GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2781, 27 May 1916, Page 13

GARDEN NOTES

[By "Kowhai."! ORIENTAL POPPIES. Big clumps of Oriental poppies may now bo lifted and divided up, though, us tlio plants make very long tap. roots, they are best left undisturbed for as long l as pos-, sible. In digging up the clumps great care should be taken to damage tiio roots as little as possible. , The Oriental poppy is one of the gaydst of our summer flow-' ers. The beautiful blooms are borne on very, long, straight stems, sometimes reaching a height of four feet. The foliage is massed at the foot of the flower stems, some of the loaves being like large ferns. In addition, to the old red Oriental poppy, ive have now many beautiful Hybrids, comprising shades of salmon, scarlet,. rose, and. mauve. Their beauty is greatly 'enhanced by large black blotches in tho centre of the flowers. They like a; rich, well-drained' soil, and a sunny position.- A little bonedust should be worked into the soil Tound established plants, and will be a great help -to them now that they are busy making their new growth. i .. •! -.. DELPHINIUMS.' Their lovely flowers are just about over, and the plants'must now be .made as' comfortable as possible, so that they may enjoy the rest they so, richly deserve. Much indefatigable .workers they are! They were in bloom .during November and the early part of l December, their lovely, stately, richly-coloured flowers making gay. bits of colour in the beautiful early ' summer garden. Even with such a wealth' of other flowers in bloom at the same time they called forth involuntarily admiration from all who saw them. Then the flowers faded, and the stems were cut back to tho ground. At such a busy time the exhausted plants received but "■ scant attention. A good watering, a mulch of'cow manure, another watering or two, and lo! and behold! up came great, strong shoots- again in no .time. The stokes, fortunately, had not been removed, for almost at once they were needed again. By March the glorious blue flowers were opening once more, but then flowers were growing scarce, and the delphiniums came in for all the attention that' was their . due. frequent. waterings were given, and, once a fortnight, a gpod Making of manure water, made from cow manure and soot. Prom that time till now they have flowered wonderfully, No sooner would one lot of flowers be fading and ready to be cut out, than other flowering stems were rising from the r<vots to take their places. The soot to the manurewater intensified the richness of colouring in the glorious shades of sky blue, royal blue, and purple. Hut now the plants are ready for a well-earned rest. The old stems must be .cut bank, and a good mulch of cow manure should be spread over the plants.. The cow manure should bo softened-in a bucket of water before being applied. Those who cannot get manure - must manage as best they can with bonedust and a little, welldecayed vegetable rubbish. Then, ..ns, soon as the new; : shoots appear, sootivater, may bo given rfetrularly. Seed is generally 60wn during the autumn, but those ' gardeners who want only a few . plants, could buy roots ,at any time during tho next few weeks .'from nurserymen. The, ground where delphiniums , are to bo sown should bo deeply dug and enriched with farmyard manure if possible. If this cannot be had, a good supply, of well-decayed vegetable' rubbish should be dug into the soil, and bonedust could bo. worked into the soil about the'roots. at the time of planting. SWEET PEAS. Sweet Peas that were sown early in the autumn are coming on very fns\now. Our endeavour miist .be to ; have them in flower as early as possible. The first step is to supply little twiggy sticks for the tiny plants to cling to. Prom these they may be trained to pieces of manukabrush, or bigger twiggy branches, and so on to their permanent supports. The gieatest \care must bo taken to prevent the little vines lying on the ground at any time. Keep them growing straight up from the-start. -A slight dressing oflime may .be supplied occasionally. The ground must' be kept' stirred and free from weeds. This is a most important dotail in the growing of 6weet peas. A very slight dressing of well-ripened soot riiay be given once or twice during the next few .months; Soot, in addition to being a good fertiliser, also improves the colour of the flowers. The seedlings should not be left crowded together. They should be thinned but till they are fourinches apart.. Por show flowers they should be' from nine, to twelve. inches apart. The seedlings; that are?thinned out will transplant easily to another part of the garden.

VEGETABLES. Many amatour gprdenors look upon vegetables as sumiijer crops only. In the summer their gardens are full to overflowing, peas, beans, carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, marrows, pumpkins, .lettuces, onions, b'eet, celery are all to bo found, jostling onu another in very often quite a small space. In winter ; the amateur's (jarden is idle and bare save for, perhaps, a few cabbages, 1 parsnips, broccoli, and leeks. Yet it is in winter that we really require mors vegetables. Winter is essentially the time for hot dinners. Meat is dear. But with two or three different vegetables' for dinner, how much further a roast of beef or a leg .of mutton will go. Yet, at the very time when thesa vegetables are wanted to help keep down the food bill, the anxious mother is buying them from John Chinaman while the home vegetable plot is almost empty., If John Chinaman can, supply vegetables during winter,-then surely every New Zealander can do the same. In the North Island' and' the northern part of the * South Island, every vegetable garden should bo cropped continuously from March till November. In many places vegetables grow much better; during winter than they, do during the hot, dry months of December, January and February. Insect pests, too. are less in evidence during the winter. In some places winter is the only timo when it is possible to gro.w turnips, cab-, i and cauliflowers really well.' All vegetables ' like to be- grown in an open sunny place. The ground should bo well prepared for their reception. Deep digging is an absoluto essential, and, in heavy soils, trenching should be thoroughly attended to. At least once during the year a good supply of vegetable matter should be dug into the garden. Bonedust may be supplied by placing it in the drills, at the time of sowing the seed, and wood ashes and soot may he used as a top-dressing. In this way the soil in the garden is kept up to the mark. A good dressing of lime every few years is also necessary. BROAD BEANS. Broad beans will be engaging our attention during the next few weeks. A small sowing—say one row—may be made every few weeks. Broad beans like a deeply-dug soil, and a certain amount of liino anil potash are necessary to their well-being. A good dressing of lime should be mixed with the soil before sowing the' seed; wood or rubbish liro ashes can be used as a lojwlressiug, and will bo hoed into tliu soil as time goes on. Slaking should be attended to early. A row of broad beans well staked makes a good protection for other vegetables growing in the garden. CABBAGES. The cabbage is a sort of perennial vegetable. It is, or should be, in the garden at nil seasons. It is a real old family friend, and may be relied upon to groiw and do fairly well when lots of other" vegetables fail. But the ideal cabbago is tho one that is grown quickly on rich, well-worked soil. Then tho ieaves aro tender and juicy, ;ind firm hearts are nicely formed. Once the seedling cabbages have become established, they should he hurried on with regular doses of weak nitrate' of soda solution, ami much hoeing. ; The quickly-grown cabbages very often resist attacks of aphis, but it is as well to be on the snfo side and keep tho leaves well syringed with clear water. Other vegetables that may bo sown and grown just now aro:—Carrot (Early Horn), cauliflower, lettuce. Kohl liabi, onions, peas, parsley, radish, spinach, turnips, and silver beet. Leeks, celery, broccoli, etc., are already in tho ground, and under cultivation.

Garden Notes nest week' will contain seasonable notes about: Perennials, lillum aubhureum. and vecotables.