GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 130, Issue 21689, 27 March 1942, Page 6

GARDEN NOTES

(By “Nikau”)

aimimiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiimimiiiiimiiiiitfir VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Sow turnips (white or yellow), lettuce (especially All the Year Round), early cabbage (Enfield Market, Flower of Spring, etc), cauliflower, endive, onion (Pukekohe Longkeeping especially, but also Ailsa Craig, Straw Spanish, Giant Rocca, Cranston’s Excelsior and Brown Spanish), broad beans, silver beet, parsley, and winter spinach. Plant leek, cabbage, broccoli and silver beet (including Swiss chard and perpetual spinach). Earth up early celery, and put paper collars around the plants. Clear away spent crops, and after digging and manuring the soil plant and sow the crops mentioned above, or sow lupins to be turned in as green manure after May. Sow seed of silver beet, leek, beetroot, parsnip, onions, and other crops specially grown for this purpose. Parsley seed also is ripe. Save seed from the best beans, too, as they are hardly ever hybridised naturally and come true from seed regularly. Scatter Hortnap on the foliage of carrots to keep away the “carrot fly,” whose little grubs or “worms” so often ruin our carrot crops nowadays. Top the tomato vines, and remove ! superfluous foliage. When gathering fruit, keep the windfalls and damaged specimens apart from the good. Finish budding fruit trees, and ornamental trees and shrubs. FLOWERS Plant an early lot of Iceland poppies to flower in winter, and prick out the later lots into seed boxes. There is still time to sow some poppy seed in boxes. Plant nearly all kinds of hardy bulbs such as daffodils (marcissi), tulips, hyacinths, lachenalias, and bulbous plants such as freesia, crocus, anemone, ranunculus, ixias, tritonia, etc. Again stir the surface of the new lawn, but defer the sowing of the grass seed until April. As the season is far advanced, cut out and destroy all bad dahlias. There will then be no risk of propagating them next spring. It is also a good plan to attach labels now to the base of each clump of good dahlias, because pegs are easily misplaced even if the dahlias are left in the ground all winter, and do not change their place. Clear away spent annuals such as phlox, tagetes, French marigolds; manure the soil and leave it to sweeten for a week or two before planting Iceland poppies, polyanthus, primulas, pansies and violas. Grow some bulbous plants in pots; freesias, lachenalias and narcissi are suitable. THE LACEBARKS There are several species (and perhaps genera even) of the lacebarks, ribbonwoods and thousand-jackets. One species, Plagianthus betulinus, is practically deciduous, and is therefore one of the remarkable half-dozen plants amid a flora that is almost wholly evergreen. There used to be a splendid specimen of this birclilike tree outside the old courthouse in Hamilton. The common species of ribbon-wood in this district, as on the way to Raglan, is Hoheria populea—the poplar-like Houhere. Unlike a common South Island species, this one does not pass through a shrubby, twisted juvenile stage. At present this species is covered with lovely white flowers very like those of a cherry, and many fine specimens may be seen in most plants of the town. Outside the Winter Show buildings in Ward Street there are several good specimens, including one which has a somewhat weeping habit of growth. Besides differences in shape and size of tree, there are also differences in the time of flowering, but most of the Houheres are in bloom during February and March every year. BEAUTIFUL CLIMBERS For several weeks there have been a good many beautiful perennial climbers in full bloom. A species with scented, starry, snow-white blooms is Mandeville suaveolens; this climber is moderately vigorous, and suitable for growing on trellises and netting. Another climber that is seen too rarely is Ipcmea Learii—a perennial Morning Glory. It is suitable for growing on netting on a high sunny wall. The flowers are like purple trumpets, but unfortunately they last only for one morning. Still, as the succession is well kept up, we need not grieve over their short life. Very different are the Bignonias or Tecomas. For some months two species with orange and reddish flowers have been in full bloom. One splendid variety is Bignonia (Tecoma) grandiflora; another with reddish flowers is Tecoma ladicans Madame G alien, but unfortunately it seems to be “burst” by fierce sunshine, and it does not show up as well as T. grandiflora. Many specimens of the latter orange-flowered species are to be seen growing on fences, trellises and pergolas in Claudelands and Whitiora. Another climber now in bloom is the Snail Flower (Phaseolus caracalla), a close relative of the ordinary scarlet runner bean, but its flowers are most remarkable. They are of a mixed purple and cream colour, and coiled up like the shell of a snail. Unfortunately this plant is frosttender, and needs a sunny wall as a protection. Better still, let it have a place in a tub on a glassed-in verandah, such as we give the Wax Flower (Hoya carnosa). This plant, by the way, is also in flower now. The flowers have an unreal appearance, as if made of pink wax. The fleshy leaves, too, are unusual, and the specific name (carnosa) was given because of this fleshiness. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS To "A.A.”—(l) We cannot name the variety of apple, but it is like Beauty of Bath. In flavour it is inferior to Scarlet Pearmain; the latter will suit you perfectly, coming in between Gravenstein and Cox's Orange Pippin. (2) There is no need to have two Gravenstein trees if you have one in flower at the same time as Jonathan, Munroe’s, Sturmer, Delicious, etc. (3) If the plum trees hardly ever set a good crop, cut them out and plant Billington’s Early with either Santa Rosa or Sultan or Satsuma or Wright’s Early.