GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17982, 29 March 1930, Page 10 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. (By "Nikau.”) Vegetables and Fruit. —Sow lettuce, turnip, -silver beet, spinach and onion. Mould up early celery. Plant late leeks, cabbage and cauliflower. Use marrows as soon as they are ready, but keep pumpkins unlil required. Keep •beans well picked, and water them thoroughly now and then. Store fruit in a dry, airy place. Save seed of best cucumbers. Dig in spent crops, except diseased ones, which are to be burntFlowers. —Put .in cuttings of roses and various shrubs. Sow perennials, biennials and hardy annuals. Keep seed-heads removed from coreopsis, cosmos, rose, dahlia and other plants, unless sqed is wanted. Burn dry rubbish and save green stuff for compost or else dig it in now. Plant anemone, ranunculus, ixia, iris, tulip, freesla, early gladioli, and various kinds of daffodils or narcissi. Prepare soil for new lawns. Plant out winter-flowering peas. Disbud chrysanthemums. THE FOUR-EDGED HOE.

The following note on the usefulness of the common hoe is taken from an English gardening magazine:— Every hoe has four edges! The first edge is the prime factor in aerating the soil, and in keeping it a fit habitation and workshop for the countless myriads of tiny bacteria which are such useful friends to the gardener; these tiny beings need fresh air as much as we do ourselves, and the hoe, by tossing up the surface, secures that ventilation. Moreover, it allows the vitiated gases of the ground to escape; as manure and humus decay into plant foods, there are formed -bad gases deleterious to our little friends, but the hoe helps them to pass away, and keeps the factory hands of the soil fit and healthy. That keen second edge has much to -do with the water content of the ground. A hard surface causes water to pass into the air rapidly from the soil, cools the soil, and upsets the health of plant life; tout the hoe leaves a nice soft mulch all along the surface, water evaporates very slowly, and our plants are ensured a moist, uniform root-run, a -guarantee of health.

And the third edge of our wonderful hoe is as sharp as ever, for it encourages free root-action In plants. You can just imagine the plant saying to the hard soil round it: “Oh, no fear! You may keep your fertilising matter; I’m not risking my soft velvety roots in your direction.” Along comes the hoe, the hard soli is -broken up into a nice friable medium, and the roots are tempted into 'it, to use up every ounco of plant food available; a case, surely, of increased production !

The fourth edge is the militant one. It cuts -short the lives of the weeds which the evil genii have sown in our gardens, and this conserves food and space for the plants we love. Weeds are truly “vegetation growing where it is not wanted,” but the fourth edge of our magic hoe dispenses entirely with the need for any such -definition. Take another look at your Dutch hoe. -If you can’t see the four edges, spend a couple of hours of nice easy labour with it one fine Saturday afternoon —smoke and meditate if you will—but I guarantee that the enthusiasm of the true gardener will point out to you its four keen edges, so please go and have a look.

NOTES. Roses. —At present most rose-beds are somewhat untidy, owing to the straggly growths of the . more vigorous kinds. Though it is far too early to do heavy pruning—this must wait until July—a good deal of trimming and tidying-up can he done now. For one thing, all seed heads should he cut off; for another, long growths should be shortened by two or three feet. The opportunity of cutting out diseased wood should also be taken. If rose-mildew is much in evidence, as often happens at this time of the year with climbing and other varieties, some flowers of sulphur should be dusted over the leaves while they are damp with dew or artificial watering. If the plants are not against a wall they can be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur, or, best of all, potassium, sulphide, commonly known as ‘liver of sulphur.’ The rose-bed should be broken up now, as this will keep the soil sweet, but it is unsafe to dig or fork close to the roots.

Rose Cuttings —April is an excellent time for putting in rose-cuttings, as the growths are mature enough for the purpose, and, again, most of the hot weather has passed. It is, therefore, not hard to keep the cuttings fairly moist. The wood for cuttings should be young and healthy; generally the shoots that have just borne flowers wall make good cuttings. The latter should be cut across immediately below a node or joint, and should •be from nine to twelve inches long. The next thing os to plant them. A narrow trench four inches deep, lined with a little sand,' is very suitable. The cuttings should be set vertically, so that the new growths will come in the right directions, and not all on one side. A shady position and watering once a week will ensure for them the necessary moisture. If the cuttings are well treated now, they can be set out as rooted plants at the end of August, so that a year is saved.

H®leniums. —It seems that Heleniums have never been better than they are this year. Whether this is so or not, they are undoubtedly more popular' than ever. As there are still some people who are not sure of Heleniums by name, we may describe them thus: Tall plants (4 to 6ft), stems apparently square in section, as there are four flaps or flanges that run along the stem; the flowers themselves are of the daisy type. As these open out, the petals turn back, and the central disc swells out and becomes a globe. The colour of many species is yellow, but the most popular kinds have ‘.wall-flower’ shades, such as red, brown and tangerine. Riverton Gem is one of these, striped red and golden-yellow; Ttiverslea Beauty, yellow with black centre; Biglour is rich yellow with dark centre, and grows only 2Jft high, while the others mentioned grow from 4 to 6 feet- Though spring is the best time for dividing and transplanting Heleniums, the work can be done now. Readers who are of-

l’ered plants should lake the chance now; the pnly attention that the litlle divisions will need will be watering twice a week for about a month. Plant Irlsos Now.— Though we ail think highly of the beauty of many varieties of irises, we do not' always remember to plant them when the season lias come round- Hence the reminder given above. It is safe to say that there is a kind of iris for every kind of soil anu aspect. Thus the Japanese species are mostly water-lovers, most of the European and North American species grow In moist meadows or ordinary soils, while the North African thrive In ground that is baked toy the sun in summer. As the species that can be cultivated are numbered -by hundreds, and the varieties almost by the thousand, nothing short of a book would give an adequate treatment ol' the subject. The writer may therefore be pardoned for the following scrappy notes. The Spanish iris is of the “bulbous” type. Its flowers have wonderful shades of yellow, blue, purple, and white, with almost all the possible combinations of these. ' The “bulbs” may be planted in double rows nine inches apart, with two inches between the 'bulbs in a row'. This makes one of the best borders that can be imagined. -Ordinary gar-den-soil will suit them splendidly, if enriched with a mixture of rotted cow manure and leaf-mould. The Japanese irises grow well in ordinary soil, but thrive best when planted near the edge of a pool or lake. They revel in sunshine, so they should be planted in an open situation. If the 1 old plants are examined now, they will be found to have plenty of seed ripening. This should be gathered and sown at once in boxes. Old plants may be divided now or left until July or August. ine German, or Flag

irises are known by their broad, sword-like leaves, which stand up boldly for most of the yeav- They are easily grown, hut when once established should not be interfered with. They look -best when grown in large ■clumps. The English irises have thin, pointed leaves and very large flowers, with colours ranging through lavender, lilac, deep violet, and pure white. They are bulbous, whereas the German have rhizomes which creep along llie ground. Dutch irises are similar to the Spanish, but have larger flowers, and they flower very early. The Bearded irises are mostly, if not wholly, derived from the German irises. This section is the most popular of all to-day, and new varieties are being introduced every year to meet the -demand. A dressing of slaked lime during the winter months is recommended by the leading specialist in Australia. He says also that the rhiz'omes should never be planted deeply; just -below the surface of the soil is the proper depth. Another point to note is that the planting should be firm. There Is a section called the “Cushion Iris,” Including I. susiana and -I. regelia cyclus. The “tubers” should be set just below the surface. If lime is added to the soil, so much the better. Both the

species mentioned have large flowers with very dark veins- Susiana is aptly named the “Mourning Iris.” Then there are the daintier species, such as 'Stylosa and Reticulata; the former of these will soon start flowering, -delighting us with -scented flowers all through May and June. There are two colours of Stylosa, white and blue; Reticulata is purple. There is another dainty species, whose flowers will soon be seen in seedsmen’s windows;. this is tingitana, a North African species which is rather tender for Hamilton, but which flowers well in Tauranga. The proper treatment of this species is to take up the “bulbs” and keep them on a sunny verandah for two or three weeks, unlil they have become thoroughly ripened. This is a way of giving them the baking that they receive from the sun in their native land. There are in Hamilton a few gardeners (ladies, of course) who have succeeded in bringing this plant to the flowering stage, and we hope the numbers of such -gardeners will be increased.