tops are dry. A planting of an early variety in a warm position will give an autumn crop. Celery and leeks that require it should have some soil pulled up to the stems. Pull up and burn or bury all spent crops and rubbish. Prepare vacant ground for planting. If not to be cropped immediately sow oats or other cover crop. A sowing of shorthorn carrots and globe or turnip-rooted beet can be made. Spray' tomatoes with arsenate of lead to prevent grubs. Tying and disbudding must be done. Prepare ground for sowing onions. THE FRUIT GARDEN. Raspberries that have finished fruiting should have the old canes cut out. Summer prune stone fruits when crop is gathered. Late apples and pears will need another spraying with arsenate of lead. Citrus trees should have a dressing of manure.

THE POTATO CROP. " WHEN TO LIFT TUBERS. Many crops of potatoes are spoilt by being allowed to stay in the ground after the foliage has died down. In the south, where the life of the potato is limited to the first frost and the tubers are kept dormant by the temperature there may not be so great a need to lift them. In the north where the tops mature or die down chiefly by reason of hot, dry weather, and the chance of infection by disease or insects is likely, the tubers should be lifted as soon as possible. -The potato moth is very bad this season, and one reason is that the tubers having been left in the soil, the moth has been able to lay its eggs on the exposed tubers. The result 1 is that when the crop is lifted these moth>riddled tubers are mixed with the others and before long the whole lot is spoilt. The best protection from the moth is to keep the tubers covered with soil if possible. When lifted spraying the tubers with arsenate of lead, one ounce to two gallons or a teaspoonful to the gallon will help to control the grub. Arsenate of lead is poisonous, but as it is usual to wash and peel potatoes before using them there is not much danger from its use. If the tubers are left in the ground there is the danger of a shower of rain causing the tubers to start, and this spoils them. There are many ways advocated for storing. potatoes, but the best is to put them in a conical or ridge-shaped heap, cover the tubers with hay or straw, and then cover this with at least a six-inch layer of soil. A sheet or two of iron should be placed on top of the head to keep off the rain. When any are required they can be taken out and the heap sealed again. 'This is, of course, just the old-fashioned ■method of “pitting” potatoes, but it is the best yet. A planting now of an early variety will give some autumn tubers, and if properly treated will give good seed for spring planting.

DAHLIA BLOOMS. HOW TO KEEP THEM FRESH. February and March are the dahlias’ best months. Then the blooms are really at their best. The nights are cooler and the days not quite so warm, so that the flowers have every opportunity of displaying their quality. One can regulate dahlias much better than many other flowers. Plant the tubers early, and the plants are in bloom, by Christmas; hold them back -until December, and you get your flowers in the early autumn. . ■ In the cold climates the latter part of February would be the safer time to reckon on getting show blooms. SomeFebruary would be the safter time to season, will pinch the plants, and spoil the symmetry of the flowers. A cold snap will force the plants to hasten thenseedlings and the open centre, a bad fault in show dahlias, is the result. In moderately warm climates the flowers will last well into May. During the last week of April the blooms begin to lose their size and. quality. The night air pinches the plant, and the petals shorten in consequence. Dahlia blooms are notoriously bad keepers. They frequently wilt an hour or two after cutting. To avoid loss, try to get the flowers early in the morning before the sun has too much heat. The earlier they are gathered the better. Cut everything on a' good, long stem. Take the stalks and dip them in boiling, water and allow them to remain there for four or five minutes. This operation will hold the flowers together for quite a long time. . . . , x The stems will remain straight and stiti and the petals - will not flop or fall as they do under ordinary circumstances. Blooms that are being -carried any distance to a show, or those which are being packed away to friends, should always be treated as above. They will last all the better for it. Do not cut away the par-boiled end or you will lose the value of the hot .watering,

which.practically seals the stem and prevents the fall of whatever sap it holds. When sending specimen blooms away pack them in shallow dress-boxes only one layer in each. Let the flowers lie flat on moist sphagnum moss. Anything that is dry will rob the flowers of their moisture. BOUVARDIAS IN FLOWER. These are again in full flower. This beautiful genus of dwarf growing perennial plants is worthy of extensive cultivation, as, it is among the most useful for graden decoration, and for the production .of a continuous supply of flowers for several months in succession. They are of easy cultivation, and succeed so well in our climate. When the plants have become properly established they may be grown for years in the same places, without being removed or renewed, all that is required being good cultivation of the soil around the plants and liberal manuring at least once every year, and to cut the old plants well back during early spring, before they commence to . break into fresh growth. This treatment of head pruning is essential in order to produce bushy, well furnished plants. Neglect in this respect will result in tall, lanky and almost flowerless bushes.. For buttonholes, etc., bouvardias are almost indispensable. There are now quite a number of varieties in cultivation. Some produce beautifully shaped double flowers, others single, in distinctive colours, including purest of whites, bright scarlet, and various shades of pinks and yellow. One of the kinds is beautifully scehted. PERENNIAL PHLOX. Perennial phlox are now in full flower producing large trusses of bloom, ranging from the purest of white to the most intense crimson, and Other intermediate shades. They require fairly rich soil, and during the flowering season, should the weather be- dry, copious watering. In planting up the mixed flower borders in the early spring these perennial varieties of phlox should not be overlooked. They shine to best advantage in groups. The annual varieties of phlox drummondii grandiflora are among the showiest of summer flowering plants. Planted in separate beds or in groups in the mixed flower border, they provide a mass of bloom throughout the summer and autumn, and by late planting into early winter. They are good dry weather subjects, and do not suffer so much as many other flowering plants during periods of drought.

KEEP THE SOIL WORKING. No opportunity should be lost when favourable . conditions prevail, to stock the garden with as many varieties of vegetable as the season will admit, and no effort should be spared to place the ground in such condition as will , ensure success. -> ■ •... -v ..•

The soil should never be allowed to lie long without stirring. In cropping, the greatest success is attained when the soil is in a free, sweet, rich state. It should be free so that the roots of plants should not be impeded in their quest for food; sweet that the -food may be wholesome and rich, and that there may be no defect in nutriment.

The value of vegetable manures lies in the fact that they open the pores of the soil and lighten it by loosening its particles, they supply organic food to the roots of growing plants, and yield saline and earthy matters to the soil. Green crops ploughed into the soil are most efficacious for this purpose.

Nothing tends more to benefit the soil than a judicious rotation of crops, for plants of different constitutions, not only strike to different depths, and in different directions with their roots, but the terminal fibres or feeders of the roots appear to take up separate and peculiar constituents of the soil, and be indebted for support to some property imparted by the soil in very different degrees. CELERY TRENCHES. Celery in all stages of growth needs special attention, particularly if hot, dry weather prevails. One of the main requirements in the cultivation of celery, or, in fact, with most other vegetables, is to keep the plants growing without check, from the time the plants are started until ready for table use. Ta do this the plants must, in no case, be allowed to suffer from the want of moisture. This, however, is not such a difficult matter when the plants are grown in trenches, as the moisture is better retained than if grown on the level surface. Well-grown celery is not only one of the most highly prized of salad plants, but owing to its medicinal properties, is equally valued when served aS a vegetable, and is in season when other vegetables are often scarce. If the trenches have been well provided with plenty of well-decomposed manure or other decayed vegetable matter before planting, no artificial fertilisers will need to be applied at this stage, as too rapid forcing tends to encourage hollow, instead o£ solid, crisp stems.