GARDENING NOTES. (By Experience.)

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 83, 8 April 1911, Page 12

GARDENING NOTES. (By Experience.)

ROSES. As soon as the soiL becomes sufficiently moist transplanting roses should be taken in hand. The rose is a "very accommodating plant in this respect — there is a period of five months before us in ivhioh to do the work. Yot ail the advantages are with autumn transplanting; bushes put out at that time become established before winter, and eire in the same condition in spring as if they had not been moved, though that is perhaps rather misguiding, for the severance of roots checks exuberant growth with feomo varieties. This is so decided an advantage that transplanting should be undertaken for that purpose. Planted while the foliage is yet on, and with the Boil still warm, new roots are quiokly made, and the plants fairly established in their new quarters before pruning time comes. When plants are obtained from a nursery they are sometimes unavoidably out of the ground long enough to got withered, the young wood even showing signs of shrivelling. Steps should be taken to restore them to a fresh condition ; this may be done by _ laying them in water for a short time, if a pool is convenient, or by sprinkling them with water if not much shrivelled; this can be done after heeling. On receipt of the plants they should at once be unpacked and heeled in. First open a trench in a plot of well-pulverised soil wide enough to hold the roots and a good part of the stems, then carefully unpack the plants, examine the roots, and if any aro broken "or roughly cut, cut them with a sharp instrument above the bruised part, lay them down with the roots in the trench; if dry they should bo spiinkled with water, and the roots at once covered j with soil, which may go some way up the stem also. The National Rose Society of | England advises that if the plants are withered they should be buried entirely, root and branch, for two or three days, which will plump the wood up again. It is always better to heel the plants for a few days than to plant straight away: firstly, because they are much quiokcr heeled than planted, so are not left" exposed to the _ air ; and secondly, in the reclining position they are in when heeled they freshen up quiokly; they can then be planted as convenient, and taken from the soil as wanted. The preparation of the soil for roses has been dealt with recently, so I will not repeat it; there is, however, one aspect of it deserving of comment. Rearrangements in the planting of a garden, which is always advisable at times, will often necessitate planting a rose in a spot already exhausted by some other plant, tree, or shrub. It may not be convenient to re-trench the whole, and the addition of manure might not be sufficient to ensure the well-doing of the rose. It is best in such cases to throw out the exhausted soil from the intended, site of the rose and replace it with 6ome good new coil. Decayed turf, known to the gardener as loam, should always form the major part of such soil; to it may be added road sand or other gritty material to keep it open if the loam is clayey in character. When*- planting, open up a hole wide enough to_ allow the roots to be spread out horizontally, and deep enough to bury _ two or three inches of the stem. Having plaoed the roots in position, fill the hole up level with soil, then give the bush a light shaking with a lifting motion— thk will let the loose soil between the roots; then tread them heavily in, so as to make the soil very firm above the roots ; fill up the hole -with soil, but do not tread on this last layer; leave it loose to allow ready ingress to rain and the vivifying effects of the rays of the sun. A great mistake is often made in placing manure too close to the roots ; it should never be in contaot with them, when newly planted. The roots 'require clean soil about them; they will not take to strong manure, and many plants are lost in this way. Too much strawy manure i buried in soil freshly prepared for roses is also badi Last spring I wae asked to examine a bed of roses which had failed to grow. Most of the plants were supplied by a well-known nurseryman. The owner plaintively said : "It is not for want of manure." It certainly was not. I found .the soil to bs quite' loose and springy owing to the mass of strawy stuff trenched in. The soil laid so loose about the roots that they oould 'make no new fibre, and the plants withered up ; some died outright, the remainder only lingered, none grew, SPRINC4-FLOWERING BULBS. These should be got in with the leAat possibly delay. If any one will lift a few bulbs that were left in the ground they will find they nearly all have roots, a sure indication that none should be out of the ground now. I have frequently advised raising anemones by seed sown in the open ground in October, as a way to get early flowers. I have some that were sown early in November. They have passed through a very dry autumn, in a dry spot, yet "the first flower opened more than a week ago, and I expect them to continue in flower till next Novembor. Any one who raised seed in boxea about the same time had better, if they are still in tho boxes, leavo them there till they die down ; thoy transplant badly while in growth, but the tuber 3 will form in the boxes and be available for planting the following: season. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. If cabbage, cauliflower, and lettuce seed for providing the firßt of the spring crops has not been put in, do it at once, also onion seed, particularly the large sorts. Whore the cabbage fly (so-called) has ravaged crops, it will be wise to destroy by fire as much of the debris as possible, as well as rubbish of all kinds about and around the garden, no as to destroy as much larvae as possible. Do what we may many will escape, and our hope lays in a wet summer ; until that conies the brassicas will be a hard tribe to grow. The pest always does most harm in a dry season, because it multiplies with such rapidity in those conditions, and furIher, it does not help us at all to destroy the caterpillars unless we have an extra supply of rain to make the plants grow. SWEET PEAS. Answers to "Roseneath." — Regarding the seasons _in New Zealand as corresponding with those in England, midsummer day in England is the 24th June. In New Zealand I believe it is the 21st December; the rest can be worked out from those dates. This is, however, quite useless. Had you gardening experience m England, you would know why it is quite impossible to reap any benefit as to times for gardening operations from English works on gardening. Such works a^e useful only in keeping one up to date with the revolution of things, and to some oxtent with the principles of cultivation. It would be ridiculous to follow their methods as practised in England; the clitnate, with its frost and snow and dull dark days, renders a quite different system to ours imperative. As to tho best lime to sow, that depends on the object in view; there can bo no doubt, however, that autumn-sown peas /give better flowers and a longer period of flowering than those sown_ in spring. Those sown early in July give next best results. Later sowings depend more on tho quality of the- soil ; if this is strong they do well whenever sown. The main fact remains, however, that autumn is -tho best time to sow. Regarding sowing in beds or boxes, I confess 1 can see no advantage in it, and would not do either. Some growers raise them in pots, which may be a good practice, because the planto can bo turned out of pots without injuring tho roots. Tho advantages sought are to get the benefit of autumn sowing without too tall a growth, to enable the planting to be done in soil freshly prepared, and which has not been subject to possible flouring by/ winter rain, and to obviate risk of losses from various causes. The pote would need the protection of a greenhouse, so that they would bo undej: control as regards watering, and not at the mercy of the weather. These plants would be put out early in July and planted about 12in apart. If sown in the open ground the seed should be placed about Sin apart in a single row, and thinned in spring- to about the distance mentioned. Mid-April is a good time to sow. I am I not aware that there is any inherent weakness ir» the newer varieties. J" am inclined to think it is the reverse, though some kinds aro very shy in the production of 6ead ; this is likely to render them more valuapio as flower-producers, as it is seed-bearing that usually causes a premature collapse of the plants.

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