GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18642, 21 May 1932, Page 19 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. SPECIALLY COMPILED TO BUIT CONDITIONS IN WAIKATO. (By "Nikau.") Vegetables and Fruit. —Proceed with trenching, or at least deep digging. Plant cabbage and cauliflower. Remember that refiner beans are perennials In this province, and remain good for seven years and more; they die down in winter, however. Sow broad beans, carrots (but only In sandy soil), dwarf peas and turnips. Piknt strawberries, gooseberries and currants. Prepare ground for a hew orchard. Cut off asparagus tops.

Flowers.-r-Plant any hardy plants available such as stock, pansy and viola. Put in cuttings of shrubs, especially roses. Sow lawns, remove weeds from old lawns and -top-dress the latter with fresh soil and super (or basic slag). Save salvia seed before the plants are dug in. Take up dahlias, and dig the beds thoroughly. Pull all apples not already gathered. Trim all kinds of hedges.

ROTORUA GARDENS. The publlo and other gardens In Rotorua are presenting an unusual appearance for May—ln spite of a few light frosts, many kinds of tender as well as half-hardy plants are still flowering. The Sanatorium Grounds have improved again, and have now equalled 'their old high standard. New rockeries, new borders and new paths have been made, so that a great advance can be expected in the coming year. The following were noticed in flower last week: Iris stylosa, Iceland poppies (a few old plants and several beds of new plants), French and African marigolds, scarlet, salvias (disappointing in size whifen 'compared with those in Cambridge-, Leamington and Hamilton), blue salvias (probably S. farlnacea), Cahnas, Celosia (cockscombs), Nerine (labelled N. Japonica rosea, probably-'"the same species as In the S in the 'Memorial Park), hydrangeas (blues and pinks), dahlias, Ireslne (red-leaved edging plant), Ageratum (blue-flowered edging plant), Lantanas (shrubs of various colours, flowers like those of verbena), Jacobea, whole beds of good chrysanthemums such as E. Cavell, Golden Champion, Mrs H. Turner, Primrose, etc, and statice. The Rock Plants. On the rockeries near the main entrance there is a fine selection of rock plants. A fairly complete list is given here, in the hope that it may help local gardeners to have greater variety in their rockeries:—Various Ericas or heaths (Autumnalls, which has just flowered, melanthera, which is now in full bloom, and the two forms, white and blue, of the Irish heath), Verbena yenosa (the perennial verbena), Eulalia (tall perennial grass), Nerine (small, pink flowers now a little past their best), several kinds of Lantana, several kinds of Gentian, Armerla (thrift, or sea-pink), dwarf flag (Iris pumlla). Dianthus deltoldes, two speoles of Hernlaria, whole masses or “drifts" of Calandrlnla umbellata (a pink annual), Aubrletla, Arenarla, Gazania, Aster alpinus (dwarf purple), various Campanulas, various sedums, mesembryanthemums and saxifrages, Llnnaea, various rookroses (Hellanthemum), Anagallls, Hypericum fragile (a dwarf St. John’s Wort), several shrubs such as Andromeda, Cotoneasler, deciduous Azalea (one actually in bloom), various native plants suoh as Veronica hulkeana (lavender-flowered, perhaps the -best of well over one hundred native species), various other veronicas, Ourisla (a beautiful mountain flower), and Colmisia (mountain daisy). From the absence of labels it appeared that insufficient use had been made of anemone, orocus, narcissus and other bulbous plants eminently suitable for rockeries. Apart from this, the range of plants is wide.

The Shrubberies. The shrubberies were as interesting as most shrubberies are: Dlosma and Erlostemon in bloom, and many kinds of plants showing autumn tints. One of the most noticeable trees was a maidenhair tree (Ginkgo blloba) ; this has reached a height of nearly .40 feet, and with its golden leaves is a flno sight in autumn. The tuliptrees (Llrlodendrons) beside the bowling-green had lost their leaves, but they must also have been a fine sight. From the great number of cones on them It was evident that they had borne a great deal of bloonj last spring. The long borders near the old Blue Bath were being replanted with wallflowers and yellow primroses, the usual arrangement for these borders. Last year the bloodred and the yellow wallflowers made a great background for the rows of primroses.

SUNSHINE IN ENGLAND. Just as we have rivalry between Tlmaru and Nelson in the matter of sunshine, so the towns and districts of England have 'their little rivalry.

From a recent issue of a Guernsey newspaper we And -that Guernsey leads, with Jersey a close second. The figures for the amount of sunshine recorded 'by standardised Instruments are: Guernsey 1753 hours for the twelve months, Jersey 1750. A number of places had over 1600 hours; these were said 'to be almost exclusively seaside resorts in Suffolk, Kent, Essex, Sussex, Dorset, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands (other than Guernsey and Jersey). If one’s memory is to be trusted, there are in New Zealand plenty of places with over 1900 hours of sunshine, and one or two with 2000. As a result ’of this extra sunshine we should be able to, grow ever so many things which can-■ not be grown well in England, but this is not so. Probably the Gulf | Stream helps to make up for the comparative deficiency in sunshine. Whatever the explanation, the fact remains that many of our native plants thrive splendidly in the Channel Islands, the South of England and the South of Ireland, so we must not flatter ourselves unduly in speaking of climates and plant-growing.

GROWTH OF A SEQUOIA. The following figures should bn of Interest to all who have considered taking up shares in afforestation companies. The measurements given are those of the shapely tree growing beside the Tourist Office in Rotorua. Height: in 1924 67ft, in 1927 83ft 9ln, in 1931 87ft lOin. Girth at ground: in 1924 171 ft, in 1927 18ft., in 1931 20ft 7in. Girth at 4ft above ground: in 1924 12ft 7in, in 1927 13ft Sin, In 1931 14ft 4in. It may be remarked in passing that this American 1 Sequoia is better known perhaps as the Wellingtonia, and is a close relative of the Big Tree or Redwood (Sequoia sempervlrens) of California,

BULBS FOR ROCKERIES. The following list suggests bulbous plants suitable for growing In rockeries in this part of the province: Snowdrops (the true snowdrop, Galamthus, not the snowflake), Soilla (wood hyacinths, white and blue), grape hyacinths (Muscari), Chionodoxa (glory of the snow, white, blue and pink varieties), crocuses (the true and the au'tumn-flowering), ErythrOnium (dog’s-tooth violet, so named because of the shape of the bulb), Narcissus (Pheasant’s Eye, etc.), Anemone, freesia, ixla, etc. If a fairly warm corner is available, cyclamens and lachenalias should be planted. For big , rockeries our native rock-lily (Arthropodium) should be chosen. A few lilies thrive on rockeries but most prefer partial shade, and therefore do best at the edge of shrubberies. A point to note about rockeries is that any plant partaking of the nature of a weed should be kept away. Examples arc the Japanese Windflower (the tall autumnflowering anemone) and various sunflowers. In the ordinary garden plot these plants may be only nuisances, but in a rockery thoy are veritable pests.

CONIFERS FROM CUTTINGS. This is the best time of the year for propagating conifers from cuttings. Side-shoots about six inches long should be torn off with a "heel” and inserted in little trenches in a fairly shady place. fl’he bottom and the sides of the trench should be lined with sand, as this is an excellent rooting medium. Readers who have a spare frame should place it over the cuttings and keep it there for a few months. The following can be propagated from cuttings: Various Cypresses, Retinospora, Cryptomeria, redwood (Sequoia), and some if not all of our nativo conifers such as totara, kahikatca, matai and miro.