GARDENING NOTES.

Shannon News, 8 May 1928, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES.

Seasonable .Routine Work.

Now that frequent showers are likely to take the place of the Jong dry spell, a great deal of necessary work may be got on with. It is most important to hasten on with planting operations while the soil still contains a fair amount of warmth. Everything has a chance to get well rooted and is consequently better able to withstand 1 the winter months. This applies also to all hedge plants and evergreen shrubs. If you are not able to get these planted in good time, they should stand over until spring. When planting trees it is important that nice fine sandy soil should be used to firm the roots well. This enables the small fibrous roots to immediately commence active growth, whereas rough bumpy soil will cause those same roots to decay. | Cuttings of most things may be inserted now, and in the layering of shrubs, be sure to provide some fine, sandy soil for these to rest in, in order to encourage root action from the layered branch.

Clematis may be increased by layerings, pegging them down near the joints.

Sever layered carnations and plant them in their permanent quarters. Keep narcissi beds, anemones and ranunculus free from weeds; this must, be carefully done as so many young shoots are still a little underground. It is therefore unsafe to use the hoe. Early sown sweet peas are now several inches high and need to be supplied with something of a twiggy nature to keep them off the'*ground. Dust them with lime occasionally to help ward off slugs. From now on, all sweet peas newly sown outside, will need to be protected from these 'pests. Garden Flowers; , Roses continue to make a fine display. These have bloomed exceptionally well this autumn, especially in those gardens where they were pruned half way back after the summer blooms had waned. Dahlia blooms are fast disappearing from the borders, but the scarlet-sal-vias continue to hold their own. Chrysanthemums now take pride of place in the garden and worthily so. Their handsome, stately bloome blend admirably with autumn tinted foliage. For all cut flower work, and for garden display they are excellent, keeping the borders gay over a long period. The Vegetable Garden. Acquire a stock of lettuce, spring cabbage, and cauliflower plants, and i plant in raised, well-drained beds. Potatoes, onions and shallots, will also prove of great value later on if planted now. Transplant the autumn sown oniSns as soon as they are large enough to ' handle. Another sowing of onion seed will be useful, but the work must be hastened with while the soil is yet warm. Onions are one of our healthiest and most valuable vegetables and every garden should contain as many as possible.

Earth up leeks and celery and clear all available ground for seasonable planting. If rnorfe- space is' required for them lift beetroot, carrots, and parsnips, covering them with sandy soil.

Tomatoes also may be done away with. x The largest green ones will ripen, and the .sfr.aH ones may be used for pickles, etc.

Pumpkins and marrows are getting near the end of the profitable stage and may be cleared away with advantage, making room for apother crop. Prepare new asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberry beds. Gather all available fallen leaves for leaf mould.

The Dahlia. If; is a long way back since the first dalilia was discovered in a South 5 American swamp, a poor, single, cac-tus-like type of brick-red colour. Truly the hand of the horticultural hybridizers have worked wonders with this ; species. Every variation of type and ■color has ben evolved until it seems that all possibilities must be exhausted. One of the most beautiful of all the family has however, yet, to be improved on, namely, the cactus dahlia, known so well to-day. Many other types are trying to oust this one from publicfavour, but, for decorative purposes no dahlia is more beautiful. Its weakness, like many other varieties, lies in its stem, and if cultivators of this type are successful in providing us with cactus dahlias on long stiff stems their future is assured.

Many of the most beautiful types of to-day are pendant, and their full beauty is only seen when wired, or placed in low receptacles on the show bench. Already we have a few novelties raised recently, the stems of which show a great improvement, and it is more than probable that, in time, the cactus dahlia will be able to hold its head as high as the recently imported decorative type. Some of the already improved cactus j dahlias, good both for garden display and for exhibition, will be found in the' Albert E. Amos, with crimson and flat blooms. The Edgar Jackson is a beautiful clear cerise, and the Virginia, a clear rosy pink incurved. Mrs. M. ' Strudwiek is a combination of charming, pink tints, Peerless, a splendid yel-,

low, Frederick Wenhani, fawny pink (this is an old variety but still holds its own). Alabaster seems to be the best white as regards stem habit. Signal, orange, and scarlet are good. Dorecn Woolman, a huge rosy pink flower. Mary Perrier is a good old scarlet variety.

There is one point regarding dahlia culture which needs emphasising, whether they are grown for garden display or for exhibition, and that is that thinning and disbudding are really essential. Gardeners who have not already practised this rule should make a point of doing so next season. Some plants grown this season side by side, some in. a natural state and others thinned and disbudded, showed a striking example of the value of this method. The best of dahlias, when grown ■ naturally, are apt to be disappointing. , But, if the plants are kept to about six or eight stems, with all side buds removed, the trouble taken will be well repaid. ! i Kalmia Latifolia. With the period of shrub and tree planting fast approaching, kalmia latifolia should not be forgotten. It blooms with the late azaleas and rhododendrons, and is a complete flower feast in itself. Its compact, bushy grbwtl and polished foliage is good to sec at all times of the year, but November brings its triumph of beauty with clusters of lovely blooms of tenderest pink shading to a deeper tone, and rosy buds and tufts of young leaves of freshest green. The flower is interesting to observe in detail. Seen partly in profile it shows, as a five-pointed cup standing on a short stem, each of the five divisions being strengthened by a shallow rib with a projecting knob between, making ten in all. The ten stamens i rising from the short tube arch over outwards so that the anthers rest in the little cavities. They are sensitive, and a sharp touch causes Uicir. h. ;h/ back to the centre at the same tiiuo flinging the pollen to a distance of three or four inches. The inside of the flower is further decorated with a zigzag, ring of clearest rosy red, delicately pencilled round the opening of the ,tubc.

Where the conditions of the garden are favourable no flowering shrub is more desirable. Damp peaty ground is what it most enjoys. Like the date palm it thrives and flowers best with its head in the sun and its feet in the wet, but this wetness should not be the wet'of t'he stiff clay land. The moisture of a deeply worked peaty loamy soil should be used. Lime or artificial manure should never be used near it, therefore plant it among the rhododendrons. Plenty of leaf mould may be used, but any manure must be well decayed. The latifolia will grow to a height of ten feet and will attain the same width in diameter and still retain its well filled and well dressed appearance. It is a native of the North Eastern •States of America, where it is commonly known as mountain laurel. Alpine Gardens.

Now is the time to review our alpines and consider what have been a success, and whether we can improve on our present arrangements. Alpines planted now take hold in a wonderful way. The ground is warm and we can generally count on a few autumn showers. ' The mistake many make is to hesir.p.l3- about remaking what may be now a most attractive spot, but which will, by next year, be a tangle. Four years is usually the longest one can leave the bed or bank untouched. When iv-niaking, every plant should be lifted, a quantity of the soil removed, fresh drainage put in, the rocks altered and re-set, and fresh soil with plenty of leaf mould added. Where young plauts are available of any particular kind, it is best to throw the old ones away, others will divide satisfactorily. Where many growers fail is in realising that drainage, and again drainage is the fundamental need of any alpine. Many alpine treasures may be grown in a bed raised some feet at one end of the rock garden. The foundation of the spot should be composed of a foot or more of stones, then broken mortar and broken bricks, pieces of chippings as used on - roads, more stones, and then a thin layer of) sand, loam, and leaf mould with stone chips again to finish. In such a mixture, many precious plants have beon successfully grown which have died on ordinary rock gardens, and it is hard to realise how little soil nine out of ten alpincs require. A small rock garden would be all the better if made en- .' tirely on these above lines, as campanulas, potentillas, and dianthus will grow rampantly in the mixture. Some may need a little more soil than others but this is easily added. All would benefit by the perfect drainage provided. Lavender. Pieces six inches long, torn with r. heel attached from the plants and in sorted at the present time in sandy soil strike freely and quickly into nice sized little bushes. Lavender makes a useful and attractive low hedge for dividing any two parts ol the garden. 1 Sow mignonette and brompton stocks for • winter blooming. White Foiiaged Rock Plants. Where something' effective and hardy is required for the rock garden composed of rocks of a grey or bluish jolour, nothing is better than artemis-

in stclicriaua, and Stachy's lanata, sometimes called lamb's car. This latter plant's unique appearance is duo to its thick woolly foliage and stems which are of a silvery white hue. It will thrive in a very little soil, and .for this reason it it well suited for XJla-nting'iii any odd nook where plant life is "difficult to establish. Artemisia stelleri'ana is a species of the wormwood family and has u slightly -trailing habi:. The foliage is really beautiful, bold, very silvery, ana handsomely divided, reminding one of a silvery mass of low growing chrysanthemum leaves. ' - Where something large and bold is required for a particular spot in the rock garden try the silvery giant, thistle. This is a handsome plant ati nil times, and in its. flowering season is doubly .attractive on account of its decorative buds and expanded flowei-a, which are a lovely wedgewood blue shade. The same colouring is to be had in ecrastiums, or snow in summci. The variety, cerastium tomertosum, is; much the best of the species, the foliage being narrower and whiter with small white flowers. It makes an ideal edging plant where silver foliage is required. Cineraria maritima, with its deeply cut white, foliage,-is'a'good companion to the above list, but it is of more, upright growth, resembling- ■ a smal4i shrub in appearance, and bears yellow ; cineraria-shaped flowers. The varieties mentioned require' no special cul-. ture directions and may be planted with confidence by the veriest amateur in rock garden, culture., 'Effective grouping of Narcissi on Grass. In all ornamental planting most 9 of the effect is obtained not'so much by the large; number of plants used, but rather by the natural or a"rtistic quality of their grouping. In wood and field alike, Nature rarely, if ever, groups her flowers at equal distances apart like slates on a roof. On. the contrary, her flowers produce. a cloudlike effect, being thick in one place and thinly scattered in another, and seldom is the same design repeated. With all wild flowers, whether growing along streams, in the woods, or on dry sunny banks, the same natural unaffeeted grouping- is to be seen. Regular rflanting destroys all repose and it also destroys the subtle charm of contrast, a characteristic quality as essential in garden as ; in a painting. In planting bulbs, gardeners might well imitate the work of some of the oldest and best of Japanese artists, and leave the background untouched. A breadth of fresh green lawn or meadow grass contrasts with and enhances t'he effect of flowers in masses, and a few bulbs grouped or massed irregularly will prove far more attractive.than twice the quantity planted at regular distnecs apart all over the surface oi the lawn or orchard, or meadow. It is very difficult-to induce some gardeners to leave the beaten track of planting flowers regularly, and bulbs \ arc seen planted in circles, squares, :ind other stiff patterns. This regular-.' planting never really- satisfies those cultivated in the observation of fora and colour. The reason is that there if- no one point in the whole .display to act as a focus spot or resting place ' for the eye, which sees on all sides an equally laid out surface., In every good group or mass of flowers ont point must always be thicker .01 stronger than the rest. The easiest plan is to scatter the plants by hand •iiid then place them exactlv how ana where they arc found.