THE FLOWER GARDEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 7567, 10 May 1919, Page 8

THE FLOWER GARDEN

Tender Bedding Plnnts. —Geranium cuttings and similar plants will not yat'e out of doors any longer; indeed, all tender plants in. pots, boxes, and tubs that arc not already under cover should be given attention at once, as otherwise one severe trost might hai'c the effect of injuring valuable specimens. As soon as the foliage of begonias used for bedding is frosted, the tubers should be lifted and placet! in a greenbouse or shed to dry. The whoie «>f the soil need not be removed from the roots, as it acts as a preservative until the tubers are sufficiently dry to be placed in a cool store. SchiyostyJis Coccmea.—This plant s often called the autumn ixia, and, like the tritonia, always gives the best result when lifted and divided every second year. Early Chrysanthemums.—lf you have any special plants of early flowering chrysanthemums and wish to keep these for stock, it is a good plan to lift the roots and plant them m a cold frame. A very little protection is needed during the winter, but it is not safe to leave them in the borders as many of them decay during a. spell of cold wet weather. Calceolarias. —The bedding varieties o' these are easily raised from cuttings, and the present is the best time to do the work. Select young flowerless growths about four indues'long, and insert them in boxes or a cold frame in I some sandy soil, and m a few weeks' I time the cuttings will be rooted. The young plants are.perfeetJy hardy, and can bo wintered in anyplace where : they do not get an excessn-e wet. Sweet Peas.—lt is. well recognised that the best sweet peas are those which are raised from seed sown in the : autumn. The plants not only flower earlier, but, being better rooted, they produce stronger and larger flowers. Of course, such plants are a little more tiouble, being longer "on the go," and are liable to Le attacked by slugs during winter, but it pays on© well for the little extra trouble entailed. In toe treatment of this particular flower the grower, must be guided by experience, but, generally speaking, in all soils of a I'ght nature the seeds will be best sown v here the plants are intended to flower. Where soils are cold, wet, or clayey, the t-eeds are best sown in pots or boxes' and wintered in a cold frame. If the ! iioivers are wanted for garden decoration only there need be no elaborate preparation of the ground, but if exj hibition flowers are desired the site must be well-trenched and plenty of good cow manure incorporated with the bottom spit so that there'is plenty of plant food stored away to meet the jieeds of the plants where the.y most need it. Where the-ground is at all adhesive drainage will have to be seen to, for although the sweet pea Ukes moisture in abimdaiue wuile it is growing, stagnant water m the sod is almost jatal, and it the soil in the bottom spit becomes at all sour the roots will rot and the plant's development ue checked.