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HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey Agricultural College) MORE PERENNIALS FOR SPRING PLANTING This week we make brief mention of a few more good perennial plants which can be planted during spring.

Michaelmas daisies are now available in a very great number of colours and shades from white through shades to purple or through pinks to crimson or even in yellow. They grow about three feet high and flower in March-April. They increase so fast that they soon become overcrowded and produce poor blooms unless they are dug up, like perennial phlox, each year or two and the young parts replanted in fresh soil. Now is about the time to do that or to plant for the first They have no particular requirements as to soil, except they naturally like a good, new, soil. Gazanias should not be overlooked. Called by many "Black Eyed Susan" they are prostrate plants with a large dairy-like flower with dark eye and brightly coloured surround. The old type had an orange colour, but now there is a wide range of shades from pale yellow and , pinkish shades to bronze and crimson. These gazanias are low-growing (about one foot) and are first class for an-edg-ing in a sunny place or for a sunny bank. They flower practically right through the year. One disadvantage is that they harbour snails. You. may use this point by spreading snail bait under the plants. Gazanias do well in well drained dry, sunny, positions • even with poor soil. The varieties of Arctotis are similar in many ways to the gazanias, but rather larger growing. Th;ey reach about 18 inches in height and make an excellent semi-permanent covering for a well-drained sunny piece of ground. Gerberas have become very popular in recent years and there is no doubt that where they are successfully grown they are very good indeed. Their range of colours is much the same as in the Gazanias. They are vof South African origin and do best in a fairly warm climate. A rather free-draining soil suits them best, and they need moisture through the summer if they are to keep on flowering well at that They should be left to increase for three or four years, then lifted in the spring, broken into single or double crowns, and replanted. They grow to a height of about 18 inches and are excellent for cutting. Remember, they are rarely happy in districts where the soil is heavy, wet, and cold in early spring.

One of the very best and brightest perennials is Helianthus quertifolius. This grows into a clump about six feet high and in AprilMay produce a heavy crop of rich golden yellow flowers. Coming at a time when so few bright things are flowering, it is invaluable in the garden and also for cutting. It is hardy and not at all particular as to soil. This is one plant of which several specimens should be grown. The blue poppy from Tibet is one of the sensational plant discoveries of the century, having been discovered by Kindon-Ward, who is once more plant hunting in Tibet. This is rather a shy plant, preferring a rather cool, moist, and shady situation in well drained gritty soils with ample organic matter. In spite of that, it can be grown in open sunny places, provided that moisture and drainage are right. It dies down each winter to a crown, It flowers in the spring and grows from two to three feet high. In the Dunedin Botanic gardens it grows naturally from its own seed which falls on the leaf mold under the trees.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19500830.2.36

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 89, 30 August 1950, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
602

HOME GARDENS Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 89, 30 August 1950, Page 6

HOME GARDENS Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 89, 30 August 1950, Page 6

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