"It's garden show-time!"

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 421, 28 January 1992, Page 8

"It's garden show-time!"

What a peculiar summer we have had this year. Frost in January, winter one day and summer the next. Our poor plants haven't known whether to grow up or die down after coping with sunburn and frostbite. The roses seem to have been quite happy and have bloomed well this year. To ensure another good crop of blooms in February, and if you haven't already done so, give the bushes their final dressing of a good balanced rose food for the season. Discontinue the feeding programme after this but keep up the spraying programme to keep the bushes pest and disease free and you should be rewarded with another good burst of blooms. Town gardens will be judged again in February to determine the three finest gardens "as seen from the road". A little effort to dispatch those troublesome weeds, a general tidy up of the borders and the lawns and who knows, your garden may be among the winners. Gift vouchers will be awardcd to ihe

three finalists and the winning gardener will hold the Ohakune Pride cup for the year. If you have petunias which are looking a bit straggly cut them hard back to encourage new growth and more flower buds, nemesia can be treated in the same way. Removing spent blooms from marigolds, antirrhinum, pansies etc. prolong the flowering period. A foliar feed of a scawecd based plant food will help give them that extra boost. Pansies don't seem to have pcrformed so well, this year have thcy? Probably due to the warm wind drying out the surface of the soil. Some of ours have died out completely which is most unusual. There are still a few seedling plants available to fill those blank spaces. Petunia, vinca, french marigolds, salvia. The red and the blue which is very dainty, bedding dahlia which should come on to give quite a good showing right up to the time whcn thcy will disappear with the winter frosts.

Our poor dahlias have suffered this year having been cut back more than once by the frost but this burst of warm weather should sce them putting on the growth and hopefully some good blooms for the dahlia show to be hcld 23 February. Watch for the postcrs which will be appearing in the shop windows with details and obtain your show schedulcs which will be available at these outlets. To produce those prize- winning blooms your plants will need that little extra attention now. Tall varictics particularly those with heavy hcads will benefit by a supporting stake if high wind or heavy rain are not to grind these lovely faces into the mud. Vigorous growers will need quite a firm stake and the plant should be tied to the stake quite firmly but not too tightly, the tie being

fixcd about two thirds of the way up the plant from ground lcvcl. Spray the plants evcry two or three wecks with a good insccticide to keep ihe plants free of ihe pcsls which would damage the flowers. If earwigs are a problem use Carbaryl, spraying the ground around the base of the plant free of dead leavcs and other garden dcbris which will provide a nesting site for these and other pests As soon as the plants begin to show bud a dressing of sulphate of potash will encourage larger and better blooms. For larger flowers on longer stems the plants can be debudded. Beneath the top flower bud on each main stem two smaller buds will grow and these are the buds to pinch out so that the strength will go into the main flower bud. As each flower fades it should be removed to

encourage the plant to put up more flower buds. Some little plants in our garden have given us a great deal of pleasure this year and have invitcd comment from visitors. A rockery phlox called 'waggon whccls' made a splcndid showing being covered with a mass of salmon pink striped flowers, the petals forming the shape of a wagon wheel, hence its name. Another rockery phlox 'amoena', a deep magenta pink with a darker centre, is very cye-catching. There is also a variegated foliage form of this one. Two border dianthus 'white women', a very vigorous little plant with richly perfumed white flowers which turn pink before fading, and a striking crimson with a lighter perfume called 'glory'. Artemesia 'silver mound' has sparkling silver foliage. A beautiful foil against rose pink or dark blue flowers. .