GARDENING NOTES.

Shannon News, 5 April 1928, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES.

Seasonable Routine Work.

Autumn showers will be very welcome to the gardener whose borders of flowers, shrubs, etc., have been getting drier and drier. It is advisable to wait for showers before planting out any plants which are now large enough to handle. It is less trouble t*r water them while they are in boxes or pans than it is when they are sot out in the borders. Advantage should immediately be taken of every good shower of rain for it is important that hardy annuals get a good start before winter sets in. Continue planting all bulbous subjects, also anemones and ranunculus. Keep all dead flowers cut off antirihinuin?; they will then branch out in all directions and give a good late autumn display of short spikes of. bloom.

Geraniums and pelargoniums should’ be cut well back. They will then malic plenty of healthy young growth, and will often give a display of blooms during the winter months if they are growing in a warm sunny nook.

Gather fallen leaves for leafmould. This is valuable for the carnations and liliums.

Top-dress ' lily-of-the-valley beds with last season’s decayed leaves. Give violets a good top dressing of fertiliser, working it in among the plants as much as possible, and at the same time cutting away any surplus runners that, may have formed.

Flowers for Market. The present is a very busy time for those who grow flowers for ’‘market” purposes. All stock plants such as violets, anemones, ranunculus, and icelaud poppies, should be. liberally top dressed in order to give them .every chance of blooming early. A bed of forget me-nots and' mignonette is also useful, in fact anything at all that can bo induced to flower during the winter. Cyclamen blooms are in demand and may be grown where a greenhouse or large sunny window is available. Antirrhinums will give a quantity of blooms if grown in any dry sunny spot. Anemones and ranun cuius, although flowering early in sunny places, yet require a certain amount of Any bulbs planted should be the earliest blooming available, the later flowering ones will not be found at all profitable. Much attention must be given to soil conditions. The winter flowering subjects should bo planted out in high, well-drained beds, with plenty of turfy soil and partly decayed straw A great deal is gained if the beds can be covered with sacking or some material which will keep frost off the ground and so keep it in a warmer condition. The cover should be removed each morning. The Rock Garden. There is always something to do in the rock garden at all seasons, and as soon as the weather is suitable a gen eral clean up will improve the appearance of the plants. Accumulations ol dead foliage should be cleared off and no harm will follow if some of the moie robust shrubs and creeping plants are cut back, so to speak rather; drastically. Cotoneaster hVizontalis; is one of the things which should bt spared when pruning. This subject is; so very effective over flat rocks. The Vegetable Garden. The most important work in the vegetable garden at this season is to: gather together all the manure- avail-’ able, making use of all strawy mater-; jal, fallen leaves, turf from the roadside, and in fact anything which will; help keep the soil in a more open con-, ditiou and so aid in growing earlierj vegetables. Where possible biirn all; garden rubbish on spare plots oi ground, for the ashes do much to benefit the soil.

Keep all plots intended for lettuce : cabbage, etc., well hoed so that m stant U3e may be tftken of every, passing shower. Sow seeds of onion, lettuce, cabbagecauliflower, spinach, silver beet, swedes, turnips, etc., in well drained soil. ■ Sow broad beans.

Mangolds are gross feeders, and;, need more than what is given them; at the actual sowing. Top dress themj with nitrite of soda or a mixture of ) superphosphate. This gives very good: results. At least one dressing should! be given to increase the yield. Continue stopping the shoots, of. the cucumbers, marrows, etc. This is a; very important item and if neglectccij the’ crop of fruit will be scant, and* leaves plentiful. By pinching point off the runners, several side? shoots form. These also should be pinched when they are about nine* inches long. Make a point of sowing carrot seed.; Carrots sown at this time are much: sweeter, and there is an absence o. that hard core that the early spring; carrots often have, and which is so. much disliked. Prepare new rhubarb and straw berry beds. Chimonantlius Fragrans (winter sweet);

When ordering shrubs for a sunny, wall do not omit chimonanthus fragrans. Whoever was responsible for living the winter sweet its specific, name''of “fragrans” did not err, for the perfume, is almost, if not quito as delicate as that of the highlyprized stephanotis. It is rather strange, that this desirable shrub is not better known. ■ Given the shelter of a wall it?

blooms well during the two coldes

months of winter when its bare and leafless twigs are covered with insignificant but sweetly scented yellowish blossoms. A few of the latter float

ing in a shallow bowl will perfume a large room so much so that its pene trating fragrance can be perceived a once on entering the house. A rather deep and rich soil suits ehimonanthus fragrans perfectly, and during the summer the plant is at tractive on account of its fine dark green foliage. Room for Window Gardening. With the approach of winter more attention should be given to growing plants indoors. If they are taken in hand now they will have made good growth before frosts appear. It is rather a curious fact that the taste for window gardening often appears to partake of a local character. In some small towns and villages one sees almost every home with at least one ftfindew more or less well furnished with flowering and fine foliaged plants. In others but slight evidence is afforded of any great interest being taken in floriculture. .Lack of knowledge rather than want of taste sometimes accounts for the bare, cheerless, flowerless aspect which many dwellings present the whole year round. It will generally be found that the cottage gardens in the immediate neighbourhood of a large, well managed private establishment arc better kept [ and cropped than those whose owners do not enjoy the advantages of being able to watch the best methods of culture. Those who work or have worked in private gardens, if only in the capacity of garden labourer, invariably, grow better vegetables and endeavour to beautify their dwellings to a much greater extent than the ordinary farli labourer "or mechanic. In the same way a well finished window in a town or village will stir the energies and excite the emulation of the inhabitants generally. Consequently those who devote both time and paint, co the task of beautifying their dwellings with nature’s floral treasures may have the satisfaction of knowing that they may be the means of encouraging others to go apd do likewise, and what joy and comfort will a fewblooming plants and green ferns bring to some weary sufferer wh 0 is compelled to spend the drear winter months indoors. . How eagerly is each opening bud and fully expanded bloom looked forward toThose windows which project slightly from the dwelling are excellent for tasteful grouping Graceful drooping plants may be suspended from them, in baskets or hanging pots. Plants should be selected according to the aspect of the window. A fern, for instance, will thrive admirably iu a north aspect, where a tropaeolum would give but little (Satisfaction. Palms, primulas, musk, and cyclamens will also suit the north windows, while those windows which get plenty of sunshine may be devoted to brightly tinted foliaged begonias, freesias, and hyacinths, with crocuses growing m low bowls among some fibre. A pot of the pretty fern leaved grevillea is good for winter decoration, or even a Graceful little acacia tree may ® grown. A few foliage plants, with several well arranged flowering plants here and there cannot fail to give a pleasing effect. Where there is space more, than one basket may be suspended. . _ The work of cai-ing for window plants should be undertaken by one person. If left to no one in particular the plants are often left too long without water and other necessary little attentions. Autumn Catalogues.' The autumn catalogues are with us once again, full of vivid descriptions of desirable winter and spring blooming flowers. We peruse their pages and write down enormous lists ot what we should like to get, lists which are more often than not far beyond our purses and much larger than our gardens would hold. Then ensue torturing days when the flower lover cuts down item by item and whittles. away the list until is is considerably reduced. Sometimes it is left at this y stage for a further week or two and then reduced again, generally t time in consultation with enthusiastic members of the household, who bring tlie li<*ht of their fresh intelligence to bear oU the matter, and reduce things to a more or less reasonable proportion. The imagined garden, fostoreu with the help of catalogues, creates a strange mysterious fairyland of ever shifting shapes of beauty and glades of miraculous colour. We see a marvellous picture of this garden of glad endeavour, we view it with both a mental and physical eye, yet after all our dreams are not always in -vain, for whatever gives scope for imagination gives happiness.