HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 44, 7 May 1948, Page 3

HOME GARDENS

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) FOR SPRING DISPLAY We have received numerous requests for information on the preparation and planning of the spring display. Wallflowers are biennials and seed must be sown by January, at the latest, if good results are desired. By now the plants should be' well grown and wrenching will have prepared them for shifting, if in the open ground. They prefer a sunny position in a light to medium loam but will give a good display in all but very wet positions. The bed should not be manured, as strong foliage growth may tend to delay flowering or hide the flowers. It is usual to use violas or Beilis perennis as an edging. These low-grow-ing subjects are neat and compact, they set off the taller plants to full advantage, and are better bale to withstand strong winds or even dogs. Tramp the bed firmly and rake out level and mark out the rows before planting. Always plant from the corners and space as nearly as possible to the required distance. The first inner row should be planted, to its own spacing, in a similar manner. The second inner row, however, should have the plants spaced opposite the gaps in the first. The spacing in the third will come opposite the first. This alternate spacing blocks the wider gaps and shows the plants off to fullest effect. Attractive Colour Schemes

Various coloure schemes may *be arranged. Mixed wallflowers with a preponderance of yellow or flame colours are most suited to dry borders where the background •is dark or evergreen. A good combination would be Scarlet Emperor (flame) interplanted with a red or yellow tulip with an edging of T. T. Golden Wallflower, yellow viola or blue myosotis. Another combination could be Golden Monarch or " other yellow wallflower with a long-stemmed scarlet or red tulip and edged with myosotis dwarf or dwarf red or brown wallflower. Many other plants could be suggested. Tulips should not be used in dry, poor soils or in very wet soils. When the soil is a good loam, they may be planted in rows between the rows of wallflowers and opposite the gap in the outer row. Planting is ,done with a trowel, and should be 4 or 5 inches deep. One reader asks if narcissi may be interplanted with wallflowers. The brighter trumpet varieties may be used with medium-growing wallflowers. These will finish flowering before the wallflowers reach their peak, but give colour earlier in the season. Claims of Polyanthus The polyanthus may be classed second to the wallflower on lighter soils, but in moister and heavier soils the positions would be reversed. Polyanthus would also be more effective in smaller or shady beds. They prefer a good moist loam rich in organic material and, if available, this should be dug in before bedding out. I prefer to plant polyanthus on their own and usually in mixed shades. They may, however, have an edging of primroses or t myosotis (dwarf) if desired. Pansies and violas also give colourful displays in the spring and require conditions and spacing similar to polyanthus. Violas may also be used as an edging to other plants in beds or mixed borders. There is a class of bedding pansies of good constitution and free-flowering habit which comes fairly true to colour from seed. Ullswater, Fire Beacon and Gipsy Queen may be recommended. Anemones and ranunculii planted now will give colour from September onwards. Earlier plantings in mixed borders may have already been made for late-winter flowering. A good well-drained light loam and a sunny position suits them best. Primula malacoides (12in apart) and cinerarias (14in apart) may be planted in sheltered corners in districts where only mild frosts occur. For Dry Borders

Hardy plants for dry borders are calendulas in shades of apricot, orange and yellow. Space them a good 12 inches apart.' The Livingstone daisy, which flowers very soon after planting, should be set out a siimlar distance apart after the haviest frosts have passed in the spring. It is a very showy subject but must have a well-drained soil in a *sunny position. Iceland poppies aiso' v make good beds and flower over a long period if the spent flowers are removed. Spacing is the same, and the soil preferably light or well drained and the position fairly sunny. Stocks and schizanthus are perhaps better planted in groups in the mixed border, and will add variety to the spring flowers. Sweet William and Cynaglossum Amabile should be planted out now to flower November-December and bridge the gap between spring and summer colour in the other beds. Fourteen inches apart is the spacing.