GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20498, 14 May 1938, Page 18 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

Seasonable Work.

(By "Nikau”)

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT \ery little vowing should be don* now unless the drainage Is really good; raising the beds six Inches above the rest of the garden will help, iknd so will the addition of sand to heavy soil. ' sow turnip silvei beet, onion, parsley, broad bean, and dwarf pea (or even Greenfeast,. nd remove all the seeds from the bed. stir the surface soil, and weed it carefullw Clear away pumpkin and marrow vines if they have been touched by froet. SI no their fruits in a dry but cool place. Sa-.e seed Of the best marrows, pumpkins and runner beans. It, will he necessary to dry the seeds carefully, and then to store them in mouse-proof and rat-proof holders. Tins with small holes for ventilation will do very well. K ■'<•• should dug bel >re heavy frosts come. Store the tubers in sand, and examine them now and then. They should really be left to ■sweat” for a week before the storing in sand. 1 out • i •>. of garden ygiene, clean up ind burn dry rubbish; remove and burn diseased leaves of silver beet, celerv and other plants. s try day, stir the so;! around growing crops of carrot, spinach, cabbage, turnip, leeks, etc. T.o.n out parsley and other crops sown in the autumn. Begin [dinting fruit-trees and bushes, such as gooseberry and currant. While the weather is mild, plant strawberries firmly in an open, sunny position. FLOWERB Plant tulips and hyacinths, also the many other kinds of bulbous plants available. Sow lawns as soon as the'ground is workable. Plant hedge-plants, also trees and shrubs. Lists of various tvpes will be given later. Plant hard] bedding plants such as stock, pansy, viola, linarla, wall*ow < e*knduJa, carnation, polyanthus and Iceland poppy. xemes;a may be planted, but only in a dry, sheltered bed. Cut down dahlias, and label each clump. if it is desired, the tubers m .v be lifted in a few week-, or may be left all the winter in the -■ und. The chief disadvantages of lifting the tubers are that may become too dry, or may be eaten by woodlice. The dis»ntages of leaving them in the ground are these: The plants may st ,r? too soon into growth, and the soil cannot be dug and manured*. " r 'f > left to sweeten during the winter. Also, if the ground is very wet. they will rot. A I m the dahlia beds and plant t;:r n closely together for the winter in a sheltered, well-drained I lot gr »und. 'lb* dahlia beds can then be prepared long before ‘ nee, they may be sown now W1..1 lup.ns or oafs to be dug in as green manure in August.

THE LAST CALL This year the month of April had no frosts recorded in Hamilton, and thereby established a record. We have, therefore, been given a longer time than usual to make cuttings of tender bedding-plants for next summer. Readers who have a greenhouse at their disposal may make healthy yaung cuttings of such plants as Ireslne, altemanthera. geranium, begonia. petunia, fuchsia, shrubby calceolaria and other plants which would be damaged or killed by frost. A common mistake with such cuttings Is to plant them too thickly in the frame or boxes. This overcrowding limits the flow of air around them, and so encourages the growth of damping-off fungi and other harmful organisms. It is advisable to dust •ome flowers of sulphur around the plants occasionally as a preventive of mildew. CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES This is the best time In the year to plant cuttings of currants and gooseberries. In every case the cutting should be made of healthy new wood, but then differences arise. For instance, it is well to cut ofT all the buds on the bottom six or eight inches of the gooseberry cuttings, so that suckers will not develop. Most cuttings should be about 12 inches long, but the gooseberry cuttings may be two feet If a tall stem Is wanted. Black currants bear their fruit on new wood, and It is an advantage to have plenty of growths from the base. AH the buds on the shoot may, therefore, b* left on. Cuttings *of both red and white currants should be treated like gooseberry cuttings, and have tfie lower buds removed. Cuttings should he mt across just below a node or Joint. Two important points are to set the cuttings vertically to have growths all round . and to make the ground firm around them. At this season the cuttings should be set in an open, sunny position, but In spring and summer a shaded position should be given to all woody cuttings. OTHER COMPETITIONS Besides those mentioned above, there are competitions for hill gardens (to be judged in December.', terraced gardens, rock gardens to be Judged In the last week of November), factory gardens, and railway gardens to be Judged twice during the season). The hill and the terraced gardens may be In Sumner. RedclifTs. or Cashmere. Besides these competitions there is usually one for the best garden as viewed from the street, and even one for the best street. It is safe to say that these competitions do much to raise the standard of gardening, and to make Christchurch what sh° proudly claims to be—The Garden City.” ANEMONES Though lacking in scent, anemones are amongst the finest of all Cowering plants; they have beautiful foliage and flowers, and they bloom freely for aeveral months. Moreover, they are perfectly hardy when the drainage Is good. They are raised from seed, usually town about midsummer; If given a fair chance, the seedlings bloom in the following spring. It Is too late now* to sow* seed for plants to flower well In spring, but there is still time to plant the tubers. The ground, should be cleaned of weeds and then manured with well rotted manure or compost. Cow* wwnrr sfx to twelve months otd. •u!ts them splendidly. For early blooms a warm situation Is best, but for the main crop there is nothing better than an np* n position. To allow* room for cultivation, set the plants •bout nine ineb** apart; the depth Should bo no more than two inches. If the soil Is heavy, add a g.»od deal of •and and wood-ashes. The St. Brigld tubers have rather a conical shape, arid should be s*t with the point downward and the flat top uppermost. The older species have tubers somewhat flattened, with sev- j •m! knobs and projections and if fs ! often impossible to tell the top from I IN-* both n; Ai - § vn I for three or four years, but the best j results are obtained from those plants j which are either one or two years old. Often the anemone foliage is at- I tacked by i rust disease*wh ch over- j winters on certain kinds of shrubs I

(sue!: as plum trees) and tr«es. It . Is therefore advisable to examine the foliage and to spray it as soon as any | disease is noticeable. Lime-sulphur, or I Bordeaux, or potassium sulphide may | be used as the spray for rust, mildew, | etc. on anemones and most other I plants. There are several species and many varieties available in New Zealand. One species that is not common enough Is Anemone hortensis. fulgens, a scarlet with single and double flowers. The comonest species is A, coronaria, with many different types and varieties—single, double, and semi-double—-with many colours. One of the greatest favourites now is "His Excellenoy" a large scarlet-flowered anemone. There were some tine specimens of this variety grown locally last year, and there will probably be more this year. Still, for the average garden the modern strains of the semi-double St. Brigld will be preferable to all the other types. RANUNCULI These are very like their flrat cousins, the anemones, and require much the same kind of treatment manuring, depth of planting, spacing, etc.,. They will stand more moisture, however. The old tubers can be divided by a gentle pulling apart, but isolated “claws” are useless. Ranunculi are very easily raised from seed, which should be sown as soon as it is ripe. It does best when sown in the open ground, but in the Waikato the quick growth of weeds causes trouble. A way out of the difficulty is to sow the seed in boxes and to keep these in a shady place all summer. Then the plants can be set out in the beds in autumn. * The types of ranunculi are many and varied, ranging from the old bachelor's buttons” to the modern, informal giant flowers. For the last few seasons there have been some strains containing the purest yellow flowers that could-he imagined, and of -’oiire there are all the orange and 1 red shades that have been available j hi ranunculi for many years. There are some poor strains on the market, so that care must be exercised in buying ranunculi.

TREE DAHLIAS The tree dahlias are in flower, and yet there has been no frost to cut them —strange to say. The tree dahlias well deserve their name, as they are true dahlias rising to a height of fifteen feet and more. The writer has often cut them back when they have reached a height of about five feet; the result has been twice as many flower stems, borne at a reduced height and therefore less subject to wind and frost. In a large clump a flower on every head but one had opened on the one day. just as the first daisies in a lawn open on the same day. as if by agreement. There are two fairly common varieties of tree dahlia—the pink and the white. They should be planted in October or November, like other dahlias-