HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 15, 3 November 1948, Page 6

HOME GARDENS

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) PAGEANTRY OF SPRING It is at this season of the year, with the full flush of spring colour, that people are really impressed by the beauties surrounding them. Some districts are noted for striking displays of one or more subjects which do well in that particular environment. It may be cherry blossom, rhododendrons and azaleas, or perhaps tulips. Further plantings should be made in home gardens of those subjects which prove suitable to soil and locality. These may be supplemented by colourful bedding schemes and perhaps spring rock gardens. Climax in October The last weeks of October herald the peak of the spring display which has been gathering momentum ever since the wattle and the first daffodil showed colour. The range of plants flowering now is a large one, and there are really plenty to choose from for all districts, soils and positions. Most of the bedding plants were planted last April and May, after the summer and autumn subjects had passed. Primula malacoides have almost completed 12 weeks of flowering and will deteriorate with the next warm, dry spell. They are coolweather subjects and do best in a sheltered, semi-shaded corner. They brighten up such- corners and prefer a friable soil containing plenty of organic material. Occasionally they may cause a "primula rash" if handled by a person who is allergic to primulas. It is P. obconica and sometimes P. chinensis, two less-hardy subjects, which usually cause this trouble. Cinerarias in rich exotic shades of violet, purple, blue, red and pink prefer similar conditions. They arc, however, more subject to frost damage and are best planted in shelted, semi-shady borders where overhanging branches will protect then from frost. They are sometimes spoiled by a leaf-miner, which enters and tunnels below the leaf surface, leaving a zig-zag white line + o show its path. Their presence reduces leaf action, besides being unsightly. During the summer months these subjects breed on dianthus, viscaria, chrysanthemums and the common milk thistle. Leaf-miners are the maggots of small flies resembling the common house fly, and, as the depredations occur below the leaf surface, poison sprays are seldom effective. The first remedial measures are to burn badly-infest-ed leaves and prevent the flies from breeding. Derris dust is a deterrent to the flies, which will not lay their eggs where it is used, and a dusting at regular internals after plantingout will keep the plants frpe. The woolly-bear caerpillar can also be troublesome on cinerarias. This is the black caterpillar of the magpie moth and its common host during the summer months is groundsell. Control is obtained by the use of derris dust or by spraying with arsenate of lead.