GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21218, 14 September 1940, Page 14 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES

SEASONABLE WORK

(By “Nikau”)

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Sow lettuce, turnip and peas for a succession. Greenfeast is a good variety of pea for the main crop. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, parsley, chives, thyme, mint, sage, onion, rhubarb, asparagus, artichoke and potato. Sow tomato and celery seeds in frames or in boxes kept on a sunny verandah. A few cucumber seeds may be sown, too, under similar conditions. Stake peas as soon as they are five or six inches high; if suitable sticks are not available, use wire netting. Put plenty of stable manure over established beds of rhubarb and asparagus. Use Bordeaux (lib. to 8 gals.) on apple trees that are still in the “ green tip ”or “ cluster ” stage. After the pink colour appears, or the flowers open, it is safer to use lime-sulphur at the rate of 1 in 120 or even 1 in 200 (1 fluid ounce in 6 to 10 pints of water). Plant orange and lemon trees; put sacking around them (and reaching slightly above them) to keep off cold winds and heavy frosts. Graft fruit-trees. Instructions will appear later in this column. FLOWERS Plant hardy bedding plants; a wide choice will be found in the seedsmen’s shops. Scatter lime around hydrangeas to bring out the redness in some varieties, and alum to bring out the blueness in other varieties. Indeed, a good many varieties respond to both treatments. Dahlias that were taken up and not planted in another part of the garden should be planted soon in a sheltered plot. In a few weeks, when growths several inches long have been made, the clumps may be divided and planted in their proper quarters. Early cuttings of chrysanthemums have rooted now, but there is still time to take some more. For ordinary purposes the short, rooted suckers are perfectly satisfactory, but for exhibition purposes cuttings should be made and planted in shallow trenches of sandy soil. Sow now, in boxes, aster, schizanthus, antirrhinum, verbena, lupin, phlox Drummondii, salvia, petunia, lobelia, carnation and zinnia. If the boxes cannot be protected from frost, do not sow the seed until the middle of October. Divide clumps of Michaelmas daisy, rudbeckia. Shasta daisy, golden rod, helenium, delphinium, Japanese iris, etc. In cold districts this month is a good time to sow sweet peas. Plant hardy climbers such as akebia, clematis, hardenbergia, mandevilla, solanum, bignonia, jasmine and wistaria. Two climbers that are worth a place in a sunny corner are Argentine pea and the fine-leaved asparagus. Sow in the open garden, viscaria, linaria, godetia, cornflower, clarkia, larkspur, Shirley poppy, various grasses and “everlastings,” candytuft, calliopsis, coreopsis and nigella.

THE DAFFODIL SHOW f Last week saw more history made In Waikato flower shows, for the Hamilton Horticultural Society, in I conjunction with the National Daf--1 fodil Society of New Zealand, staged Ihe finest display of daffodils ever • seen here. Indeed, the judges considered it equal to metropolitan , standard. This is the second time that Hamilton has had the honour .ot staging the National Daffodil Show. | The display was made possible by ■ the hard work done by the officials \of the two societies. This work had ; many aspects—manual, secretarial end administrative —and was a tri\unph of organisation. The large dimensions and the splendid lighting of the Bledisloe Hall facilitated the labours of the officials and of the exhibitors, and also enabled the many Visitors to see the show comfortably. In the national classes there were competitors from Lower Hutt, Taranaki, Marton, and various parts of the Auckland province. The chief class perhaps was Class I.; for 18 varieties of daffodils, three stems of each; the prize for this was the British Raisers’ Permanent Challenge Cup, valued at 75 guineas. The winner was Mr A. Gibson, of Marton, and his entry included the following Varieties: Trenoon, Monaco, Braemar, Bonython, Porthilly, Dunloe, Fortune. Moongold, Alight, Brunswick, • Carbineer, Kantara, Cheerio, Faithful, Loch Ness, Balmoral. White House, Varna. In the class for six white trumpets, the following won first prize: Kantara, Askelon, White Emperor, Le Phare, Beersheba, Corinth. In the class for one yellow trumpet first prize went to Integrity, second to Royalist, and third to Principal. In the class for one white trumpet first and second prizes went to Cantatrice, end third to Tain. CHAMPION BLOOMS In the Hamilton Horticultural Society’s Show the following were the awards:—

Champion of Champions, Carbineer (an Incomparabilis), shown by Mr D. Corrigan, of Tauranga. The same grower’s “ Cromarty ” was the champion Trumpet, and Carbineer was the champion Incomparabilis. The champion Barrii was “ Market Merry,” shown by Mr D. Danby, of Thames, and the same grower’s Peerless was the champion Leedsii i In the National Classes the followling were the champions;— I North Island champion of champpions, “Market Merry” (Barrii), Mr i W. Danby (Thames). Champion yellow trumpet: “ Moon- , gold,” Mr Allan Gibson (Marton). Champion white trumpet: “Le Phare,” Mr H. J. Poole (Lower Hutt). Champion bi-colour trumpet: Mr H. J. Poole (Lower ► Hutt). * Champion incomparabilis: “ Rosflare,” Mr W. Danby (Thames).

Champion Barrii: “ Market Merry,” • Mr W. Danby (Thames). Champion Leedsii: “ White House,” Mr Alan Gibson (Marton).

OTHER DAFFODILS We have not space to name the varieties which were prominent in other classes. In any case, no two visitors would have the same tastes and single out the same varieties for special mention. One of the judges pointed out to the writer some of the following varieties: Buff Lady (a distinct buff colour appearing in the perianth or flat “petals”); Cornish Fire (a red cup), Pink of Dawn (a distinctly pink shade), Dunloe (a pink trumpet), Market Merry (a wonderful novelty, whose merits are obvious even to the novice), a giant unnamed seedling raised by Mr A. Gibson. In the amateur, intermediate and novice classes of the local section there were many beautiful blooms. It was cheering to see that Mr H. M. Hammond, of Hamilton, won two firsts and a second in important classes open to all North Island amateurs, and that other growers in this part of the province also scored in the national classes. OTHER SECTIONS Columns would be needed to give a comprehensive account of the pther classes, so the following account is inevitably inadequate. The collections of cut flowers were good, but not up to the standard of local shows at other seasons. Many of the separate classes were below the standard of other years—anemones, polyanthus, poppies and violas, for example. The shrubs were particularly good, and showed a wider range than usual. First prize was won by a collection which included: magnolias (M. soulangeana and M. stellata), rhododendron, flowering currant, kowhai, forsythia and spiraea. The bowls of all kinds were as good as ever—daffodils, poppies and mixed flowers. And the bridal tables ! —they gave the lie to the common belief that white flowers are uninteresting, not to say distasteful. Even if white flowers are associated with funerals, surely they are even more closely associated with weddings—is that the reason of the common dislike?

The other tables were very numerous and also very beautiful.

A rather recent innovation was the still life table. Illuminating peeps were given into the lives of an artist, an elderly student, a chessplayer, a florist, a lady garden-lover, a hospital patient, a Bohemian tippler (was it a “bachelor girl”?) and a giver of children’s parties. The posies, flower rings, boxes of flowers, miniature gardens, floating bowls, a flowering orchid and many other things gave the show an almost “ infinite variety.” The whole of one end of the hall was decorated beautifully by the women of the Waikato Lyceum Club and of the Cambridge Lyceum Club. The Beautifying Society’s officials also contributed to the exhibition by a display of native trees and shrubs, and plants from the society’s hothouses. Finally, a beautiful display of floral work was made by Mrs Tattley. A few unusual plants exhibited will be mentioned later.