Delaying dastardly garden deeds?

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 432, 14 April 1992, Page 6

Delaying dastardly garden deeds?

by

Bea

Barnes

Clearing the garden of spent annuals to make way for new plantings is proving a little difficult this year. To make the most of our one fine day we sally forth with garden fork and wheelbarrow- at the ready only to be confronted with brave little plants putting up a further show of flowers despite wind, rain, hail and frost. How can you just dig them out and leave them to die on the compost heap? Perhaps next week? Easter will soon be with us and hopefully we will have cleared the remaining few annuals, trimmed back all the perennials, lifted all the dahlias and gladioli, dusting them with a good insecticide before storing them away for the winter in an airy place in the garden shed

and swept up all the fallen leaves to add to the compost heap. If your heap has been lying for a while and become wet and soggy, fork it over to let the air through and give a dressing of a few handfuls of superphosphate to act as an accellerant. A little attention during autumn and winter will reward you with some rich compost in the spring. Easter time is a good time for planting most spring bulbs except tulips which should be left until about the end of the month. There are some lovely daffodil varieties and spring would not be spring

without a daffodil. For large trumpet traditional daffodils my choice would be 'Malvern City' a lovely bloom on a tall strong stem. For the best red cup I would choose 'Foxhunter' although 'Majarde' is very showy. For pink cups I think 'Pink Cloud' or the old favourite 'Mrs O'Ronald". My buy for this year will be a few bulbs of 'Greenland' a dear little white cup with petals tinted green and 'Moonstruck' a large trumpet of pure white on tall stems. Ranunulaw, anemones, muScari, scilla, babiana and crocus can all be planted about now and our choice for this

year is the dainty white crocus 'Peter Pan' to be dotted between the dark blue/purple 'Negro Boy'. To make a choice among the tulips available is always difficult as there are so many lovely varieties and one is tempted to spend far too much money. I've spoilt myself this year and sent for a small selection of the lily flowered tulips. Tulips can be relied upon to make an arresting show of colour especially when planted in groups with low growing plants of a complementing colour planted beneath. I remember from years ago the massive beds of tulips planted in Kew

Gardens each bed of a single colour. Brilliant scarlet tulips with massed blue forget-me-nots planted beneath. Striking orange parrot tulips underplanted with the rich brown of wallflowers, and beds of bright yellow complemented by drifts of white. To name a few tulips to look for: 'Burgundy Lace', a rich red/rose cerise with fringed petals; 'Isolde', a very soft lemon yellow almost cream; 'Sunkist', a bright sunny yellow; and 'Henry Ford', a glowing carmine pink tall tulip growing to about 50cms; 'GrandStyle', bright china red on the outside and deep purple within; and 'Menton', a large flower of apricot pink tinted orange. The Turnpage 13

Gardening

From page 6 colour range increases year by year. Where space becomes limited and smaller things are the order of the day there is now a delightful little forsythia called 'Fiesta' which will grow to only one metre giving a brilliant burst of golden blossom along the bare branches in early spring. If the tall growing kowhai are not for you try S. 'Gnome', a true kowhai growing to only one and a half metres, with masses of the same large blooms as its taller counterparts. A couple of perennials tailored to fit small spaces: Scabiosa caucasia 'Alepina', a perfect little blue scabious in miniature and gaillardia 'Kobold' which has the large bright flowers of its taller counterpart while growing to only 30cm. Something new: the miniature rose of the month 'Orchid Lace'.