GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17412, 26 May 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. (By “Aikau.”) Vegetables and Fruit. —When the ground is again dry enough, to work, digging and clearing up should he continued. Bury any iiibbish that will do as green ■manure. Mould up leeks and celery. Examine vegetables and fruit already stored. Savo seed of best beans, marrows and pumpkins. If the ground is ready plant •strawberries. Prepare soil for new fruit trees by digging it deeply. Cut off asparagus stalks an inch or two above the ground. Work up a dry plot for shallots and potato -onions. Plant different members of the cabbage family.

Flowers.—Put in hedge plants and various shrubs. Take up dahlias if they have 'been cut down a week or two. Stake sweet peas. Make another sowing of sweet peas in boxes. Protect seedings from heavy rains. But in cuttings of roses, shrubs, and ornamental .trees. Remodel the garden where deemed advisable. Plant various bulbs, including lilies. Trim hedges, including ■conifers such as C. lawsoniana. Plant out violets, polyanthus, and other primroses. NOTES. Heavy Rains—Eight inches of rain in less than twenty days was a heavy rainfall, and though it drained away well on the light soils of the district, it battered the heavy soils, thus making it necessary to stir the surface of the beds and borders. It has also provided a good lesson on the value of drainage, and has clearly shown which parts of .the garden need attention in that respect. As this is the only season which almost all plants can be taken up .and replanted with success, alterations can be made now, so that the drainage may lie improved. The soil in boxes of seedlings as well as in the open garden will need stirring, in order that the soil may be properly aerated.

Autumn Tints.—By this time many trees have already shed their leaves, while others are still in their glory of autumn colourings. Examples of'the earliest group are:—Various poplars (including the upright Lombardy, the balsam, the silver, and the quaking aspens) ; tulip-tree (Liriodendron, turning to purest gold, rivalling that of the poplars ami the birches);' birches (common white and the rather rare purple);* sumach (the Stag's Horn, Rhus typhina). Other trees and shrubs showing beautiful autumn tints could be counted in dozens, but the following list is fairly complete:— Cryptomeria japonica elegans (a conifer with a dark foliage that turns a rich purple in autumn); Biota awe a (another conifer, rather like a form oi C. lawsoniana, and turning yellow towards the end of winter, and known as the golden Arbor vitae, or "tree of life"); various Acers or maples (including the d.Linly-l'cavcd Japanese kind?) ; A. melanchier (commoner in Canterbury, bears beautiful sprays of white flowers in spring); A.mpelopsis (various creepers (including the large-leaved Virginian and the smallleaved A. veitchii from Japan); various azaleas (but chiefly A. mollis, and the Ghent, A. pontica) ; rhododendron (especially Fragrantissimum); beeches (including the common, the purple, and the copper); the dogwoods (Cornus); Cotoneaster (including the favourite, Simonsii, covered with scarlet berries); Crataegus (various hawthorns, many having beautiful berries as well) : Forsythia viridissima (the early flowering shrub with yellow flowers); cherries (various, but especially the British gean); golden ash (still rather rare); liquidambar (perhaps the best of all, rivalled only by the various American scarlet oaks, such as Q. rubra, palustris, coccinea) ; medlar (with interesting fruit soon getting ripe, or rather rotten); Nandina (dainty leaves, useful at all seasons for decorations) ; various Pyrus (including the Beam-tree and some fruiting kinds, such as Kieffer's Hybrid); Prunus (various plums, ranging from the dainty P. triloba to the tall purples, such as Pissardi, Vesuvius and Moseri); the Smoke plant (Rhus cotinus, with bluish-grey seed-heads): various willows; the maidenhair tree (Salisburia or Gingko. soon turns to a wonderful yellow) ; various Spiraeas: various viburnums (especially the Guelder .rose, and V. tomenlosum); hazel-nut (Corylus, including a rare purple variety); Hibcs (flowering currant); Vitis (grape vines, including one or two good fruiting kinds, and the famous ' crimson glory" vine of .lapan, V. coigncliac); the various barberries, and the "summer cypres (Kochia tricophylla). , , . , , Iris Stylosa. —For the last rortmght Iris stylosa has been delighting us with its dainty pale blue flowers, and it will continue to do so for several weeks more. Though a native of \lgeria it is a very hardy plant and will llowcr through the winter even in Canterbury. It flowers to perfection here, but unfortunately the blooms must be gathered almost as soon as they open, otherwise they arc eaten by slugs and snails. The pests are probablv attracted by the fragrance rather than the colour of the flowers. There is a white variety, but it cannot compare with the blue. The latter, indeed, should be in every garden. Tree Dahlia.— Owing to the absence of frost this autumn, it seemed that the tree dahlias were going to llower better than ever before in the Waikato but then the storm oame and broke down the best plants. These dahlias are rightly named trees, for some of their stems reach a height o over fourteen reel, and a diameter o over three inches. The commonest variety in the Waikuto is Leshe the tall one with pink flowers, but hi-and around Auckland there is a bush> Wad that seems to flower all yea. t is probably the species named Maximllimia It mav be said here that Sfare at least two kinds which reach ft height of thirty feet in their ow, land Mexico. There is a line white variety similar to "Leslie" n al respects but colour; a lew plants of it mav be seen in local gardens Belladonna Lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) -This is simply a reminder that Ihese plants have again started X growth and if they are to be I'ncnhntPd the work must, be done * Similarly any that arc to be 'should te obtained and planted Jii onee. Belladonnas Uirive in

partial shade, but they should not have to struggle through rubbish and crowded shrubs. The fnest display of Belladonnas the writer has seen was growing on a westerly slope in the Wellington Public Gardens; partial shade and perfect drainage made the five hundred plants a remarkable sight. An adjoining bed of Lilium speciosum was even more beautiful.

A Gardener on Tour.—Having lately spent a holiday in the Thames Valley and also in the Bay of Plenty, 'the writer proposes to give a brief account of some of the plant life noted there. The most interesting trees on the way to Thames are the mangroves—the bushy trees with shining leaves lining all the tidal creeks. They cannot live without salt in the water or in the soil; Ihis can be seen in the lagoons cut off by the new railway line to Tauranga, for the plants growing in the sea water arc all healthy, while those in the newly-formed lagoons arc cither dead **• dying. The mangrove is interesting in two ways; first the seed .germinates before it falls from the tree, so that it is ready to start growing as soon as touches the mud. Again, in order to secure plenty of air, the Lrec sends up roots like little sticks; these may be seen extending all round more than six feet from the base of the tree.

In Thames many tender plants may be seen growing perfectly. The following list may be cited: Poinsettia Jacaranda, Solanum wendlandii, bouvardia, Puka, banana-fruited passion fruit, and hedges of Tecc-ma (an Auckland favourite). Other plants which have a struggle with frost here, but which succeed perfectly in Thames are: Acmena, taupala (Coprosma baueri, a fine hedge-plant), silvertree, puriri, pohutukawa, various delicate bignonias, cyclamens and lemons. Special mention should be made of a pepper tree (Sohinus molle) growing in the grounds of the Central School, the tree flowers and seeds well, and has a diameter of four feet at the base.

Next week an account of Tauranga gardens will be given.