GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2600, 23 October 1915, Page 15

GARDEN NOTES

(Ik "Kowhai.") ROUTINE AVORK. Cut back primrose planls level with tho ground as soon as tlioy have finished flowering. .Sprinkle a jiltlo bonedust awuud I lie roots. Give Ilium a good watering. anil then cover with a slight mulch <>t decayed leaves nud .wood ashes mixed, t'la.nt violas or lobelia just iusijo tiio borders of primroses, Those plants will grow and cover tho primrose roots, ami thus protect them from t'lio hot. summer sun, ami tho drying nor-wcslers which are . u o fatal to primroses. Root out forgel.-ino-not as soon as it is over. Fork over the soil tluis mado vacant • at tho samo timo working in a sprinkling of bonedust. Theso empty spaces may be filled in with needling annuals that are ready to plant out, or seeds of phlox drummondi, star of tho veldt, Jiouicsiaj otc., may bo sown in them.

llie foliago of clumps of bulbs that aro over should bo tied up until it withers. Seedlings may bo planted near tho clumps to tako the placo of the bulbs. Ten week stocks, pansics, violas, French and African marigolds, nemcsia, phlox drummondi aro alt suitable for filling up spaces that are left vacant by bulbs. Keep the doad flowers pickcd off the blue pea, anemones, pansies, otc., to extend tho flowering season. Occasional good waterings aud a,little weak liquid manure also help to keep tho plants blooming. Aoiemones and pansies soon show their appreciation of a good watering and a stimulant. ueuin, Mrs. Bradshaw, is making a great show at present with its masses of scarlet flowers. Tho dead flowers should bo clipped off Tcgularly. Ixias and aquilegias aro also adding charm to tho late spring garden. Dahlias should have Btrong shoots by this time. Slice off part of a tuber with oacli shoot, and plant out in richlymanured loose soil. Or ono whole tuber with a strong shoot showing miy bo planted. Dahlias require a loose soil, and plenty of moisture and manure.

The present is a good timo to pt ferns from the bush to All up font rockeries or shady corners. It is a good plan to briiig- away some of tho bush soil to put into tho holes that are made for tho roots. Do not plant ferns too deeply. Keep them well watered and shaded from tho srni till tliey are established. Caro should be taken to protect ferns from draughts. I findi that they lore to nestle in among clumps of Japaneso irises. Anemono seed sown now will produco flowering plants next spring. Anemones are easily raised from seed, and a good deal of pleasure is derived from watching the plants come out into flower. The seed should be sown thinly, and the seedlings should be ready for planting out by February. The plants must not bo allowed to suffer from drought at any period of their growth. Dryness at tho roots is a too frequent cause of anemone plants not flowering. The little tubers should not be planted more than an inch or an inch and a half deep. When tho young foliage comes up it should bo given pr-tection from heavy frosts. A bed of mixed anemones is a most attractive and brilliant sight. Keep staking and tying up plants as they grow. Remember that strong-growing, vigorous plants resist disease much more readily than weakly-grown ones. Constant attention to the soil is a groat help to vigorous growth, and frequent spraying of the leaves and stems of plants with clean water keeps away insect pests, and helps to prevent the necessity of using insecticides.

SALVIA. Salvia is one of the most gorgeous of the border plants. It shows to advantage best when grown in clumps or in a whole bed. The brilliant scarlet flowers are produced so freely that the bushes become simply a blaze of colour. Unfortunately frost cuts tho plants at the beginning of winter, but it plants are lifted with, a good ball of earth, and planted in kerosene tins or small barrels, they will ,go on flowering alt the winter in a Toom or on a sheltered verandah. It is rather lato now to sow seeds. The best plan is to Buy young plants from a nurseryman. .'Salvia patens bears bright blue, vel-vety-looking flowers. If it is cut down eaclu winter, and covered with a mulch of decayed manure or vegetable rubbish it grows into a large bush which, when in bloom, makes a strikingly vivid bit of colour in the garden.

. SALPIGLOSSIS. Snlpiglosais is one of the most exquisite of the annuals. The colours are extraordinarily rich and varied, and the markings on the flowers remarkable. -A light rich soil suits the plants well. They are far more effective when grown in dumps or in beds than when grown as single specimens. The plants flower most generously all the summer and autumn if given fair treatmentt They may then bo cut to within a few inches of the ground and covered with a mulch. The roots villi throw up strong, new shoots, which will provide a good display of flowers as early as September or October.

THE NATIVE GARDEN. The native garden is very delightful at present, as several beautiful (lowering sh'ru'bs are out in flower. Among these are the New Zealand lilac (veronica hiilkeana), with its masses of delicate lilac flowers; clianthus puniceus, with scaiTeCflotvers shaped liko a parrot's beak; wharangi, with, masses of cream-coloure<f, intensely sweet-scented flowers, very much, like spiraea; the native fuchsia (kotukutufcu), with insignifioant, but very interesting purplish flowers, and t[ie flowers are iouowea by a very sweet berry (konini), which is well known to mcst childrenj manuka, one of the most beautiful of the native (lowering shrubs. It is so plentiful that one is apt to overlook it, but

even llio ordinary wJiiito manuka is well worth _ growing. Tho large-llowercd variety is very showy, fliul is tho commonest, w'hilo the maallcr-llowcral variety is very like heather, and gTows into enormous trees. There is one such in my garitcn, which is a wonderful eight when m fufl blouin. The crimson manuka is a little later in blooming, it in a most l>i.-itn(ii'ul filirub. Tho large-ilowered clematis Is just over, hut clematis eolensoi, with greeny-yellow flowers, is still out. v-n(innrunt tcnax is just, opening its beautiful dark rod llowers, and cabbage trere give proniiso of great bunchw uf sweet-scented flowers before long. Arthrojiodium eirrhatum, the beautiful native lily, is throwing up its flowering (demo, whilo ono or two uro already in llower. The presont is a good timo for transplanting nat.ivo shrubs, and thoso energetic gardeners who mako excursions to tho bush and bring back plant's to I form a nativo garden will bo well repaid for their trouble by tho amount of pleasure they will get from watching their plants grow. Most things transplant easily as long as their roots are not allowed lo becomo dry in tho process. After replanting they should bo well watered, and, during tho first summer, it would bo as well to placo a mulch of decayed leaves or grass clippings around their roots, liven tho beautiful mountain buttercup, ranunculus lyallii, can bo induccd to grow in almost any garden if a holo about a foot square is dug out, and filled in with a mixture of .river sand and leaf soil in placo of the ordinary soil.

VEGETABLES. Willi tho over-increasing shortage of animal manure the amateur has an uneasy I'ocliug about tho top-dressing necessary for tho asparagus bed early in spring. Foitunalcly ono can generally provide decayed leaves, and certainly can always provide decayed rubbish. Either of these mixed with a good supply of guano or fish manure makes a splendid top-dress-ing for the asparagus bed. I saw a bed tho other day that has been top-dressed with decayed leaves and fish manure for two seasons, and the result looked moat satisfactory. Light soils should liavo a dressing of salt early in tho spring, heavy soils are best without it till late in tho spring. Pumpkin and cucumber plants may bo raised in boxes ready for transplanting into beds later on. In preparing tho beds for pumpkins and cucumbers ono must aim at scouring plenty of root moisture rather than a very rich Toot run. Plants grown on very rich heaps often ran more to luxuriant growth than to fruit. If a good wide hole_ is dug out and a good supply of decaying or even green vegetation, is buried in tho bottom, and then a mixture of soil, thoroughly decayed vegetation, and sand, with a little bonedust added, is used to fill in th? hole, the plants should do very well even in a dry summer. It is a good plan to put a drain pipe (about 12 to 18 inches in length) vertically into the centre of each pumpkin, marrow, or cucumber bed. Tho top of the pipe should be a couple of inches above the surface of tho bed. Fill up the pipe with stones or pebbles to prevent its becoming blocked with earth. AVater may bo pbured into this pipe whenever it is thought necessary for the plants, and tlio grower -will be sure that it Teaches the roots of the plants. Garden Notes oexi week will contain seasonable motifs altout sweat sultan, lieliotropo pelargoniums, and vegetables.