GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 12 November 1914, Page 45

GARDENING NOTES

L # (By Mb. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch,.)

CULTURE OF THE TUBEROUS BEGONIA . •: FROM SEED. \ - Procure a fair-sized pot or pan, and fill with nice fine sifted potting soil, mixed with a fair “amount of sand. Press the soil on the top nice and .evenly, and gently water with a ,fine rose: When the water, has drained away, sow the seed - evenly, being careful in opening the packet as the seed is very fine. Then take a little, sand and distribute evenly over the seed. (The merest dusting.of sand is sufficient.) Now place a glass over the pot, and examine occasionally, and wipe the glass dry. . If the soil looks dry, dip the pot in a bucket of water, lefling the water roach close to the brim. The water must not be allowed to flow over the pot or the seed may get washed away. It would be advisable to shade the pane of glass with a piece ;of paper until the seedlings are well up, and when they appear, it would be as well to allow a little air into the pot by placing a bit of wood between the rim of the pot and the glass. When the seedlings arejfit to be handled, put the plants into another box, with nice prepared soil, about a couple of inches apart,, and water gently, after pricking out, and shade for a few days until they start into growth, when the shading may Ibe removed. When they have grown into nice sturdy plants, lift them carefully and pot off into four inch pots, and ..grow them ton until they need potting ; into larger ones, in which they ate intended to flower. Give plenty of room and air, and not too much water, and also syringe occasionally during the hot weather. 'When they have finished flowering, they can be removed out of the greenhouse, and placed in the open, until frost comes, when they must be stored away. They need very little water at this period. When the plants are done growing they may be stored away on a shelf or under the stage and kept thoroughly dry all the winter months. On no account must they be watered or the roots will rot. The following spring they can be removed from the old pots and planted into fresh soil and started to grow; they must not be watered too much until they start into growth. They must be always kept at the dry side until they begin to sprout. If the amateur has not patience to wait for his seedlings to flower, I should recommend him to purchase a dozen or two from the nurseryman and grow them on., No doubt this will be the most satisfactory method for him to follow, as they will soon come into flower, and he can save the time of waiting to note his seedlings flower. But, at the same time, it is very interesting growing seedlings, as there are such a number of varieties produced from- a packet of seed. The tuberous begonia comprises varieties both single and double. A singular feature in the double is that it has three flowers on each shoot. The double flowers stand in the middle of two single ones, and the single produces seed, but the double is barren. >; THE CINERARIA AND CALCEOLARIA. The cineraria and calceolaria require the same treatment. They are mostly spring flowering plants. The time to sow the seed is early in December, in wellprepared pots or pans of fine sifted sandy mould, and treated similar to the begonia seed. When the seedlings are Well up and fit to handle, they must be put into small pots, and grown in a cool .atmosphere, right through to the end. The cooler they are kept the better they will succeed. , . A careful watch must be kept for the green fly, as. they are very liable to attacks from this pest. Occasionally they will need fumigating with tobacco paper, which .is prepared for that purpose. The cineraria is attacked by a little maggot, which bores through the leaves of the plant. They need to be picked out with a pin and destroyed. Dipping the plant in tar water ; is also recommended as an ' antidote A * The cineraria is best treated as a greenhouse ] annual, ; as they

•• can be . grown from - seed and flowered the: same • year; There therefore is no need of keeping the old plant for the next ‘ season. fc " t In fact the 61 ' ones seldom make good plants. To flower the cineraria it requires an ■eight or ten inch pot, as does the same with calceolaria. The cineraria flowers earlier than the calceolaria. They are a class of plants which no greenhouse should be without for a spring show. r J I X ■" THE CANNA. I |J ' | ■ This is a class of plant brought to great .perfection of late years,, and is. very useful for the -greenhouse or the flower garden. It is a herbaceous plant. . Its leaves die down in the winter, and it remains dormant until spring. Some varieties have very fine foliage, and their flowers are very showy. Crozy’s strain of ; canna 5 bears beautiful flowers. They are easily grown from seed* sown in any good mixture of potting, soil. The seed is very hard, and requires soaking for a day or two before sowing. It may be sown in pots or boxes, and,- when fit, they must be potted off, and flowered in a seven or eight inch pot. When finished flowering they may be placed ■•' outside, arid watered occasionally, until winter, when they , must be stored away in a dry place, but must not be left to get too dry. They require a little water to keep them alive. ;- In spring they should be shaken out of the pot and repotted in fresh mould, and grown on to flower during the summer. , V ; k THE PRIMULA. v- ; ■ The Chinese primrose and primula obconica are two favorite greenhouse plants. They require the same treatment, but the primula obconica is the more robust in its constitution. it grows more freely,- and also flowers more profusely’,' and is much easier to grow than . the primula chinensis, but the latter is, more of a favorite, and its .“perfume is sweeter. It is, however, rather on the delicate side, is very liable to damp off, and impatient of too much wet. Sow the seed in- spring in nice finely-sifted mould, preferably £ leaf . mould, with a fair amount of good sharp- sand, andv give the attention usual to choice sefds. Pot off when fit, and flower in five or six inch pot’s. They are easily -grown and must be kept from frost in the winter. If they begin to . flower rather young it is better to nip off the flower buds until they have made a fair growth, when they may be allowed to flower at will. ■ - g THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. | Early in the spring procure good strong shoots about three inches long from the old stools, with little roots attached, and insert them in -la/-box. filled with nice fresh sandy "mould, about three inches apart. When they have taken root and started to grow, nip off the top and pot them in three or four inch pots, watering them carefully.. After being potted, place them away in a frame or ' other suitable place to grow on. When the pots are full of foots, and they have made more growth, they must be repotted into larger pots and the shoots nipped again to encourage dwarf, bushy plants. Give them plenty of room and place them in the open where the sun can shine on them all day. They must get plenty of water, and should never be allowed to get dry. They will need another shift into their flowering pots, when the roots have taken possession of the pots in which they halve been growing, -and this is the last time they will need pinching back, as they will Pave grown into nice bushy plants; .They must be carefully staked,. and each shoot will require a stake. The stakes ~ must I not be thick or clumsy or they will' take away from the beauty of the plant. Nicely prepared stakes can be bought for the purpose at the seedman’s. • When - they ■;sho w buds, they, will heed thinning, so as to develop good flowers, and now they will require liquid manure water once a week, as the chrysanthemum is a very gross feeder at this stage. They will require to be watered every day, and before the frost commences they must be brought into the greenhouse, as the frost would soon spoil I the flowers. It takes pretty well the whole year to grow the chrysanthemum . from the ; cutting stage until the r end of

the flowering season. But as pot plants grown in this manner make a., fine display during the winter months, when other . flowers, are . scarce, care must be t taken .to choose a good collection, as it takes the same amount of trouble to grow i-an inferior : bloom as it does .to grow a good-one. Sometimes they are subjected to mildew, and the . remedy is dusting the flower's with sulphur. ■Also' a little black fly, like the green .fly, attacks them when they ought to'be syringed with some of the remedies recommendedsuch as hot soap-suds, with a little tobacco juice added. \ A strong force of the syringe will wash them away.