GARDEN NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 11 October 1917, Page 39

GARDEN NOTES

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

WORK FOR OCTOBER. The Kitchen Garden.'—The month of October is usually a busy one in the garden. The spring has fairly set in, buds and blossoms are now to the fore, and it is necessary to keep in touch with the season. If the weather is suitable, and the ground in good condition all spring seeds, such as peas, beans, carrot, parsnip, onion, leek, radish, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli, may be sown. Celery and a sowing . of a suitable turnip to come in early, may also ; be seen to, but these should be sown in a favorable situation. Pumpkins and marrows may be sown in pots or boxes for transplanting out later. Tomatoes may be ventured out if the precaution is taken to plant them where the frost is not likely to affect them. A pinch of Scotch kale seed may be sown for planting out later ; it is acceptable in winter, when other vege tables are scarce. Where not already done, rhubarb clumps should now be covered with boxes or barrels to obtain nice blanched stalks. Sea-kale should be treated in like manner; old cement barrels are very suitable for the purpose. Early potatoes should now be planted plentifully in plots where protection from frosts is afforded. Frosty weather is usually experienced late into the month of November, just when much tender vegetation is above ground and liable to be affected. Keep the hoe well employed among the crops in fine weather. Cultivation in 'this form furnishes the natural stimulus, as the air and moisture are thus permitted to penetrate the soil and benefit the crop. The Flower Garden. All seeds of hardy annuals may now be sown in the open in well-prepared soil. These should be sown thinly and in patches. Should they come up rather thickly, thin out and transplant to other portions of the borders or plots. When flower seeds are sown thinly and the plants have sufficient room to grow, they bloom better, and of course give greater satisfaction. Among the best flowers to cultivate are the antirrhinum, double and • single godetia, coreopsis, African and French marigolds. The Shirley poppies are great favorites, and the Iceland poppies are ideal for table decoration. When tastefully arranged there is no floral decoration more effective than that composed of the chaste blooms of the yellow and white Iceland poppy. The salpiglossis is another very popular annual, which is used for table decoration, and deserves to be grown very extensively for this purpose. The schizanthus is a flower that has lately acquired much popularity, and is quite a favorite as a pot plant for conservatories. Dhalias should be now separated and planted out where they are intended to bloom, and ought to have a supply of well-rotted manure placed- in the bottom ,of the hole they are to occupy. ; In the garden where I served my apprenticeship in the dear Old Land, we gave each root half a barrowful of manure, and when the season for flowering arrived the reward was a fine healthy plant studded with a profusion of beautiful bloom. Gladiolas should now. be planted out in their intended situation. These bulbs are well worthy of being largely cultivated in the flower borders. There are. several varieties all deserving of ;> a place in the garden. .; There is now a good variety of the autumn aster or Michaelmas daisy, which also well deserves a place in flower borders. J The herbaceous phlox: is another very useful flower to be cultivated in the garden borders more extensively also the delphiniums, sunflower, and .chrysanthemums. . Towards the end of the month all the usual bedding plants may be planted out, such as geraniums, '-salvias,> petunias, verbenas, v phlox-Drummondi, and all tender summer flowering plants i The lawns must not on any account be neglected now, but mown twice each week

at least, and also rolled once a week or oftener, so as to secure a good firm sward during the 'summer/'^' Some bulbs will now be going out of bloom, but in tidying up the borders the green growth must not be cut away. Bulbs cannot mature . unless the vegetable matter is allowed to return to the bulb. This phase in the life of the bulb is in progress during the decay of the plant s leaves.