The Flower Garden in February

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 74, Issue 1, 15 January 1947, Page 101

The Flower Garden in February

THIS is the time of year when the efficient gardener has time to JL enjoy the fruits of earlier labours. Planning has been at fault if the garden is not a blaze of colour in February. A gardener who is .disappointed with the display of flowers at this season should look around neighbours’ gardens and public parks, make a written note of the plants which are now. in full bloom in other people’s borders, and make a mental resolution to have as good a show next year. These notes by the Horticulture Division will help the gardener to plan well ahead.

ANEMONE corms should be planted * as soon as they are available. Commercial anemone growers avoid planting the largest sizes of corms, preferring the so-called “pea” sizes.

Annuals, sown now should winter well, outdoors in most districts and make an early display next summer. Nigella (love-in-a-mist), Shirley poppy, larkspur, and calendulas are all quite hardy and will, succeed if dealt with in that way, provided that in the coldest districts plants do. not . become too large before the winter sets in.:

■ Chrysanthemums grown tor show require careful attention to stopping and disbudding, but for garden display less - detailed attention is necessary. Disbudding to produce , one large bloom on each stem reduces the period during which a plant is in' flower, as there are no more buds to open when the main flower has faded. The finest mass effect is obtained by. leaving all the buds on, especially with the single varieties, which look j attractive as “sprays” disbudded.

Dahlias required for show should be disbudded, removing all flower buds except the largest one .as soon as they can be handled. Dressings of lawn mowings around the plants help. to keep the soil moist, and applications of dilute liquid manure help to produce really large blooms.

Everlasting- flowers,, such as helichrysums, 1 ■ acrocliniums, and . rhodanthes should be cut when in full flower with as. long stems as possible, tied into bunches, and hung upside down in a cool shed to dry. When the flower stalks have hardened the flowers should be put away in boxes, out of the light and dust, until required. By treating them in this way the stems dry straight and the flowers are of more value for use in vases.

Geranium and Pelargonium cuttings will root easily at any time in the summer or autumn. Ensure a supply of these showy plants by rooting plenty of cuttings. It is. fashionable to sneer at geraniums, but few plants give a longer or brighter display of. flowers, especially if the summer is dry.

4 ' Hedges should now be pruned for the last time this season by removing as little as necessary of this year’s growth. Coniferous plants must not be cut back into last year’s growth, as most of them cannot produce new shoots ■ from old wood, and shoots which are cut too hard die, leaving an unsightly place in the tree. The

popular Cupressus Lawsoniana cannot be regarded as a wholly satisfactory hedge plant for the garden because individual, seedling plants vary greatly in their vigour. If an attempt is made to keep the hedge uniform and symmetrical, some plants are inevitably cut harder than others, ultimately leading to the death of the more vigorous plants and an unsightly gap in the hedge. • Hoeing regularly between herbaceous plants, shrubs, and roses, wherever the hoe can reach, will prevent some weed seeds from germinating or kill young weed seedlings before they have time to do much harm. Many gardeners have a push hoe with a specially small blade which can be used for keeping the soil loose between plants in the borders.

Hydrangea cuttings taken now, rooted in a frame, and later potted into 3 or 4in. pots, should flower in these pots next summer and make useful, decorative house plants. Pot hydrangeas which have finished flowering in the house should now be pruned by cutting the dead flower' heads off with a few inches of stem, and should then be stood outside in a sunny position to make strong, ripe, new shoots which will flower next year. Narcissi of the poeticus types have little, if any, resting period in the summer. Plants of these varieties which have been lifted should be replanted as soon as practicable. It is a curious fact that many of the latest-flowering narcissi need the earliest planting. Rambler roses can be propagated readily from cuttings, which are best made from short laterals which have flowered by pulling them from the old stem with a heel, taking off the lower leaves and flower head, and inserting them firmly in soil. Prune rambler roses when the flowers have faded by cutting back to ground level all growths which have flowered. The new shoots which have grown from the base this year should then be tied in to flower next summer. This system does not apply to climbing roses, which do not produce new shoots freely from the base, and which are pruned in spring by cutting back side shoots to within an inch or two of the main stems. Seedlings of biennials, such as sweet Williams, Canterbury bells, and wall-

flowers, sown last month, should now be large enough to be handled. They will not be-required for planting out until later, when there is room in the flower borders, but if left in the seedling rows they will become drawn and spindly and develop a deep taproot system which will be mutilated when the plants are lifted. The seedlings should be lifted and planted into a nursery bed, 3in. apart, as soon as they can be handled. They will then grow into sturdy plants with a bushy root . system, which will transplant well. If the soil is dry, both the nursery bed and the rows of seedlings should be thoroughly soaked with water the day before the seedlings are to be planted out. Sweet pea seeds for early flowering should now be sown, Jin. deep and 3in. apart, in soil which has been deeply dug and enriched with a dressing of compost and superphosphate. A few extra seeds should 'be sown at one end of the row to produce spare seedlings for transplanting later into any gaps which may occur. To ensure that the seeds germinate without delay, each seed should be rubbed once or twice across a sheet of sandpaper or nicked with a knife. The injury to the seed coat enables the. seed to take up water more readily from the soil. Violas are best propagated by cutting down plants which have flowered to induce them to form plenty of new shoots from the centres of the plants. When 2 to 3in. long the new shoots should be carefully detached, with or without a small heel, and dibbled out

in a frame which should be kept moist and shaded until the cuttings have rooted.

Bulbs, such as freesias, hyacinths, and the early paper white narcissi, should be potted up now and stood outside in a cool, shady place, preferably with the pots sunk in the soil to their rims and covered with a 3in. layer of sand or old ashes to keep the pots moist. Leave the pots in that position for about 6 weeks, during which time the bulbs will root well, and then take the pots indoors.

Weeds are the flower gardener’s chief enemy. They are unsightly, make the garden and borders look untidy, crowd out growing plants, especially young ones, make a great deal of work, and, by far the most important indictment, they take large volumes of moisture from the soil in direct competition with the garden plants. This is especially undesirable in the hot, dry weather of this time of the year, as there is often little enough water in the soil to support proper growth. Fortunately weeds are easily killed in hot, dry weather, but if many common weeds are cut off while in flower, their seeds will still ripen and scatter after the plant has been cut. Large weeds cut while in flower should not be left lying on the ground but are best collected and burned or put in a properlymade compost heap to ensure that the seeds are killed. “One year’s seeding means seven years’ weeding.”

Reminders About Common Troubles

Subterranean grass caterpillars are greyish-black caterpillars up to 3in. long when fully grown. They live in burrows which look rather like worm holes and make casts of soil which are sometimes confused with worm casts, though the soil of which they are composed is mixed with a silky material not present in true worm casts. The caterpillars feed at night on the grass, which is eaten off close to the surface. A badly-affected lawn may be practically bare, dotted with many holes the diameter of a lead pencil, in which the caterpillars hide during the day. A careful- watch should be kept on lawns from January onward, and at the first signs that caterpillars are present a poison bait should be sown to control the pest before it has time to cause serious damage. Sufficient bait for treating 200 sq. yd. of lawn is made by mixing 1 Jib. of bran (or similar material) with loz. of Paris green, and then moistening the mixture with If pints of water in which I pint of molasses has been dissolved. The bait, which should be moist but not sloppy, should be spread evenly over the lawn surface. Paris green is a highly poisonous arsenical compound, and every precaution should be taken when using it.

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