GARDEN NOTES.

Shannon News, 21 May 1929, Page 4

GARDEN NOTES.

Colder weather and frequent showers remind the gardener that winter is close ait hand, and -while the soil is still a little warm a great deal may be done in the garden, which null considerably lessen the spring work. Continue pushing forward alterations in the borders, such as rearranging plants to their height, rearranging the borders according to the colour of the flowers, and the making of direct colour borders. Complete the. planting of all hardy bulbs. , Plant all kinds of hardy biennials and perennials, but complete the work as soon as possible. Work' hard at structural alterations .such as the making of new borders, making of new shrubberies, new paths, levelling soil for lawns, making rock gardens, water gardens, erecting pergolas, arches, rose poles, etc. The early completion of alterations permits of earlier' planting, thereby saving many losses -which occur among spring planted shrubs, etc., when followed by a dry summer. Apply lime to the new borders before planting. Apply naphthalene to vacant flower or vegetable plots which are infested with any soil pest. Plant roses, shrubs, and hedge plants as quickly as possible or, with bad weather the work will have to be delayed until spring. Apply basic slag if this has not already been done. Layer shrubs and strike rose cuttings, hydrangea,- tamarix, cseallonia, and the like. Vegetable and Fruit Garden. Where soil is ready plant all kinds of fruit trees. These are all the better for early planting. • Commence winter pruning any time after growth has ceased. Use plenty of lime when planting fruit trees. Prune small fruit early, so that the bushes have the benefit of full exposure. Top-dress fruit trees in narrow borders, or where other near-by plants help to render the soil poor. Dig between fruit trees and bushes after the pruning is finished. Collect and stack leaves for forming leaf mould. Big over all vacant land, making use of all available manure. Wherever possible, burn all garden refiisc on these vacant plots. Weed and thin autumn sown crops, and tidy up generally before the soil gets too wet. Lift all root crops where space is required. These are -best stored in sand. ' Strike cuttings of herbs.

Get a good supply of potting and seed : box ingredients under cover for winter use.

The Lupins,

Broadly speaking, the lupins may be divided into three groups, annuals, perennials, and those of a shrubbery nature (tree lupins). The number of species met with under cultivation is comparatively few, but every year they are gaining in popularity. ' Taking them all in all, not only are they beautiful, interesting and useful, but all of them are of very easy cultivation in any good ordinary garden soil. The annual varieties are among the most ornamental of summer flowering plants, and the colours are most varied. The polyphyllus, or perennial lupins, are the most favoured. The spikes are so bold and outstanding, and are beautiful for home decoration. There are few herbaceous perennials capable of producing a finer effect in the garden than well-grown and equally well-flow-ered plants of these lupils. Not so very long ago, there were only pink and blue’ shades, now, the colours are numerous. The bronze tones in particular, are lovely, and the new sunset shade will prove a desirable acquisition. Then there are charming soft grey tones mingled with cither pink or blue, and for cut flower work, the great thing about them is that all tints blend well together, and a bowl or vase of mixed lupins is always a thing of beauty, and typical of colour harmony. The tree lupin is. a native of North America, and will grow several feet high, and often six feet through. Its silvery and somewhat downy leaves render it quite distinct and effective either in the. shrubbery, or as an isolated specimen. New colours aie aiso coming to the fore in this section, which may prove of value to those whose shrubberies are rather exposed, and only hardy subjects cau be planted. The perennial lupins arc easily increased from seed and by division of the roots. The latter is best done now. By early division, the plants are able to gather strength before flowering time comes round. When dividing the plants it will be found a good plan to press the prongs of a small hand fork into the woody stock root and then wrench the plants asunder. This is a safer method than using a knife, which oftypj-f'.causC'S .the loss of many valuable roots. ■ Seeds sown now will flower the first season, sometime during the late spring. Lupins associate extremely well with the lavender, blue, bronze and yellow flag irises, which bloom about the same time. Colour Harmony. A fair number of peopSo arc unable to perceive the extreme red rays of the spectrum, while others are unable to perceive the extreme violet, although they would scarcely be classed amongst the colour-blind. This probably accounts for the inaccuracies which too frequently occur in the colour description of various flowers given in plant catalogues. The most frequent error is in the failure to distinguish the difference between a pronounced purple and blue. There are those who class wisteria and heliotro-oe as blue flowers, together with gladioli, Baron Hulo<t, iris reticulata, and the single poppy anemones. There are also instances where seme flowers to certain people

appear pink in artificial light and skyblue by day. A cold lilac pink is made up of a mixture of red and violet. If an individual cannot perceive the extreme red fays, the object will appear a pale violet to him, and he will attempt to match this tint with the violets. An artificial light appears more yellow than daylight, because the blue and violet rays are very weak. If a flower is illuminated with such a light, and rod rays obtain a greater prominence, the object will appear pink. When any pair of tints combined together make white light, they are termed complementary colours. Crimson is complementary to moss green, scarlet to peacock, orange to turquoise, yellow to blue, primrose to violet, greenishyellow to purple. When one of these complementary colours is seen, the eye naturally craves for the other, and this is due to a physical cause. If we gaze steadfastly at a bright scarlet object for a few minutes and.then look away from it to the ceiling or some neutral ground, we perceive a faint image of it in peacock blue. That portion of the retina which responds to the red rays has become fatigued and will no longer respond to them so freely as .the eye does to the other colours. The eye obtains this relief when we plant complementary colours side by side, or by adding some one colour to each of them. If we take , the two complementary'dolours,'-yello-w and purple, and add a little red to each, producing an orange in one and majenta in He other, we got a delightful combination, such as we have by planting dark petunias with montbretias. But if we go on increasing the red and diminishing tie violet, and so bring the- majenta to deep rose colour and the orange to a scarlet, we reach an unpleasant discord.

Yet colour harmony depends too-, on the proportion in which they are' combined. In those of the scarlet cactus w(> find not only a touch of the complimentary colour emerald but a suffusion of majenta which gives an added brilliance to the mass of scarlet. A bed of forget-me-nots.when planted near ;ho soft hcliotfopc and pink Darwin culips, will enhance their warm colouring in a wonderful way, and what- a line combination vve have in the deep cerise ruby petals of lilium speciosum and the rich brown anthers.

Then there is the background to be considered. The free use of all dark foliaged subjects will not only throw into relief scarlet flowers but those of every colour, and when used as a background to the grey border, will accentuate it and prevent the border from becoming insipid. Perfect harmony in the garden calls for much thought, both ii. the habits of various plants and their colourings, hence the importance ol plants being catalogued in their true colourings. - Michaelmas Daisies. A few varieties of latd flowering types are still gaily blooming. Fpr h number of years the Michaelmas daisy has found a place in most gardens, and has been well thought of on account of its dainty feathery sprays. But with the arrival of the new species, gardeners are more than likely to consign their present varieties to the wild garden.

Wonderful improvements have been made in this hardy .class of plants. Some show blooms nip to the size of a penny, and many with several rows of petals, giving the flowers a more double appearance. The colours, too, have improved to deeper tonings. Blue gem is the nearest to a true blue, with medium sized semi-double flowers of a de.liciously soft toned pale lavender. King George is specially good -with ’ large bluish-violet flowers with’ a yellow centre. Barr’s pink is also good, although a deeper tint of punk would further improve the flower. Experiments might be tried in this direction on. the same scale as those of improving the colour of the pink hydrangea. Queen of Colwall and Mother of Pearl are two other good ones, the former has flowers measuring three inches across, of a pretty pale mauve, with curved florets. The latter is much the same colour, with a salvbry- sheen, the flowers also being large. The variety Aster Farrari has large flowers on a single stem, composed of numerous long, drooping florets of the richest violet colour, "centre Vermillion orange. This is most useful for cutting and makes a good plant for the rock garden. i ,

Two Alpine Gems. Gentian a acaulis and gentiana slnoarnata are beautiful subjects for the rock garden. The first-named blooms . in the spring, the latter during autumn ■with largo trumpet-shaped flowers of a wonderful azure blue shade, accompanied by a white throat and panelled back. During'the winter months, the plant remains dormant. In the'spring, more or less slender shoots appear from the stock, and as the season progresses, tiiey increase in length, trailing along the ground. From these growths appear further upright shoots, which have a dark green, rather slender leaf about one inch long, tapering to a point and from the centre of this shoot appear tho pointed buds. The plant is perfectly hardy, but requires careful planting if it is to bloom well. It should be grown in part shade and in a welldrained bed of leaf mould and peaty soil. Conditions that are easily forthcoming in the rock garden, as the position selected may be made shady by planting something of a shubby nature behind, or a bold piece of roclcwork will .give the desired shade for part of a day. Dig out the existing soil the required size* to a depth of at least two foot. If the bottom bo clay, break this up, next place, a layer of broken bricks, stones, or anything .to help drainage, then a layer of turf, filling iu with a mixture of leaf mould and soil. When within six inches fromthe top, place a few drain pipes across the bed, one upright one being partly hidden under a rock for feeding. Place turf around the joins and block up the

other end.. This is for irrigation purposes during a dry summer, as it is necessary to provide these plants with a moist rooting medium. During the hot summer months, pour three or four gallons of \vater down the pipe once or twice a week. , .Gentiana acahlds thrives under the same treatment, but loves full sunshine. Its blooms are also trumpet-shaped but a deeper blue, with hard, tough foliage, -which grows ir: tufts and is always green and shiny.