HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 13, 27 March 1912, Page 38

HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

YDRANGEAS should never be LA pruned until the stems are quite I I ripe. The wood is a nice nut* / brown when in the right condition. Do the cutting in mid-winter when the plants are resting, and you won't go far wrong. In the meantime see that the soil about the roots is kept moist. Any plant that does as good a work as the •*ver-popular hydrangea should be well cared tor all the way through. The more you do for ‘the hydrangeas now the better they will Hower next season. Small columbine plants that are struggling through their first summer should be given a lot of favour from this out, so as to get them into their full strength for the good work they will do early’ next spring. The big perennial lupin should be extensively grown in cold country’ gardens, where the long spikes of flower do so handsomely. Polyphyllus and Snow Queen arc the two Kinds to use. Try another batch of mignonette see* 1 broadcasted on the best bit gardenland you can find. Although poor soil is said to improve the perfume it does not produce the growth that is necessaryto make good sizy stems. Get as much stalk as possible. The perfume will follow. Try Giant and Machet. They are both superb sorts. Grown where the compost is three-parts old manure and one part light loam, tin* mignonette will be a great success. There are no signs yet that the sweet pea has attained to the full height of its popularity either here or elsewhere. Both in England and the States, the com-

ing season promises to be one of unusual interest. The cultivator who scorns to learn from the accumulated experiences of others, and affirms that “gardening comes natural to everyone and does not need to be fadded over,” is apt to be overtaken by all sorts of misfortunes, most of which are clearly traceable to ignorance. In this case, a series of failures must ensue, and knowledge is most laboriously gained. Want of it leads one to plant in the sunniest spot the very plants which require shade, and to plant under trees those which need the invigorating influence of sunshine from morning until night, and if the foregoing causes were in any degree wanting, an army of accidental causes are at hand in the form of vermin, whose name is legion. Added to these is a chapter of accidents to be set down both as sins of omission and commission, such as omitting to water plants or to repot them when they need it, or watering too much, and at the wrong season.