101 jobs, by the fireside

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 390, 11 June 1991, Page 9

101 jobs, by the fireside

by

Bea

Barnes

This cool wet weather offers little incentive to tackle the 101 jobs that need to be done in the garden at this time of year. To step outside the door with gardening gloves in your hand seems to be the signal for the rain to pour down again and sees me scuttling back inside to the comfort of the fireside.

Browsing through the Encyclopedia of gardening. I came to the section on Liliums, and spent a happy half hour with the many illustrations of these lovely exotic flowers. Space being at a premium in our tiny garden, I have never grown Liliums as they tend to form large clumps, needing elbow room1 so to speak and, having established themselves comfortably, prefer not to be moved around too much. They are quite easy to grow given a well drained soil enriched with well rotted compost or leaf mould and a position in full sun or partial shade protected from the wind. They need to be watered freely during the growing season. I am told by one of our very capable gardeners that the Asiatic hybrids do very well in this area and can be relied upon to make a good showing. I was also most impressed by a very large plant of unknown variety of Lilium auratum which I saw growing in a local garden. This magnificent lily was more than 1.22 metres high with huge bowl shaped flowers with recurving petals. The perfume was really delightful. If you buy Lilium

bulbs follow the directions for planting printed on the packet as each variety, of which there are many, has its own requirements, but if you are given some bulbs from someone else's garden you won't ^o too far wrong if you plant them from 14 to 20 centimetres deep and about 30 cm apart. Generally speaking, plant in ordinary good garden soil unless you

are sure that the variety you have is tolerant of lime. A mulch in the spring with well rotted manure or a leaf mould will give the plants a good start for the growing season and encourage good flowers. Gladioli bulbs will soon become available and for a good showing prepare the ground in advance. Gladioli need a well drained soil in a sunny position protected as far as possible from strong winds. If the wind factor is likely to be a problem a firm stake will be necessary put into position at the time of planting. To prepare the bed dig in some well rotted manure and dress the sur-

face of the soil with blood and bone or bone meal lightly raked in. The corms need to be planted 10 to 14 centimetres deep and no further fertilisation nor watering will be required until the spikes appear. Care should be taken at this time to keep the young plants free from weeds. As the plant grows, water quite generously in dry periods. If you grow gladioli for cutting purposes the corms can be planted about 30 centimetres apart but for garden display they may be planted a little closer together. There are some lovely varieties of Gladioli now with a wide range of colour variations. The variety "Butterfly", although not as tall and with smaller rather frilly flowers, have a good colour range and I think have an appeal all their own