WORK FOR THE WEEK.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12027, 28 March 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

To Gardeners.

Flower Garden.—As the summer-bedding plants are removed from the beds and borders, other subjects should be planted. Canterbury Bells, wallflowers, eilene and any spring flowering plants the gardener may have should: be planted in bold groups rather than in lines, interspersed with clumps of narcissi, tulips, hyacinths, anemones, aubretia, etc. Another advantage of planting in groups is that as one variety goes past its best, it can be cleared and some summer-flowering plant put in its place. As one kind will finish flowering some time before others, and some summerflowering plants are ready and require planting out before others are sufficiently hardened off, the gardener is able to do his bedding out gradually, and the borders are never altogether bare of plants. The spaces where wallflowers are to be planted should be heavily manured, as these plants are gross feeders and give much finer trusses of flowers when fed liberally. Greenhouse.—All greenhouse plants that have been standing in open quarters must be. removed to some place where they are safe from frosts. Seeing that one severe frost may destroy all the past season's work, the reason for putting them in a place of safety is clear. Avoid overcrowding, especially with azaleas. These are just forming their flower and if deprived of light, air and moisture they will fail to mature. It is a good plan to remove the azaleas to the shelter of large trees or high fences—it' these offer sufficient protection against frosts-during the next six weeks. Many tuberous begonias will be fast goinjr out of bloom, and must make way for other subjects ready to take their place, but great care » needed to thoroughly oS - Very gradually they hould be placed in cold frames or a cool er L *% can get plenty of ed a, lJl S J hey shou W be wateron the Inf, k S ■*"* are S reen l«w« olith V kt mediately the terminal T + £ u allowed to get quite dry It would be well to go over the Sass bebey ar? S ° m \ ° f blo ° m ' to ™k» sure thej are correctly named and the labels m good order and condition. Thf value of each variety should be noted on theTbe£ kmdT tt u ere "? so mM y *»t«i«; theT™ % 6r Vari6fcies "n** worth the space they occupy. Streplocarpus that hav. been flowering during the past summer and are to be saved for next season will "ould a nl ttle atte f° n - tTI amoved, and the plants treated much the same as advised for tuberous begonias. This class of plant has been so much improved during the past few yeara that it has become one of the best for conservatory decoration during the summer mouths. The new strain of hybnds raised by Messrs J. Veitch and Sons is a great improvement on the old rex variety, and when the cultural requirements are a'little better understood they will be grown in much larger numbers. One mistake frequently made is that too much heat and too little light and ventilation are given The plants should be treated similarly to tuber-ous-rooted begonias, plenty of root-space, good soil, rather on the heavy side, and constant supplies of liquid manure. They can also be grown with the greatest success, treated as window plants. Herbaceous calceolarias are growing very fast, and Aose that wexa put in thumb and 3in pot* some weeks ago will now require larger pots. In potting give pots about two sizes larger than those they aro now in. Thus, plants in thumbs should be re-potted into 4in, those that aro in sin pots should have sbi. The same rule should be observed until the plants are in the pots in which they are to flower. Calceolarias, like pelargoniums, are often troubled with green fly. On this account many have given up growing them, but wo think thi* a great mistake., as by

fumigating th« plants one* a month, they can be kept quite clean. It is better to fumigate them regularly and keep the fly away than to leave the green aphis until it has established itself and poisoned the plants. When the plants axe shifted into large pots care must be taken to ensure good drainage, so that all surplus water can escape easily. Where chrysanthemums are grown in quantity for eutblooms, and it is wished to retard their flowering, they should be kept outside as long as possible. Witfc frosty nights so frequent, however, some temporary shelter should be given—a covering of the thinnest scrim would be sufficient for this purpose —and this can be used in another way, that is, to shade the plants from a very hot sunshine, which often succeeds a sharp frost. Another good result of shading is< that their development is retarded. Plants grown to produce large blooms must soon be got under cover, especially those that have begun to show the colour of their petals. When these first petals are allowed to get frosted t3ie size of the flower is seriously reduced, because the outside petals are generally the longest and also show their colour first. Pelargoniums of the show, decorative and fancy section will need attention. Those that were cut hard back a few weeks ago will be ready for repotting. Shake all the soil from the roots, cut these back, and re-pot the plants in as small pots as they can be got in, using rather light soil, with plenty of sharp sand in it. Zonales for winter, blooming must) be got into their winter quarters; but any shading on the glass should be removed,, as these plants like a clear glass roof and plenty of air. A sharp lopk-oub must be kept for decaying leaves. If these aTe left on the plants a few days and the weather is dull or damp a serious loss may result, as they not only destroy any good' leaves they touch but will l even cause a stem to decay if left against it several days.