GARDENS IN TAUPO

Taupo Times, Volume 11, Issue 76, 1 July 1953, Page 2

GARDENS IN TAUPO

SOME CHARMING PLANTS

(By

Flora)

Among decorative plants which may be planted now none are more charming than the heaths or Eiricas, to give them their botanical nam(e. All this family do partieulariy well in this part of the country. But it is wise to provide shelter firomi our cold southeast winds, and with some varieties the overhang from the house is beneficial. Th.ey cannot stand draughts, while an annual mulch of leaf mould or well rotted sawdust, applied in eairly summer, when the ground is still moist, will help them over the hot dry months. They show no sign of distress until it is too late, so their requirements have to be anticipated. Suitable Soil Conditions. Soil conditions suitable for rhododencLrons will also please the ericas. A well-drained soil, such as ours, and one free from lime, with an abundanee of organie matter, is their happy medium. B,e sure you have not irecently emptied the ash-pan where you will be planting these subjects. Fresh farm-yard manure must not come in direct contact with the ffoots, so should you be adding this to the soil see that it is in well rotted condition. Ericas are inclined to grow straggly junless pruned, so cut them baek, but ' not dirastically, immediately after flowering. Should you decide to get one or more of these charming plants, a choice from the lollowing should be satisfactory. Some Good Varieties. Eadca melanthra: height about four feet. This is a lovely species eovered at present with quantities of mauve flowers. Erica Parkeri: flowers in the spring, clear pink flowers in dense heads. Erica Darleyensis: this is very hardy, having rosy flowers in winter. Erica mammosa coccinea: summeir flowering, with orange-scar-let flowers in dense heads. Erica ruhens: hears small rose-pink flowers. Winter 'Gem: lovely biright red, but does need proteetion of some kind, as it is not one of the hardiest varieties. Erica Mrs D. S. Maxwell: a good

red. Eirica. cinera, The Scotch Heather; mauve flowers. Some Native Heaths. The true heath family is very poorly repiresented in the New Zealand natives. One, the Gaultheria, is found girowing in the scrub-lands of the Taupo Country, and you may recognise it by its pink or white berries. Sometimes ealled the snowberry, a Maori name is tumingi. But another closely related family has several irepresentatives growing in these parts, some of which you may know. Cyathodes acerosa, the Mingimingi, has a fine leaf and bears either r,ed or white benries. Leucopogon Fraseri may be seen among the teatree, growing as a .straggling plant along the gound. 'It beairs quite large orange berries. The Grasstree, Dracophyllum, known to th,e Maoris as Nei-nei, girows in profusion on the higher waste lands around Taupo, and also commonly on ! many of the cliffs ofjdie Western lake shores. Its stiff habit of growth and drab brown colouiring gives it a very dead appearance.