GARDENING NOTES

Shannon News, 25 May 1928, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES

SEASONABLE EOUTINE WORK,

During the bright sunshiny days of the past week it was difficult to realise that cold wintry days were near at hand. It was ideal weather for filling borders with everything needful for a bright display during the spring and early summer.

Many gardeners prefer to plant roses at this time of the year, and certainly they get a better chance to get well rooted provided the drainage is good. Spring days are so often accompanied by wet weather that planting operations are hampered considerably, and it is a wise plan to plant all that, can possibly be planted at the present time. All evergreen shrubs and trees, hedge plants, etc., will be a greater success if planted now. # Those who have room for trees should not miss this opportunity. ' Trees are beautiful and useful if the right sorts are chosen. It is just as easy to plant a good tree as to plant a useless one. Protect the crowns of delphiniums in the borders by heaping ashes over them.

Keep beds of winter blooming plants scrupulously tidy. Don't forget that neatly trimmed* grass edges add much to the general appearance of the garden.

Apply any basic slag needed for the garden.

Apply naphthalene to vacant flower garden land, to kill any lurking pests. Apply lime to new borders before planting. Work hard at structural alterations on all suitable days. These should include the making of new borders. Laying of new lawns, making of new shrubberies, making of new paths, and the making of special gardens, such as wild garden, rock garden, sunk garden, herb garden, etc. Erect terraces, steps, arches, pergola's, etc. Plant all kinds of herbaceous perennials. Complete the planting of all hardy bulbs,. The Greenhouse. Collect and stock leaves for forming leaf mould for future use. Cut and stack sufficient turf from an old pasture for next season's requirements. Procure and place under cover a sufficient stock of cow or horse manure and sharp clean sand. Pot up lily of the valley for early blooms. Bring- in the pots of friesia, hyacinth, and early flowering polyanthus narcissi. , Wash all empty pots and seed pans, and give all the glass a good cleaning. This makes a big difference to the growth of the plants during the winter. The Vegetable Garden. To keep marrows a long time, suspend them from the roof of an airy shed. Continue lifting root crops. Sow broad beans, lettuce, cabbage, etc. Push on with all planting operations, drainage work, etc. Remember that well drained plots grow early spring vegetables. In special positions a few early peas may be sown and early potatoes, but the locality must be well drained, and sheltered somewhat from heavy cold winds and frost 9.

Plant es-challots, potatoes, onions, and transplant the autumn sown onions as soon as they are large enough to handle

Concerning Roses,

Perhaps of all peaceful home enterprises none, 6 is so fraught with veried adventure as the making and maintaining of a rose garden. Those who have ever made one know the truth of this statement. First there is the conception of the design which is usually altered several times before meeting with entire approval. There is the adventure of the ever new miracle of creative growth, and the soul-satisfy-ing adventure of worsc. Those who truly love roses or any flowers are never content to merely look on. There arc liberal hours of summer work, wintor hours won at pitch and toss with the grudging elements and enjoyed all in a hurry before darkness sends one indoors to dream of more roses and new colour schemes. There is the adventure of selection and what an adventure this is, and lastly there is that gripping adventure of providing the price. Catalogues come in with particulars of the old, and the very newest varieties, with glowing descriptions and alluring colour plates, into which sea of information, the feckless rose lover plunges joyously, while other members of the family perchance stand on the bank, pointing out that novelties have not been sufficiently tried out (which, is possibly true) and that it would be better to wait till next year (which the rose lover has no intention of doing.) We go on picking our favourites, and certainly some of them prove winners.

Shot Silk has come out with flying eolours. This rose is a wonderfully free bloomer and has lovely glossy green foliage. Madame Butterfly is perfection, reminding ono of the choicest porcelain, with its exquisite soft pink centre shading off to the tips to a faint shell colour. By-thc-way 'there is a new sport in growing this in a climbing form, described as being the same colour, with flowers slightly larger and fuller.

Golden Gleam is sure to please all

rose growers with its .beautiful- bright buttercup yellow, blooms which are often streaked and flushed with scarlet, a good companion to Golden Emblem and really a better rose than the latter.

Lady Love, somewhat resembles Madame Butterfly, but has more apricot in the pink. Sallie ,Lewis is charming with its deep apricot tints shading off to creamy white. "Where beds of one colour are needed, the roses chosen should be free blooming, hardy, with attractive foliage. In crimson shades General McArthur is still hard to beat, and for pink, Caroline Testout, is thought much of. Certainly it is a lovely pink, but the general effect is- somewhat marred by its habit of drooping flower heads. Personally I love a rose that holds its head well up, and would rather chdose Betty and Betty Uprichard for pink tones.

The climbing Caroline Testout shows to, much better advantage and. makes a lovely wall pillar rose as does Paul's Lemon Pillar.

For open exposed situations ithe dwarf polyantha roses are ideal. They • are • always in bloom and their huge clusters of small double flowers pre very showy. Orange King is a little gem and has won much admiration, while for a rose with the true old world scent give jme Hardley, a rich maroon with a delicious perfume. • Everyone loves Paul's scarlet climber, but no one who has not seen it turning to flame in the last light / of a November evening has ever really seen it at all. No well brought up rose grower ever mixes roses with other flowers. You may have masses of pansies and violets nearby but do not let them intrude into the rose garden, or at the most, just use them for an outer edging. Pinks and Carnations. In the garden we find specialists wherever we look. One specialises iin sweet peas, another in bulbs, another in roses, and so on. Undoubtedly there is a great fascination in making a special study of any group of plants and in getting together a collection of as many different species and varieties as possible. This is often a rather expensive hobby, unless the plants can be raised from seed. The carnation family is particularly adapted for specialisation, for not only are the members of this family very readily raised from seed, but seed in variety is easily obtainable. Another advantage of the family for the purpose in hand is the rapidity with which the plants grow. If sown early enough it is quite feasible to have the plants in bloom the same summer. Many favour the autumn sowing. Like the "stock, the carnation cannot be counted on, to always give double flowers. A few singles, are sure to come in every batch of seedlings. In any ease, there is no difficulty in removing the offenders and of those which are well worth while, a larger stock may always be obtained by cuttings and layers. Then there are the pretty allwoodii picotee forms. The smaller rockery pinks are "also easily raised from seed and afford a simple means of furnishing a rockery at small expense. A word or two in conclusion as to the placing of pinks or carnations in the garden. The ideal situation is along the top of a low stone retaining wall. Here they get the perfect drainage which is so essential to their well being. They will soon clothe the surface of the wall with a delightful garment of grey, which in due season will be exchanged for a flowered and perfumed robe.

Although it is usual to emphasise the point that deep digging is g6od gardening, yet, there is one place where this practice iiiight reasonably be termed bad gardening, and that is, among the shrubs. The fetish of "tidiness" is often responsible for a great deal of damage where the ground is often twice yearly deeply dug. Labourers are often put on to do this tidying up with the spade sent to its full depth. This often means cut and .badly damaged roots. Hundreds of fine flowering shrubs have their lives shortened in this way. Only in newly planted shrubberies is it possible to really dig, while the trees are small and the roots do not penetrate to any distance. When the shrubs develop it is permissible only to scratch the surface. If "tidiness" is the be-all and the end-all o£ the shrubbery, why not. in order to conceal leaves and to achieve the desired tidy appearance, top-dress the visible parts of the shrubbery with fine soil or with leaf mould. This would obviate the use of the spade, and would increase the vigor of the plants. The soil, in the case of shrubs and of trees grown naturally is never disturbed, and the results are apparent to those who, haying eyes, can see... Why, then, should disturbance merely for '' tidiness*' be considered essential in the case of shrubs grown moro or less under artificial conditions. The fallen leaves are nature's annual top-dressing, and unless these encroach on paths, borders, or lawns, should not be carted off. Such things as rhododendrons, azaleas, lilacs, ribes. etc. resent any root disturbance, and it is to be doubted whether any shrub or tree benefits from any mutilation at the roots. Newly planted shrubberies should bo cultivated to keep down weeds, but when nearing each shrub, care should be taken that only the surface soil be turned over.