SEVERE SETBACK TO GARDENS

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5295, 7 January 1947, Page 5

SEVERE SETBACK TO GARDENS

BAD SPELL 0F WEATHER LAST R0SE OF SUMMER STILL FLOURISHING The unpredictable weather that has been' experienced this summer has made itself felt not only to holiday-makers and sportsmen, but also to the l'egion of gardeners throughout Rotorua. ICultivators • of esculent vegetables, and fruits and ornamental plants in Rotorua have Aad their theories rudely shaken and -find that although their Aorticultural progeny are just as strong and .just as comely as ever, they are rather backward — four to six weeks, in fact. | The Chief Horticulturist at the Rotorua Government Gardens, Mr. M. R. Boothby, stated yesterday that the unseasonable weather was entirely responsible for the backwardness of the plants. Flowers that should have burst intc their summer blooms at this time of year were still strug--gling along at a stage which should have ended towards the end of November. A bed of roses, which should, if every rose had its rights, have said goodbye to summer, was just reaching- full bloom and would probably continue tc- fiourish for a week or two. ! There was no suggestion, however, that the auality of the plants had in any way deteriorated, nor that their display would be in any way impaired. They were merely retarded. j "We normally get our best show in these gardens," said Mr. Boothby, "arc-und the end of February or the beginning of March. I don't think 'we shall see that show until the end oi" March or well into April this year." J As to the quantity of water used in the -gardens, Mr. Boothby said that there was practically none. Apart from small quantities used when bedding- down plants, there was little occasion to use any. It was a bad policy to artificially water large -quantities cf plants. It encouraged the roots to spread upwards and the amount that would he needed to satisfy the large number of beds in the Government beds would be quite out of proportion. There have been no radical alterations in the lay-out c-f beds this year and those changes that have been made tend more to lay out the hues in blocks, rather than in multicoloured lines. In referring to the bowling greens, Mr. Boothby said that howlers appeared to be satisfied with them. At the end of the season, they would be renovated in accordance with new directives issued by the Greens Research Board. Previously, the greens l ad been renovated by the expedient of replacing- worn parts with small circular plugs from specially-main-tained renovation lawns. This system would he replaced by the more thorough methcd of scarifying and resowing.