IN THE GARDEN.

Shannon News, 15 December 1925, Page 2

IN THE GARDEN.

Continued drying- winds have not tended to improve the "garden". Recently transplanted annuals especially are not making 1 their usual progress. Hardy autumn sown varieties are in full bloom, making a good display where a little shelter is available. Roses are iiowering profusely and all spent blooms should be picked off, a mulching of half rotted manure will be found beneficial to the rose border. Rambler roses are making new wood, these long- growths should be tied back as they often damage the bloom.'.:, the wind causing them (o sway backwards and forwards. Do not fa.l to take note -of the roses while they are in bloom and decide which are the best kinds to grow, and also notice the requirements of the different varieties as regards pruning." The hybrid teas comprise the largest number in cultivation, these usually require ah intermediate system of pruning, xuany gardeners overprune ,this greatly weakens and shortens the lives of th'r plants. -The hybrid perpetuals arc the only ones usually requiring heavy pruning. Carnations are commencing to bloom freely and should be disbudded. Plant out eelosia, verbena marigolds, zennias, petunias, amaranthus and salvias, these are all good late summer arid autumn bloomers H any dry sandy .spots are bare, sow portulacca or dwarf nasturtiums. The Vegetable. Garden. .Make successional sowings of peas and dwarf beans, also lettuce and I radish. Make a sowing of haricot beans for winter use, but allow plenty of room between the plants, most gardeners sow beans too closely 'to obtain a good crop. If is not too late to sow pumpkins, melons etc. | Make plantings of broccoli, cauliflower, savoy cabbage and brussels sprouts Whiter Vegetables. The aim of every gardener should be to have vegetables all the yeai round. Many fill the garden with vegetables which are over and don? before winter arrives. The present i.<the time to consider the winter sup plies. If possible plant some savoy broccoli; and cauliflower now, also procure some seed of each and sow, plants Avill then be available for filling in as the early potatoes are dug. It is perhaps not a pleasing- prospect, bringing the cabbage tribe safely through the heat of summer, owing to the ravages of the cabbage fly but a few sprayings of nicotine, red oil, or tar water will solve the problem, you may not'' manage to keep the plants entirely free from this pest but you will keep them in such & condition that they will quickly recover as soon as the. autumn rains commence. The swede turnip !s another fine winter vegetable-and space should always be spared for, a few rows. Swedes delight in lime and .veil drained soil, also basic slag. Iv >omc districts th'.; "fly" often works havoc with the tiny seedlings, but if showery weather follows the sowings Lhey grow quickly and do not suffer so much from the pest, if any' tiny holes are noticed in the leaves dust with soot or tobacco dust. Chrysanthemums. October plantings are now making good growth and if the plants are between six and nine inches high they' should have the tops pinched out to' keep them from growing too tall and to provide side shoots. Attend to the staking and tying up of the plants and watch for aphis. Black aphis is liable to attack the plants which should then be sprayed with black leaf 40 or any nicotine spray. Those that are being .grown for show purposes require constant attention until the. flowers are fully developed Keep the plants as healthy as possible and free from fungus and insects, the rust fungus is one of the worst things the chrysanthemum grower has to contend with and if the plants show signs of being effected, timely spraying is the only remedy, if nothing is done to help them, the plants gradually lose all their leaves. Any avail-, able plants may stilt be set out coming in very useful for late blooms.

Tulip tree (lirio-dendroji Tuliptera) among the exhibits staged at .one of the recent Rose shows was a few blooms of the quaint and interesting* Tulip ■ Tree. The foliage of this tree is rather attractive and in its autumn hues is the source of much admiration. A good specimen gro\ys to a height of from forty to fifty feet and does not usually flower until the tree has reached the adult age of

twenty years. It then blooms freelj but the colour of the blossoms is toe dull to render them very striking: Comparing' them with our present daj gorgeous tulips their shape is the onlj resemblance, even that requires a little stretch of imagination, the flowers being of soft green colouring re- . minding one of the freshly tinte'J leaves of the oak trees in early spring. Genius (.Mrs Ilraclshaw). Have you ever tried this geum as the outer edging to a long herbaceous border. If not, sow some .seed now, and raise a quantity of plants, "planting them in front of a long border so that the leaves will just touch when they grow to their full size, The result is very pleasing, the foliage is not high enough to hide anything behind, and the long flower like stems of the geums with their masses of bloom give a sort of scarlet haze through which you see the other flowers. If a scarlet and white effect is liked, a row of white violas grouped behind, gives a very pretty effect. >-• • continuously through the summer The geums begin to flower'so early and continuously throughout the summer months that they constitute one of our most valuable perennials, requiring nothing very special in the way of treatment. The new orange shade would -be equally as effect h-e. The yellow geum does not make the same striking display, but is useful to group with other flowers of the same colouring. There is also a new geum oi> the market, the colour being described as a rich apricot with the same

large semi-double Bradshaw.