GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21098, 27 April 1940, Page 14 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES

' SEASONABLE WORK

(By “Nikau”)

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Thin the carrots sown in February and March. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, silver beet and herbs. Sow lettuce, onion, silver beet (also spinach beet and Swiss chard), broad beans, winter spinach and yellow turnip. Save seed of the best beans, Swiss chard, marrows and pumpkins. Dry the seed thoroughly, and then store it in a cool, dry, and mouse-proof receptacle. Examine fruit and vegetables in store. Now will be seen the advantage of keeping the good separate from the injured. Plant strawberries in an open piece of ground that is rich in humus. Gather late fruit on a dry day, and store it in a dry but cool place. Dig the ground thoroughly for new fruit trees; if possible, plough it deeply, instead of merely digging holes for the trees. List of suitable varieties will appear later in this column. FLOWERS Plant many kinds of hardy bedding-plants, such as stock, Iceland poppy, primula malacoides, antirrhinum, sweet William, pansy, viola, carnation, polyanthus and other primroses, and calendula. Sow sweet peas in boxes; while the seedlings are coming on, dig a deep trench, manure it rather richly, and leave it to sweeten and settle before planting. Plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, anemones, ranunculi, etc. Label dahlias and chrysanthemums while they are in flower. Root out and destroy the bad varieties now, while they are so easily recognised. Put in cuttings of roses, hydrangeas, and many ornamental trees and shrubs (including natives). Place some sand in the bottom of the little trench, and pack the soil firmly around the cuttings. Save seed of the best salvia, cockscomb, kochia, aster, French and African marigolds, thalictrum, viscaria, yellow and other cosmos, phlox, Canterbury bell, tagetes, etc. Have covers ready in case of frost; scrim and hessian are very suitable. Sow lawns, using a mixture of brown top and Chewing’s fescue, also crested dogstail.

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW For some reason or other, there were not many chrysanthemums in the show, but fortunately some of those exhibited were very good. The champion blooms were; Champion white and champion of champions, Mr C. C. Docherty’s William Turner; champion bronze, Mr M. Shepherd’s Edith Cavell; champion yellow, Mr C. C. Docherty’s J. S. Lloyd; champion pink, Mr M. Shepherd’s Coronation Amaranth; champion of any other colour, Mr C. C. Docherty’s Mrs Habgood. The shortage of chrysanthemums was amply made up by the beautiful cut flowers and the wonderful display in the decorative section. In the class for six cut flowers, the winner of the first prize included: Wonderful asters and gerberas, also good tithonias, pompom dahlias, African marigolds and some beautiful chrysanthemums. In another entry in this class were some remarkably fine petunias. In the classes for “other flowers” there were some beautiful specimens, notably the red Gilia coronopifolia, carnations, and hydrangeas. The French and African marigolds in other classes showed the improvement made by these in the last few years. SPARE GROUND In some parts of the garden, especially in the vegetable plots, there are vacant areas. The best way to treat them is to sow them with lupins for turning in as green manure. Other crops such as oats, barley, and prairie grass could be used for the purpose, but a leguminous crop such as lupins is preferable, as it “fixes” in the soil larger quantities of nitrogen extracted from the air. In some of the spare ground it will be advisable to sow turnips and to plant cabbage, cauliflower, etc. Early beetroot and carrots should be taken up and used, so that the ground can be worked, manured and aired, but the later crops can be left in the ground until they are needed. DECORATIVE WORK Of the 16 decorated tables, the most interesting were those in the new class for a “still life table.” Each was expected to “tell a story” (hateful phrase!). The winning entry used a vase of flowers, some English classics (one lying open, with a pair of spectacles laid on it), a decanter, a wineglass, a box of cigars and a cigar partly smoked, Another interesting table had a Chinese style; Chinese pottery, a bowl of rice and chop-sticks, Chinese nuts and Chinese gooseberries, and a Chinese book. Once again, the decorated bowls

were a leading feature of the show. Mention should be made of the pedestal bowls, the novice bowl of chrysanthemums and autumn foliage, the three bowls of dahlias, and the many baskets of berries, fruits, and even vegetables. The witch bowls showed great variety and beauty. One of them seemed to illustrate the line; “He lies where pearls lie deep,” for there was a skull lying among pearls and seaweeds. The first prize went to a wonderfully beautiful bowl, including among other things the figure of a water-nymph. Some other fine exhibits were the wall vases, the boxes of flowers, the shoulder sprays, posies and Anzac floral emblems. The Guide competition also showed much originality in the making of miniature gardens and in its other exhibits.

Two big exhibits still need to be mentioned, that of the Lyceum Club’s gardening circle a.d Mr Shailer’s named collections of chrysanthemums and dahlias. The former included many kinds of well-grown flowers, especially hydrangeas, dahlias and autumn foliage. Mr Shailer’s display included about half-a-dozen of the new anemone-flowered chrysanthemums and two novelties in the giant class—H.R.H. Duke of Kent and Dr. T. N. Leslie. Further reference to berries and novelties will be made on another occasion. THE BEST CHRYSANTHEMUMS Last week the garden expert of 2YA gave lists of prize-winning chrysanthemums at the Lower Hutt show. The open champion was Mrs H. Wells, and the amateur champion was Roseday. The winning blooms in the class for 18 varieties included; J. S. Lloyd, Helena Pockett, Roger Thomson, Clara Trueman, Majestic, Sir Wm. Brunton, Carrie White, William Turner, Roseday, Mrs Russell Clarke. In the class for 12 blooms, some of the above and also the following were shown in the winning entry; Edith McFarland, Coronation Pink, R. C. Pulling, Remus. The winners in the class for six blooms included; Canada, Hugh Mitchell, Mrs H. Habgood. The singles that won the first prize were: Royal Visit, Terra Cotta, Ruby Red, Red Glory, Red Rover, Peeress. Two other good ones were Welcome and Sunshine. Special mention was made of a new chrysanthemum named H.R.H. Duke of Kent; it is a reflexed white, and may be as much as 12 inches high and 12 inches in diameter. Another splendid new variety is Dr. T. N. Leslie, an Indian red with gold reverse.