GARDEN NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 19 June 1925, Page 3

GARDEN NOTES.

Chrysanthemum Cuttings. The importance of strong, healthy cuttings of chrysanthemums cannot be over-rated in the raising of young stock. Select the healthiest ot' young plants for this purpose, and if any ot' them have had less feeding tlnui others they will provide the best cuttings. Indeed, some growers keep a plant or two of each variety without feeding for the purpose of supplying cuttings). Another point is that as many as possible should be rooaed in June, especially those varieties which produce very large bloms and require a long time to get sufficiently strong. They cannot make their proper breaks unless they have been rooted in good time.

The Daphne. There is probably no more elusive genus •of small shrubs in cultivation than the daphne, few more interesting and none more fragrant. Grounds undoubtedly exist for the tradition that the family is fickle, but it would Ik hardly fair to say that the members of it are always .short-lived, or difficult to manage, for there are many old specimens in the country. Several of the genus, however, have a hearth breaking way of dying suddenly and without obvious reason; not infrequently, too, the tragedy happens when the’particular specimen seems to be in robust health. The variety usually .seen, daphne indica, and its white variety, although very nice, are not the only kinds in cultivation. There are several other varieties, probably - not yet obtainable here, but only awaiting the enthusiast to import them, when they would become quite popular. There is the old daphne laureola, a native of England. It has greenish flowers, and blooms in mid-winter. The fragrance is delightful, and the shrub is very hardy, often making large bushes five feet high. Daphne aurantiaca, a new Chinese species, with orange-coloured flowers, is worth the trouble of introducing. D. Meyercum, with red flowers also makes a large 'shrub. The bark of this is very acrid, and was at one time largely imported from Germany

for medicinal purposes. D. Cneorum, is a low-growing, trailing shrub, with pink flowers. D. Blagayana has white flowers in dense terminal heads; and it grows about a foot high. D. retusa is a dwarf evergreen shrub, with clusters of .white-throated flowers, which appear in spring. D. taugutica is red-flower-ed and of dwarf habit. .. D. Giraldii forms a bush, and has yellow flowers, a rare colour in this family. Lime i s aften thought to be essential to the genus, but they get on well without it, and though naturally a calcareous plant growing in company with Erica carnea, one of the few lime-tolerant heaths, the creeping D. blagayana flourishes far from any lime. Many prescriptions have been written for the cultivation of this once-rebellious Balkan species, but, apart from moisture in a dry season, all it seems to need is a loose, gritty, vegetable soil, into which the creeping branches can push and root as they go, with an occasional piece of broken rock to hold them

down. At the beginning the plant may be set on a rough inverted pudding bowl of a mound a foot or so high and three or four across, such as would be made by a couple of barrow-loads of broken rock, loam, leaf .mould and coarse grit in equal parts, with a drain pipe arranged so that in case of need water can percolate to the heart of the little mound below the roots of the daphne. If the roots are starved of moisture the plant will resent it, but if fairly dealt with it will cover the mound. The planting of daphne species in partial shade is often recommended, but they are naturally sun plants, and, provided a moist subsoil can be ensured, are better in full sun. None of the genus transplant well, and young plants should be obtained, so that they ■can be planted without much disturbance of .the roots. • » • « Carnations. (Recently planted carnations and pinks are very liable to be partly raised out of the ground and loosened when the ground gets frozen and then suddenly thaws. Look over the beds, therefore, after a frost, and if the pHants have been raised press them down again with the fingers placed on the soil all round each plant. This is the best way to put them right again.

Treatment of Cabbages. Heavy and wet ground is giving anxiety owing to the amount of water which, stands among growing crops. Select a dry day and draw the soil to the stems of the cabbages. This will keep them steady when blown about by the wind', and allow the w’ater to run away at the end of the furrows, which should always be kept clear for this purpose. i • t t Box Edgings. At this season box edgings may be mended with cuttings taken from other plants. If rooted, they will be all the better. The dwarf box is the best for edgings, as it requires less clipping, but in some soils ..it does not seem to do well, especially heavy soils. The ordinary variety of box can be used; in fact, it is very often U9ed for the purpose, and does very well. One of the chief points in laying box edgings is to have the ground very firm, and to cut out the planting trench straight. Put the box in thinly, and keep the tops as level as’possible; a clipping with the shears will be necesasry aftfcr planting to take off any small irregularities.