PANSIES FROM CUTTINGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 February 1941, Page 9

PANSIES FROM CUTTINGS

SOME USEFUL HINTS. Enthusiasts who already possess a stock of pansies will no doubt have some of which they are particularly proud and which they would like to propagate. With such plants, the next month or two is a good time to make a start. I Cut back all straggly growths, at the same time removing the flowers. This will encourage the formation of strong, young shoots from the base, which will make the ideal type of cutting. Those about the thickness of a slate pencil, provided they show no trace of hollowness in the stem are ideal, and should be taken about two to three inches in length. The cuttings are trimmed in the usual manner, the bottom leaves are removed and they are cut ofT immediately below a joint with a sharp knife. In the meantime prepare a cutting bed in a frame. In it. the cuttings can be dibbled in rows fours inches apart, allowing three inches between the cuttings in the rows. If the frame is kept closed, it will not be long before topgrowth evidences the fact that roots have been formed. when increasing quantities of air can be admitted. Like seedlings, cuttings rooted now will make ideal plants for putting out in their flowering quarters in the auturryi. Although it is a long time yet before planting will even be contemplated, a word on the preparation of the soil will not be amiss. There are few home gardeners who realise the absolute need for deep and thorough digging with all members of the pansy and! viola family. The plants are naturally j deep rooting; they will, if given a chance, quite easily delve down to two l or three feet. What is more, they have! an abhorrence of parched soil conditions. It is only by deep digging that they can be given an opportunity of rooting down away from the influence of parching sunshine. Partial collapse of plants in summer is invariably duel to shallow and insufficient preparation of the soil.

PHLOX PERENNIAL AND ANNUAL. PLENTY OF FEEDING REQUIRED. The perennial phlox is one of the most valuable of summer flowering perennials suitable for grouping in the herbaceous border and for filling . large beds. There are two typos—an early kind which grows to a height of two feet and two feet and a-half and flowers principally in December and January. Some of the more delicate colours burn in full sun. and consequently they are better when planted in partial shade. The main herbaceous phloxes, which grow to a heightof from three to four feet, have been obtained by crossing several of the North American species. They are bright and varied in colour, including all shades from rich vermilion through the delicate intermediate shades to pure white. The old dingy purple varieties are not. so desirable. They will grow in any well-manured soil, but prefer a fairly stiff one with a moist subsoil, and they do like plenty of feeding. When in growth a mulch of well-rotted manure is appreciated by the surface roots; they require plenty' of water during dry weather and liquid manures once a fortnight. As old plants soon grow out of the ground, and become woody, they are better when replanted every three or lour years. They can be propagated by means of seed, cuttings of young growths, of the roots, and by division. To perpetuate the named varieties the vegetative method is essential. When the young growths are from three to four inches high in the spring, cuttings, if taken off and inserted in small pots of sandy soil and placed in a cool semishaded place, will soon rot. If gentle heat is available they will root quicker. In early spring just as the young growth is starting the old elumps can be divided up, but only the young pieces round the outside are any good The solid woody portion of the clump is useless, and should be rejected In the autumn or winter pieces of the roots three inches long can be inserted in pots of sandy soil in a cold frame or gentle bottom heat. When working up a stock of any special variety division of the old clump is the method of propagation usually practised.

Phlox Drummondi is very useful and beautiful half-hardy annual, usually raised from seed sown in gentle heat in September. The seedlings are pricked off into boxes as soon as large enough to handle and after being hardened oil' are planted out in an

open, sunny position in a moist riels soil. When three to four inches high, the tips of the plants are pinched out to cause branching and after iikrnting they should bo pegged down from time to time to prevent the wind from twisting them round and breaking the stem. Varieties arc numerous. The leek is also one of the .Alliums, and a very useful vegetable for wmtei and early spring. Young plants: can be obtained from the seedsmen, or. if grown in your own garden they are lifted and after trimming the roots and the leaves they are dropped mtn hole* made with a dibber from four to six inches deep and watered m. Then- i? tin need to push m an}' seal, th.- v.-at<-* will wash down suillcictit soil to r.,yethe roots, l ater on they can be earthed up a bit to obtaisi a nice white item of six inches <>r more