THE GARDEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16625, 6 January 1922, Page 6

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. KITCHEN GARDEN. Seeds to Sow.—Beans, cabbage, carrot, endivo, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, turnip. What to Plant.—Broccoli, celery, leeks, winter greens. Keep the cultivator and hoe busy among growing crops. A fine cultivated surface acts siniilarlv to a mulch, while weeds cannot grow if the surface is frequently hoed. Examine all plants of the Brassvca tribe, and any that show signs of cabbage fly should be sprayed at once. A liberal dusting with fresh slaked lime is a fairly effective remedy, hut spraying with Katnkiller is the host. Rain is needed for nU garden crops. All soft, succulent crons should he watered if nossible. Where water is not available, mulch the crops with any suitable material. FLOWER GARDEN. Grass on lawns is in need of water, especially the fine varieties on tennis and croquet lawns. Constant supnlies of water should be given to lawns that were sown last spring. These plants have not had time to send their roots deep down to the subsoil, and until they get thoroughly deep in the ground and the green sole established, endeavour to water at least twice each week until the end of this month. After then we may expect heavy dews at night. GREENHOUSE. Winter and spring flowering plants will need due attention to prepare them for their season’s flowering. All these plants should be started in good time so that there is no need to hurry them on, hut they should be brought to maturity by slow development. CALCEOLARIA. For quantity of bloom, richness and variety of shades of colour, the herbaceous calceolaria has no serious rival. One of its great charms is the large range of shades, variety of combinations and markings. No matter how many plants one grows, it is seldom there are two exactly alike. The seed is not expensive, and there is no difficulty in raising it or in growing the plants to perfection. Yet how few good specimens are grown. It is difficult to suggest a reason, unless it is because the plants must have unremitting attention to keep them in a thriving condition from the date they are pricked off from the seed pan until they are a glorious mass of blossom. Neglect is fatal, careless attention nearly so. Therefore the careless gardener does well to leave them alone. But with careful attention to one or two simple details one can produce specimens that are just wonderful, and which, in their full splendour, provide a display of gorgeous colouring. Common errors in attempting to grow these plants are sowing the seeds too thickly; leaving the seedlings too long before they are pricked off, thus giving them a double check at the earliest stage of life ; keeping the wee plants Jn a close atmosphere, instead of giving them pl^n J y of ventilation from the time tho’seedlings are pricked off until the plants are in flower; keeping small plants too long in tiny pots, and giving too much water at tho roots Probably the best time to sow the seed is during the last week in December, or the first two weeks in January. Scatter the seeds sparingly. They germinate freely and are so tiny that much care is needed to distribute them evenly and well apart. One is often tempted to ask why do many gardeners choose such small receptacles for raising seedlings, especially big, fleshy leaved plants, like calceolaria, cineraria, etc.? The seed pans or boxes can be placed in a cool frame because a high temperature is riot suitable for these seedlings. The seeds should be sown on the surface and not covered. Shade the seed, and in about seven dnys they will begin to germinate. When the seedlings can be seen remove the shade, but thev must not be exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Keep the frame dnmp, but do not over water the weo plants.

Tho seedlings will grow fast and should be pricked off as soon as they are big enougli to handle. Prepare a nice fibrous compost of loam, leafmould und sand, drain some five inch pots with two inches of broken crocks. Then fill them with the compost and put a thin layer of sand on the surface. Carefully lift the seedlings with a pointed Btick and put thorn around the edge of the nots. Water sparingly, but do not suffer them to get very dry. If the sun is hot. spray the sides "of the frame and tho plants to keep the atmosphere moist. Trie seedlings will vary at this early stage of growth The most vigorous will invariably prove to produce flowers in which yellow predominates, while thosp that appeo; weaker will give the finest shades of colour, and though these appear Jes* vigorous in the early seedling stage they will acquire vigour later on and develop into strong robust plants. Afte* they have been pricked off four or five weeks they will need putting into small pots, three or four inch, according to the of roots each plant has. Prepare a similar compost to that advised for pricking off with a little more loam and rather less sand.

Probably transferring th© seedlings from the five inch pots to small pots requires more care than any other operation in the cultivation of caleol arias. Lift each plant with great care to retain as much soil with the roots as possible, and don’t use too much pressure when firming the plant in its new pot. Over pressure is liable to break some and bruise many of the soft roots. After potting, there will be a great difference in tho growth of tho plants. Keep the strongest separated from the less robust so that all may get an equal amount of light and air. When roots begin to push through the hole at the bottom of the pot put the plants into pots two sizes larger. Do not allow them to get pot-bound until they are in the pots they are to flower in. Eight inch is a suitable size for conservatory decoration. Never let the growing plants touch. Keep moving them so that air and light ran circulate freely between them. Keep them damp overhead, but water the roots very sparingly.