SUMMER BEDDING FLOWERS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 91, 11 January 1935, Page 16

SUMMER BEDDING FLOWERS

Do They Need Feeding?

So far as bedding geraniums are concerned. the answer to the above question is no. Bedding geraniums flower more freely when you keep them on the poor side. Nemeslas also do bettei when unfed. Other bedding flowers do need feeding. Violas, for instance, continue swathe after swathe of bloom if you feed weekly from now until the end ot the season with soot water for three weeks, sulphate of potash one week Give each plant one pint of the former and a quarter ounce of the latter per application. Sulphate of potash, in addition to being a valuable fertilizer, is a sure preventive of eelworm, which sometimes causes' violas to wilt and die so suddenly. From now onward fortnightly applications of dried Wood manure will gloriously enhance the beauty of your dwarf bedding dahlia display. Dissolve loz. in a gallon of water, giving each plant one pint per application. As soon as your stocks run up to bloom, feed weekly with dilute liquid manure (two pints per plant) until colour shows. Asters should not be fed until the side shoots are 4in. long. From then until flowers are half open, apply dilute liquid manure and soot water weekly and alternately, giving each plant one pint. Zinnias develop to perfection if fed weekly and alternately from now until

the end of the season with dilute liquid manure (one pint per plant), and superphosphate of lime (Joz. per plant). Feeding exclusively with liquid manure, as is sometimes done, causes the centres' of the flowers to rot. Superphosphate of lime, by strengthening the petals, prevents this. If you planted your snapdragons in fairly rich soil, they need no feeding beyond a monthly watering with lime water. Mix 2oz. of freshly-slaked lime with a gallon of water, and give each plant two pints. Should the soil be poor, feed fortnightly until the end of the season with a mixture of 3 parts superphospate of lime and 1 part sulphate of potash, at the rate of loz. per plant. With this, as with all other artificials, take care not to touch the foliage and water after each application. Never feed with liquids or artificials when the soil is dry. ROCK PLANTS • How to Water Them A well-tended rock garden will go for an unusually long time without the plants showing any signs of suffering from lack of moisture, and most plants in such a garden will come through a very long drought with no harm. If very dry conditions persist, however, it will be necessary to see that those particular plants which like more than the average amount of moisture do not suffer. If attention is paid to the soil, though, the need for watering will be lessened. The most important thing is to see that, by continued and regular pricking up with the hand-fork, the surface of the soil is kept in a well-broken up condition, so that a kind of thin mulch or layer of fine soil is spread over the surface. This prevents evaporation, and, at the same time, admits of the easy access of such moisture as should fall.

The next thing is to see that the mulches of sand, chippings or leafmould spread over the roots of plants liking cool, moist conditions are of sufficient thickness to be effective. These mulches, too, must be maintained in a continually loose and friable state. After watering such plants always stir the surface of these mulches. When watering is necessary, do it thoroughly. A good soaking occasionally is always better and more effectual than frequent driblets. Indeed, the latter do more harm than good, and to some plants spell disaster. It is not generally advisable to water the rock garden plants overhead. Confine your attention to the roots alone. When doing this, never apply the water with force as from the spout of the watercan direct on to the soil. Lots of water will merely run away to waste, and soil will be displaced. The best way is to apply a little at a time, from a can with a fine rose, allowing each lot to sink in before applying more. If your can lacks a fine rose, direct the flow of water from the spout against a nearby stone so that its force is broken and spread. A very good method of watering plants which like a lot of moisture, or plants on sharp slopes, is to sink flower pots to their rims in the soil near the roots. Fill these several times with water, allowing each application to sink away slowly before applying another. WALLFLOWERS The ability of your wallflowers to go through winter successfully depends largely on the quantity of fibrous roots they posses at autumn bedding time. Though you can't see what is transpiring in the ground, you can be pretty sure that if the plants are growing grossly, they aren’t producing fibres. Their energies are being devoted to the development of a deeply-plunging taproot and vigorous side or lateral roots. If von transplant them like this, they will at the first weather crisis lose most of their big bush of soft foliage, leaving a bare stem and a tuft of top leaves. '

The only way to induce your wallflowers to form abundant fibres is to break the tap-root, which you can do by partially lifting each plant. Push in a garden fork Bin. deep and midway between each two wallflowers, and lift upward. When you hear the taproot snap, withdraw the fork and press firmly with your foot. After lifting, your wallflowers at once begin to develop root fibres, and by transplanting time they arc in a splendid condition fot sustaining their load of leaves. A weekly dressing of superphosphate of lime (loz. per plant per application) is an all-round strengthener.