HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 63, 14 November 1949, Page 6

HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey Agricul-> tural College) The time has now arrived when the annual seedlings should be planted ou tfor summer and autumn display. There are so many annuals ana their behaviour varies so much, that the average gardener plays safe and uses the same ones each year. There -are admittedly some summer annuals which are so outstandingly successful that we are often well justified in growing them year after year. I am thinking now of the popular salvias like “Bonfire;” petunia; antirrhinums which can be had in so many different colours and heights of growth; French and African marigolds, lobelia and the very striking zinnias. 1,, call these summer anuals because in our climate they behave as such; being killed back by frost. Some of them however—such as antirrhinums, petunia, salvia and lobelie—are really perennials and if protected from frost can be grown on from year to year by means of cuttings. f These “summer annuals” being tender to frost successfully be grown in the open air in our climate early enough in the year to come to flower reasonably early in the summer. That is why they are usually germinated and pricked out under glass, giving an advantage of about two months compared with the time at which they could be sown in open ground. That is the main reason for buying them in boxes for your bedding out. *’*'• In the early spring months I did not suggest growing them for yourself under glass because very few gardeners have the glasshouse or frames nor the time and patience to do this work. Plants being grown under glass need regular daily attention in the way of watering and ventilation, which few of us have the chance to give them. Zinnias should not be overlooked if you are searching for a bright display. The large or dahlia-flower-ed type are especially bold in colour. They are gross, feeders, need shelter, and grow about three feet high. They can be very useful in a clump where there would otherwise be an open space in a gap of the shrubbery. The dwarf zinnias are not so hungry as the larger ones. In buying plants of any of these summer annuals, try to get study, bushy plants which have not been grown so as to be weak and spindly. Once they commence to grow in the beds, it is a good policy to pinch out growing tips so as to make the plant bunch out. In writing about summer annuals to be planted out from glasshouse grown supplies l do not want it to be thought that I have overlooked the large number of excellent flowering plants that can be sown in places where they are to flower. A month or so ago I have already mentioned some of the hardy annuals which can be sown out of doors earlier in the spring—calendula, godetia, clarkia, viscaria, nemophila, night-scented stock are some o fthem. These are the hardier annuals and sown at that time, would come to flower at a reasonably early time of the year. From t now on, more tender annuals can be sown out of doors as well. These include the common tender bedding plants, but of course when sown out of doors now they will be a month or two later in commencing to flower as compared with glasshouse-grown plants. Chrysanthemums should be planted by now. Dahlias too should be set out. If you are growing dahlias on from old clumps, the whole clump should be lifted and divided carefully into single tubers, each with a good “eye” or young shoot commencing to grow near where the tuber joins the old stem. Orchard and Vegetable Garden The regular spraying of pears with lead arsenate or lime sulphur in alternate weeks should be kept going and applied to the apples as soon as their petals fall. While using lime sulphur, it is worth while giving the peaches and plums a spray with it also. Keep an eye open for green fly on rcfses, carnations, lilies, tulips and the like. “Black leaf 40” in soapy water is the usual remedy, though the new dispersible D.D.T. may be tried as a substitute. The pumpkin, bush marrow and sweet corn seed can be put in now. French beans too can be planted, though many think the small pods take too much handling. Runner beans and broad beans are less trouble and give larger crops. Maincrop peas and carrots, silver beet seed, Brussels sprouts, and Savoy cabbage can be sown, the latter two for transplanting later. Omega late is a good savoy which can be recommended. i

English research workers are seeking some method of treating handkerchiefs to reduce the risks of contamination and promising results have been obtained. This question is, however, still in the experimental stage.