IN THE GARDEN

Shannon News, 18 May 1926, Page 1

IN THE GARDEN

j Heavy gales and wintry weather have robbed the garden of most of its beauty spots, and as weather permits beds and borders may be cleared and made ready for further plantings. The most should be made of the little time remaining for sowing sweet peas, shirley poppies, or any other hardy annuals. Owing to the absence of frosts, the ground is still warm enough to germinate these. Beds and borders will largely benefit by a. good dressing of lime, also digging in any manure that may be available. If "the tidying up of the garden is left until spring it is apt to prove a formidable task, as weeds grow apace, and wet weather hinders. There is no time like the present for the successful transplanting of all evergreens; the ground is not too wet and the operations in this direction may be carried out under comfortable conditions, it is rather late for the planting of any bulbous subjects, still it may be done, but really good blooms should not be expected. Perennials may be divided and transplanted, including carnations. . . The Vegetable Garden. In the vegetable garden, broad beans may be sown, and vegetables suitable for salads. A general tidying up should ,be. undertaken, digging over roughly any plots that are not wanted until spring. Gather as much manure as possible, as well as fallen leaves. All potato crops are ready for iifting as weather permits. Plant /asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries.

on Trellises or Walls. -""tJamellias in . bush form, planted in the shrubberies or- as single speci mens are common, but as trellis or wall-trained plants they are not so often met Avith. It is, however, an excellent way of growing camellias; they are capital subjects for hiding bare and objectionable walls. These trained - plants are quite as easy to growi and are equally as free flowering as bushes, their glossy evergreen leaves showing to advantage against a wall, and are always pleasing to the eye at all seasons. In addition to this, whe.ro the wall or trellis is so situated' as to cut ofE most of the bleak winds, the blooms are much finer and do not get damaged by cutting winds and frosts to the same extent <as when grown in the open borders. A narrow border should be made expressly for them; this must be well drained, as the roots require plenty of moisture when once they are fully grown. If good healthy plants are chosen they soon cover a wall, but until this is accomplished'"* the growths must be trained judiciously with that end in view. After this the training and tying are confined merely to the main and subsidiary branches, which usually need an annual fastening to wires or wall or whatever the former may be composed of. If the plants are fastened back in the manner described and not in a set and formal manner, they are much more graceful and beautiful when in flower than would be the case if every shoot were regularly tied in and made to look like a trained fruit ti-ee.

The flowers may without fear be I cut -with a good length of stem at- ! tached, and this in a measure obviates the necessity for severe pruning to keep the plants within bounds, as, ail conditions being - right, they make ample growth afterwards and quickly cover any portion which may be laid bare. In all other respects the treatment is the same as for bush trees. During the summer, where the leaves are apt to get dusty, an occasional spraying will keep them clean. Personally, I have a great partiality for the semi-double varieties, but whatever varieties are chosen, they do equally well when grown in this manner, and many gardeners who object to camellias when grown in the ordinary way, would find much pleasure in cultivating them on a wall, which should be* about seven feet high. Clematis and Their Species. Quite recently, whilst looking through an article on the growing of clematis, I was amazed to find the author maintaining that the only kinds worth troubling about are the large flowered ones, a point with which I disagree. Probably such advice only arises from the want of knowledge of some of the smaller flowered species, which even to-day are too little known and grown. Who has seen, and not admired, the nodding clematis (C. Rehdcriana,), with its ten-foot, streamers, gracing the walls of porches, or tumbling out of large trees, absolutely laden with nodding soft primrose yellow flowers, which fill the air with a charming', soft, cowsli,p-like fragrance for three months of the your. The variety C. Chrysocomo follows the mountain clematis (C. Montana) and its lovely varieties, and continues to display its fleshy pink flowers over a largo part of the summer. Of this, there is a lovely hybrid, the result of crossing C. Chrysocomo and 0\ Spooneri, with delightful soft, shellpink flowers, and known as C. VedC. Armondi, an evergreen from China, with luxuriant glossy leaves and handsome creamy white

flowers, is magnificent when seen at its best. The fern-leaved clematis (C. Calycina), a native of Corsica, is also evergreen and a joy to behold during the early spring, when it is laden with graceful yellowish white flowers. Another one that is most attractive is C. Coccinea, with its solitary pitcher shaped flowers carried on elegant six-inch stems, and a bright red in colour. Then what of Virgin's Bower (C. Flammula), which covers large trellises, pergolas, or trees, charging the air with fragrance during- the autumn. It is a perfect treasure in the garden at that season, and should be largely grown. An .altogether charming species from Portugal may be had in C. Campaniflora, which gives us a profusion of dainty pale blue campa-nula-like flowers, the flowers themselves being singularly elegant and frail looking in comparison with the vigorous growth of the plant. Thousands of flowers are out at the same time, and the lacy effect is exquisite. 0. Alpina and its varieties are precious plants, some of the pale blue forms being lovely. Many more could be added to this list of small flowered clematis, which are well worth troubling about, but I bope to find that a place is still kept for at least a few of these lovely climbers. The plants are too often set out in positions quite unsuitable for their development. Per- | haps the best position of all is near' the base of some large evergreen. In their native state this is usually where they are found growing to perfection. The evergreen acts as a host plant, and very little after attention is required. It is perhaps not generally known that our native species, which are too well known to need any description, may be easily grown by severing- from two" to three feet of the vine, inserting- each end of the length firmly in the ground in the form of a half circle. This will eventually commence to grow.