Weather’s been fit for fish to do weeding!
HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER
BY
BEA
BARNES
Hardly the kind of weather to write about gardening. So far this month the wind has blown at gale-force, driving the rain against the window with such force that you almost expect it to disintegrate at any moment. The river has overflowed its banks and is creeping closer and closer to the road and we have braved the wind and rain to check from the gate just how far it has encroached. Needless to say the lawns are under water and if the level gets much higher the goldfish will swim out of their pond and go on a tiki-tour around the garden. Here's hoping that they will pull out a few of the weeds on the way. However, sunshine has been promised but if the cold southerly winds promised as well actually eventuate you will need to wait a while before attempting to plant all those seeds still sealed in their packets just waiting to go into the earth. Seeds must have good drainage and warmth to germinate properly and to plant in cold wet conditions will be a waste of time and money. It is lovely to see the mass of flower buds beginning to open on the flowering plumprunus 'Bleiriana' and the littleJapanese apricot sporting a mass of tiny fragrant flowers. Camellia 'Donation', always one of the first to flower, has its first few blooms and plenty of buds just showing colour. The new season's flower and vegetable plants are now coming along and in districts warmer than ours the lobelias, nemesia, dianthus and showy petunias are all on sale. It' s too early to plant them out here without the risk of losing them to spring
frosts and for a few weeks yet we must content ourselves with the planting of the hardy alyssum, antirrhinum, poppy, calendula, cornflower, pansies and violas. We still have the gay polyanthus and primulas putting up flower buds and a dressing of fish manure or dried blood will help to keep those buds coming. If the vege garden has been manured and raked over ready for planting, seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, silver beet and onions can be planted out now. If you are one of the fortunate ones with a greenhouse there is a good TI hybrid tomato available now which is ideally suited to greenhouse conditions. Last year I bought some potentilla 'Red Ace' and 'Tangerine', such pretty" little shrubs with dainty leaves and masses of tiny bright flowers. Deciduous in winter, they are at this time just a mass of brown dry looking twigs seeming quite dead. I asked the nurseryman about them and he assured me that they are very hardy and will shoot away when the weather warms up a bit. He said not to cut them back as they will send up fresh shoots all along the branches. Now I am watching each day for the first signs of new growth. It' s lovely to see all the cherries and other flowering trees arriving now. Remember the one I mentioned: the weeping prunus 'Kiku Sakura' grafted on to a six-foot standard weeping its lovely double pink blossoms to the ground. Two very attractive varieties of philadelphus which only grow to about two metres are P 'Frosty Morn' and P 'Sybille'. Both have the very fragrant white blossoms of the philadelphus but PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 14
HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER
FROM PAGE 12 each with a different flower form. It's a good time when you can't do too much outside to look out those hanging baskets from last year which have been stored away in the garden shed and give them a good scrub up with a drop or two of Jeyes fluid in the water ready for use this season. Soon the lovely tuberous begonias will be coming along so suitable for hanging baskets and flowering all summer long with little attention apart from watering and the occasional feed. If you grew them last year and have stored the tubers away for the winter have a look at them now to ensure they are firm and solid looking but don't plant them until the tiny red shoots appear which should be about late September or early October. I planted three in quite a large basket last year and they were quite spectacular all summer long. I intended to hang the basket from a hook in the verandah roof but it was so heavy once the plants had grown to full size that it would probably have pulled the roof down so it spent the summer fitted into a plant stand. This proved to be an advantage as I was better able to move it around away from strong winds.
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Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 603, 12 September 1995, Page 12
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798Weather’s been fit for fish to do weeding! Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 603, 12 September 1995, Page 12
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