GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2474, 29 May 1915, Page 15

GARDEN NOTES

(Br "KowhAi.")

Theee notes are written solely for the amateur gardenor, for the busy city nxiu who likes to spona an hour or two in the garden after being shut up ail day, for the woman who derives great pleasure from growing a few plants to brighten her home, but to whom it would bo a- weariness to study garden books, and for all those who are endeavouring to keep a email garden bright <uzd attractive all tho year round. To these I ea.y <lo not attempt to grow too much. Choose what plants you want lor your garden and for supplying the houto with cut flowers, and ■whatever you decide upon grow the best of its kind that is to be obtained. It coder a are invited to ask questions.

Daisies are undoubtedly a great standby in the garden. They will grow well ill any ground, and may be planted up against a fence or in any odd corner. In small gardens they inay bo used as a hedge betwen the flower and kitchen gardens. Thoy aro all the better for constant picking and clipping. By cutting back bushes at different times one may always have at least one bush in flower. As soon as the flowering season is over the bush should be cut right back to within six inches x of the ground. Ij this way the bushes are always composed of nice ne*t growth, and one avoidß the scraggy, woody bushes that are an eyesore to all gardeners. There are several good varieties among daisies. The Shasta daisies are beautiful, and produce an abundance of long-stemmed flowers that are most useful for cutting. Lady Hume Campbell is a pure white daisy. Etoile d'Or has large, pale sulphur yellow flowers. Whitto Pearl has beautiful double white flowers. Constant picking of the flowers is one of the greatest,,aids to successful daisy-growing. EOSES. Pour good roses for cutting are:—General Gallien, Harry Kirk, Papa Gontier, and Caroline Testout. The rose, Snow Queen, is none other than the well-known old favourite Prau Karl Druschki, one of tho most vigorous growers in cultivation, and one that produces a,n abundance of pure white delicately formed flowers. Such is the dislike of all things German' at present that more than one plant has had its Gorman name altered. The rose in question is a 1 cross between Caroline Testout and Merr' veille de Lyon, and was raised by H. Peter Lambert, who first exhibited it under the name of Schneekoenigin, which is in English Snow Queen. Later- on he named it Frau Karl Druschki, after thdf wife of the president of the German jßose Society. So that, by altering the name to Snow Queon English' growers have really gone buck to the original name. Another now white, rose which is said to be even better than Snoii; Queon is British Queen. PLANTS FOE EXPOSED POSITIONS. Those who have gardens in exposed positions are often very much dishoartened by the amount ol' damage done to their much-cherished plants by high winds. 'It is more than disappointing to raise flowers till they have almost reached their prime, and then have them smashed in a few momenJts by a terrific gale. Por those who intend to cultivate flowers or vegetables in a district subject to high winds, the first thing that is necessary is a quick-growing shelter hedge. The hedge, for the first two years, would be all the better for being sheltered by a temporary hedge of brush. The shelter afforded by the brush the hedge a chance to take root and start into quick growth. Once the hedge has Teached a fair height tall growing things, such as hollyhocks, some liiiums, delphiniums, chrysanthemums, etc., may be planted under its shelter, and if firmly tied to stakes wil survive any amount of wind. But until the hedge is established, the gardener must be content with dwarfgrowing things, and even these must w be carefully secured to stakes or pegged down. A good selection of dwarf-growing plants may lie chosen from the following list:—Narcissi, violets, • crocuses, hyacinths, primroses, polyanthus primroses, auriculas, anemones, ranunculi, irises, forgot-me-nots, wallflower, ten week stocks, violas, pansies, dwarf antirrhinums, phlox drummondi, flowering verjbenas, doroaioums, mignonette, I,rench and African marigolds, zinnias, scabiosa caucasia, lobelia, arums, star of the veldt, Christmas roses, and even tulips, if they aro planted in clumps and aro well staked. Sweet peas may be grown in the following way:—Place twiggy branches about eighteen inches high very firmly in tho ground among the sweet peas. Train ithe young plants up on to these, and then leave them, to grow as they like. The vines will grow over and about one another until there is a bushy mass about three feet high. This will withstand strong wind, and the flowers will all come to the top and grow upwards.

FLOWERS FOE THE WHOLE TEAR,

Most people have plenty of flowers during the late spring and the summer, but unless care is talen in choosing one's plants there is apt to be a blank during the winter months. Let us consider the flowers that are out at present—the first month of winter. There are chrysanthemums, daisies, mignonette, nasturtiums, stock, antirrhinums, violets, and a few rosea. Among the shrubs the lieatter is out, and the viburnum sieboldii is gay with large bunches of small scarlet berries. For next month there will be:—Late chrysanthemums (scrim protection will be necessary), mignonette, violets, Bromptom stock, and iris stylosa. Among the shrubs there will still bo heather, and the' pyrus japonica,; and camellias will be out. '

In July there will be violets, iris stylosa, Bromptom stock, paper white, 1 and polyanthus narcissi. Also camellias, daphne, japonica, and jasmine nudiflornm. After July comes a perfect rush of flowers—violets, 6nowflakes, anemones, chionodoxa, narcissi, stock, wallflower, Christmas rose, grape hyacinth, forget-me-not, arums, and the blue everlasting pea; while the flowering peaches, almonds, lilao, and a host of other shrubs will be bursting into bloom. Then coma the spring-flowering perennials—doronicum, geum, antirrhinum, aquilegia, campanula, primroses, polyanthus primroses, paMies, violas, tulips, hyacinths ( Spanish irises, flags, followed by the early flowering gladioli, sweet peas, and spring-flower-ing annuals such as poppies, larkspur, clarkia, godetia, schizantnus, etc. These bring us well into November, when roses, carnations, liliums, verbenas, scabious, pyrethrums, pelargoniums, geraniums, heliotrope, delphiniums, coreopsis, gaillardias, irises, gladioli, poppies (Oriental and Shirley) take up the running. The end of February and the beginning of March is sometimes a difficult time for flowers, but if pentstemons, cactus dahlias, salvia bonfire, antirrhinums, flowering verbenas, valotta lilies, asters, phlox drammondi, rudbeckia (golden glow), French and African marigolds are grown tho garden may be kept bright. Then come the Japanese anemonee, Michaelmas daisies, autumn crocuses, liliums

(apeciosnm and belladonna), early chrysanthemums, roses, late flowering annuals, and so on till we again reach the S resent time. Daisies may be bad in ower all the year round, also mignonette, and ill sheltered places nasturtiums. Antirrhinums flower continuously, if not allowed to bear seed, for nine or ten months. Tho winter is the hardest timo for flowers, but with the help of flowering slirubs this difficulty is overcome. Even vory small gardens could contain one plant each of heather, daphne, japonica, and jasmine nudi/ioruni. The jnponica ami jasmine may be trained against the wall or fence. In larger gardens flowering shrubs for all seasons are a great acquisition. VEGETABLES. The present is Tather a 6laok time in tho vegetable garden, hoeing between the growing crops being the chief work. Young peas should get alternate fortnightly top-dressings of soot and lime, and lettuces should bo hurried on by sprinkling nitrate of soda round their roots once a fortnight. Cabbages may be treated similarly. The timo for working in the garden io necessarily short at this time of the year, but whenever possible push on with the digging and trenching or the ground in preparation for the spring. The onion bed should now be prepared. Trenoh the ground, working into the bottom spit plonty of manure; animal manure if possible, but if that cannot be had use decayed vegetable rubbish that has been prepared as recommended in notes of March. Return the top soil and leave it rougli all the winter. Every two or three weeks fork over the surface and then sprinkle soot over it. Before sowing tho seed in August make the earth very fine, and then trample all over it till it is quite firm. Onions like a firm bed and a loose surface. Garden notes next week will contain seasonable notes about:—Sweet peas, herbaceous phlox, dahlias, flowering shrubs, and vegetables.

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