HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 456, 6 October 1992, Page 8

HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

by

Bea

Barnes

A couple of days of sunshine, a drying wind, and the excess of moisture which has plagued us all winter is at last be-

ginning to dry up. Given a little more of these conditions and we shall at last be able to plant out our g arden for sum-

mer flowering. First let me answer a few enquiries. Yes, you can still safely move perennials and shrubs to new positions if they have not made too much new growth. Take them up with as much earth around the roots as you can and transfer to the new position, watering them if the ground is drying or if there is warm sun or a drying wind. Dahlia corms should be shooting now and if you lifted yours for the winter now is the time to replant. Corms can be divided and each piece with a shoot replanted. Discarding anything without a healthy shoot. Hopefully by the time the shoots appear above the ground all danger of frost will have passed. Plant gladioli now for summer flowering and supply a firm stake to every two or three corms. As the spikes grow they can be attached to the

stakes to prevent them being broken down by the wind. Camelias seem to have suffered badly during this wet, cold winter and have suffered quite serious bud drop - in some cases completely denuding the bushes of flower buds and are suffering badly with yellow foliage. A feed of an acid plant food should help to grccn them up and adequate water during the summer months is a must if they are to set buds for next season. The same applies to rhodos, azaleas, pieris and all acid loving plants. A good feed, some warm sunshine and improvement in the drainage will see a world of difference. Forsythia is flowering well now and when the flowers have finished the bushes should be pruned, cutting out very old hard wood and removing one or two canes right down to the base to encourage new growth from the base of the bush. Remember forsythia flowers on the second year wood so leave plenty of new growth for next year's flowering. Buddlea should be cut hard back now to promote fresh new growth and larger racemes of flowers. We are looking to fill all the bare-looking spaces with some bright colour after the drabness of winter. Don't be too

upset if you have had some losses in the garden, most gardeners have this year, some having lost plants and shrubs that have been growing successfully for several years. Take tip cuttings about four inches long from rosemary and lavender plants and plant these out to grow during summer. These will be ready to replace any bushes which have grown old and woody, in the autumn. Some lovcly little plants are becoming available now to fill up the borders and spaces on the rockery.

Alpine phlox is a good filler and soon spreads into a sizeable clump. The variety 'Camilla' is very showy with its light red flowers. The saxifragias are ideal for borders and rockeries and will make good ground cover dotted with dainty flowers. 'Mossy White* is very pretty with tiny white flowers green in the centre and 'Mossy Pink' has the white flowers daintily edged with bright pink. A charming little shrub growing only 25cms in height is Andromeda Nana. It has bunches of dainty tight bells in warm pink. The aubretias are always a good bet for those sunny spots with masses of flower in shades of mauve or pink. It will happily spread over rocks, trail down a wall or just sit happily as a clump in a border. It flowers for such a long period. Dicentra exima 'Alba', a tiny 'bleeding heart', growing only to 10 cms throwing stems of flowers to 20cms.

Easy to grow in any well drained soil it is totally frost hardy. Always a point in favour in this climate. Dicentra 'Bountiful' a rich red/purple is another variety. Domorphotheca 'Starshine' is another good border plant throwing up masses of stiff white daisy-like flowers

edged with purple, and viola cornuta is quite lovely with rich blue/purple pansy flowers. Helianthemum 'Suni set' with abundant golden yellow flowers 30 i cm in height will spread to a clump about lm across and positively | glows in the sunlight. For more shady spots with free draining but moist conditions ! myosotidum, the Chatham Island forget-me-not is a lovely sight growing under trees. Aquilegia fablata alba en- ; joys similar conditions I in partial shade. Primula wanda is a lovely little woodland plant growing only a few cms in height and will do equally well in sun or shade. A lovely complement to the woodland primrose, and who can resist the highly scented violet 'Royal Robes' with its deep purple flowers. Campanulata persifolia likes sun or partial shade and its dainty bluebell-like flowers on

tall stems 60cm in height. It will quickly spread into a large clump and makes a very pretty addition to the garden. Three tiny shrubs suitable for rockeries, borders or containers Euonymus 'Emerald and Gold' with dainty varie-

gated leaves; Lophomyrtus 'Pixie' a very hardy New Zealand native growing to 50cm in height; and the native hebe 'Sutherlands Gold' with gold-tipped light green foliage. This will grow to 80cms in height in sun or partial shade.