HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 60, 7 November 1949, Page 3

HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey Agricul-* tural College)

The brilliant display of spring flowering trees and shrubs is past its climax. This week the opportunity is taken to point out some of the more attractive shrubs so that readers may plan their buying while the memory of the flowers is still fresh.

Flowering cherry that is fairly common has a greenish tinge in its flowers. It is called “Ukon” and grows to about 20 feet. About the best white-flowered type is “Mt Fuji.” It grows only about 15 feet in height, but spreads horizontally for many feet as it grows. It makes a good centre-piece for a large, sheltered, lawn. Also ih flowers just now are various forms of the crab-apple. For the moderate sized »garden these have some advantages over the flowering cherries. Not only is their size a little' more reasonable, but they have two periods of beauty—the flowering stage and later the fruiting stage when they are covered with small brightly-coloured fruits. Nor do they suffer from the silver-leaf disease which is apt to secure its incurable hold on the cherries.

One of the best of the crab apple is “Elyi,” a tree growing to about 12 feet, with flowers and fruit a good rosy-red, and the young growth a coppery red colour. The variety “purpurea” grows'to about the - same size. It " has purplish shoots, rich pinkish-purple flowers, and purple fruits. The smallestgrowing crab apple available here is variety “Gorgeous” which grows to six or eight feet in height. Other good sorts are “John Downie,” “David Nairn,” and “Robert Nairn.” Just at present the larger number of varieties of rhododendrons is commencing to flower, and this is a good time to go and inspect plants in flower so that you know exactly what you are buying.** It is possible, with care, to move any of the rhododendron group while they are in flower. This is because their root systems are very compact so that a ball of soil can easily be made to incldde all the roots of the plant. Alternatively you may be able to have chosen plants reserved for yOu, Small Bright Flowers

Kurume Azaleas have mostly completed thdir flowering .already. They are cheap to buy, grow very slowly to a height of about five feet in 20 years or so and in the spring are completely covered with small bright flowers which range from white, pink, red to layender and lilac according to the variety. They usually grow as a compact rounded bush, and by clipping they can be kept quite small and symmetrical in shape. The Japanese used to grow them as trimmed pot plants with excellent results. There is a big opening for some nurseryman to offer them as potted plants in flower for house decoration. After flowering, the pot can be plunged in the garden until taken indoors to flower the following year. The names 6f the varieties are mostly in Japanese and there has been much confusion of names as a result. The best scheme is to buy your plants in flower. The good, named, sorts of these deciduous azaleas are not easy "to propogate. Some of the best are: Koster’s Brilliant Red; Anthony Koster; Coccinea Speciosa; and Dr. Chas. Bauman. There is a good deal of rubbish sold under these names, because the nurserymen raise seedlings which do not come true to the parent type.

Some of the larg'e-leavecl rhododendrons which can be fairly easily bought are: Pink Pearl; Unknown Warrior; Scarlet; Tally Ho; Dr Endtz; Keay Slocock; Britannia; Barclyi; Loderi; and Corry Koster. There are newer and brighter sorts to be had occasionally, including some outstanding reds, orange, and even a largeflowered yellow form bred by the late E. F. Stead. Given a suitable situation, few plants are easier to grow than rhododendrons. Their main needs are an acid soil and a, fairly moist atmosphere, at least during a part of each day. ‘The varieties with the larger leaves need more shade and shelter—some like R. grande develop leaves about a foot- long under moist, sheltered conditions. Be very careful not to plant rhododendrons too deep. • They are surface feeders which need plenty of air round their roots. They* like a moist but porous soil such as can be made by rotting' down a mixture of soil and sawdust. Plant in the autumn if possible, and on top of the soil put an inch or two of sawdust which will serve to keep the soil moist in the summer.

Finally, remove all seed-capsules when the flowers have fallen; and if the leaves go silvery the cause is a tiny black insect (Thrips), which can be controlled by spraying with 25 per cent dispersible D.D.T. at the rate of one ounce per three gallons of water.