GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21041, 17 February 1940, Page 14 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES

SEASONABLE WORK

(By “Nikau”)

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Sow carrot, lettuce, turnip, swede, cabbage, cauliflower, silver beet and beetroot, winter spinach and parsley. Plant leek, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and late celerv. Clear away spent crops; burn diseased stalks, etc., and then plant the ground again or else sow it down with lupins for green manure. Potatoes are starting again into second growth, and are spoiling, largely as a result of the recent rains. Sweet corn and maize are ready for use when the tassel has just withered. As the cobs spoil quickly, a succession of sowings should be made from October to December. Dig in as much green manure as possible, or else put the material on the compost heap. Gather onions and dry them thoroughly before storing them away. diseased fiuit, if this is not feasible, bury it well over one foot deep. Cut out surplus growth from the centre of fruit-trees, especially peach and nectarine trees. Bud fruit-trees before the end of March. FLOWERS Remove the seed-heads from roses, dahlias, antirrhinums, geraniums zinnias, etc. Plant early freesias, lachenalias, and anemones in a warm welldrained bed. Hoot out and burn bad lupins, hydrangeas, carnations, montbretias, antirrhinums, campanulas, Michaelmas daisies, etc. Instead grow good varieties of these plants. Sow anemone, Iceland poppy, wallflower, polyanthus and other primroses, Primula malacoides, pansy, viola, antirrhinum, gaillardia, aquilegia, mignonette, lupin, Argentine pea and delphinium.

TOMATOES In most cases tomato plants have made good growth and borne plenty of fruit, but much is to be desired in the matter of health and ripening. Nearly every crop of tomatoes show’s a good deal of leaf spot, a disease which gradually works its way up to the top in the course of the season. Much more serious diseases, however, are appearing now. The commonest of these is the “potato blight,” recognisable by its habit of attacking parts of the leaves, stem and fruit, and turning them black. Another disease is “sleeping sickness,” which gives the whole plant a withered appearance, as if most of the roots had been cut through. Plants attacked by this disease should be pulled up and burnt. Another serious trouble is “blossom-end rot,” which attacks the fruit when it is over half-grown, and turns the top part black and leathery. The remedy for most of these diseases is to spray early in the season with Bordeaux mixture (lib of powder to about 10 gallons of water). After that, a spraying should be given every three weeks, more as a preventive than as a cure. If the plants are well spaced, and the sideshoots removed regularly, they will be kept healthy by the sun and air. To help the diseased plants, try the following treatment now: Remove and bum all the leaves below the ripening fruit, also all side-shoots and diseased leaves, shoots and fruit; then spray the plants with Bordeaux. To check caterpillars that would bore into the stem or fruit, spray once a month with arsenate of lead (loz to 2 gals, of water). POTATOES Some splendid crops of potatoes have been dug in local gardens, and there should be no fears of a potato famine this year. A great many varieties have yielded well —Findlay’s Majestic, Sutton’s Supreme, Cliff’s Kidney, Epicure, Aberdeen Abundance, Royal Salute and Arran Chief. In some instances the best crops came from what were “just

potatoes”—small tubers saved from shop potatoes when proper seed was unprocurable. The writer has also heard of three crops that have been grown from the Canadian potatoes that were sold in shops in springtime. ROTORUA GARDENS A fortnight ago the Rotorua gardens were looking well, and probably they are even better now. In the Sanatorium Grounds the following bedding scheme was used very effectively: A row of Alteranthera, of dark and variegated types planted alternately; a row of “Silver Leaf” geranium (with variegated leaves); a row of fibrous-rooted begonias; a row of Iresine Lindeni (with dark purple foliage); a row of scarlet salvia (“Bonfire”); a row of compact bedding zinnias (blooms of intermediate size); a row of giantflowered zinnias; and the centre of the bed occupied by dahlias and cannas. This scheme is too elaborate for the ordinary private garden, but a modification of it might well be adopted by many people. For example, the salvias, the two types of zinnias, and the dahlias could easily be propagated by anyone used to raising plants in springtime. Other features of these gardens were: Large numbers of the tall, white-flowered bulb called Hyacinthus (or Baltonia) candicans; gladioli; lantanas; hybrid hippeastrums; various lilies, such as L. Henry and L. tigrinum; dozens of varieties of geraniums, all plainly labelled; Crinum matalensis (white); both blue and white Agapanthus; yellow arums; water lilies; and beds or masses of nearly every hardy bedding plant that one could think of. A few unusual plants were to be seen: Cuphea miniata (a low-grow-ing, scarlet-flowered bedder); Gaura; Sutera; Calandrinia; Alonsoa; and an unusual Anagollis. It was good to see many of the old flowers well-grown: Mignonette, double yellow hollyhocks; white, pink and red “everlasting daisies”; verbena; Indian pinks. One of the most beautiful shrubs was Hydrangea paniculata, with its long pointed heads or spikes of white bloom.