GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20740, 25 February 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

Seasonable Work. • VEGETABLES AND FRUIT

Dig mature potatoes and bag them as soon as possible, so that the potato moths will not be able to lay eggs on them. Take up onions and dry them carefully b\ hanging them up in an airv shed. Plant leeks in rich soil; allow from six to ten inches between them. Sow’ spring cabbage, turnip, winter spinach, silver beet, lettuce and stump-rooted carrot. Plant various kinds of winter greens, especially savoys, broccoli “succession” and drumhead cabbages. Soak the soil around runner beans once a fortnight, and keep the pods closely packed. Apple trees should receive a Anal spraying with arsenate of lead to check the grubs of the codlin moth. Burn diseased fruit, or bury it at least eighteen inches deep. Bud peach, nectarine and other fruit-trees. FLOWERS Sow mienonette and evening stock where they are to stay; a place near bedroom windows should be chosen. Use the arsenate of lead spray (i oz. to 24 gals.;, to kill all kinds of grubs and other chewing insects on asters, dahlias, chrysanthemums, roses, etc. Lay down lawns (drain, manure, and level), to be sown In March or April. Bud roses and other shrubs. Layer carnations, and also put In euttlngs. Plant most kinds of bulbs, and make up the beds for anemones and ranunculi. Sow anemone, ranunculi, pansy, viola, calendula, wallflower, primrose. Primula rnalacoides. stock, Canterbury bell, sweet William, hollyhock, gaillardia, coreopsis, dianthus carnation, etc. Sow winter-flowering sweet peas in a sunny, sheltered place.

A TALL HEDGE Readers who complain of having to use a step-ladder fo trim their hedges might ask themselves how they would manage a hedge eighty feet high. In a January issue of “Amateur Gardening” there is a photograph of such a hedge, and the paper solemnly assures Its readers that the hedge is trimmed or pruned once a year. Unfortunately the means is not described. The hedge is of beech, and is growing beside a highway eleven miles north of Perth, In Scotland. Possibly some of nur Waikato globe-trotters have seen this hedge and can give further particulars. A FINE EUCALYPTUS From another Issue of “Amateur Gardening” we have taken the following account of a Eucalyptus tree growing in Ireland; from the photograph mentioned It appears that that the species is the bluegum, E. globulus. “Our recent publication of a photograph of Cordyllne australis (New Zealand cabbage tree) growing in the Isle of Skye served to induce Mr Walter Smyth, who lives In the neighbourhood of Belfast, to send the photograph reproduced on this page, showing a magnificent Eucalyptus

which he raised from seed sown In a cold greenhouse about thirty years ago. This specimen is now between sixty and seventy feet. in height, and the trunk at Its bas • measures eight feet five Inches in circumference. The development of such a speciment is testimony to the fertility of Irish soil and the geniality of its humid climate. “There is to be seen also in the

picture a plant of Cordyllne australis. This, too, was raised from seed in a similar manner to that adopted in the case of the Eucalyptus. It is interesting to have these examples of British success with Australian plants thus brought to our notice. (Poor New Zealand f) Perhaps ft' is well, however, to remark that cfrmatic conditions around Belfast are totally different from those around Manchester, Sheffield, or even Leicester, and those of our readers who live m exposed districts inland are likely to find that either Eucalyptus or Cordyllne would be short-lived ernaments in their gardens." SPfcEHDfD ONIONS TWs week the writer was shown a spienlid crop of onions grown hi Nixon Street, Hamilton East, by Mr Cox. There were over five hundred bulbs, and almost every one weighed nearer two pounds than one pound. A fair number weighed more than two pounds each. It was even difficult to And any small enough for ordinary household purposes! There was a mixture of varieties, some being of the typical Straw Spanish type, and some being of tiie high, sloping.type of which Ailsa Craig is a fine example for exhibition purposes. The crop was remarkably healthy, the probable reason being that the section where they grew is open, and gets the sunghine nearly all day long. LILY DISEASE K to dlsconcerting to lovers of BEes to find that a disease has appeared in nearly every' garden where these beautiful plants are grown. In practically all cases it is the disease named Botrytis cinerea, an insidious pest that comes into the garden and gives little warning before it is fully established. * Though It Is not usually noticed until January, it may have started months before. It takes the form of small, whitish-grey patches which appear on the leaves and quickly spread until these fall limp and shrivel. In severe cases the flowers and stems also shrivel and die, and the bulb rots. At first sfgn of the disease the plants should be sprayed with a solution of one ounce of liver of sulphur to 2£ or 3 gallons of water. Better still, apply this to all lilies as a matter of course, whether disease has appeared or not. An alternative Is to use lime-sulphur or Bordeaux mixture. In bad cases the best thing is to lift bulb and all and burn it. If the lily Is valuable the bulb should be taken up and washed, and then dusted with flowers of sulphur or treated with a copper sulphate solution (of one ounce to a little over a gallon). to plant the different kinds of lilies in separate parts of the garden. This disease is sometimes called so ofton attacks the Madonna Lily, but most species arc liable to infection by it. TI GRID I AS In the last fortnight the various Tigridias have been very noticeable. The flowers must not be confused

with the Tiger Lilies (Lfllum tlgrlnum:, as they have little similarity beyond the name. They are sometimes called Tiger Flowers and sometimes Jockey Caps, befcause of their bright markings. They resemble irises in shape, but have a large number of spots in the centre of the flower. Though the blooms are shortlived. they are. borne in a succession for some weeks. A sunny, well-drained position should b(? allowed the Tigridas, as for Ixias and Freesias, but the soil need not be anything particular. There are a number of rather new varieties, ranging from white to yellow’, to pink, and to red: most of them have a spotted centre, but one named Lutea immaculata is said to be pure yellow. The old variety named Pavonia is still worth growing; the writer has seen a good many plants of it lately, as well as a collection of new varieties. NEW MONTBRETIAS A few’ months ago readers were advised to plant some of the new Montbretlas. The flowers carried at present by some of these new varieties lend support to the adviee. The Individual blooms in some cases are two and even three times the size of the blooms of the old species, and the colours and markings are a wonderful improvement. The most popular are probably His Majesty (orange yellow with crimson markings) and Star of the East (orange-yellow) but there are even better varieties now. A good selection includes: Kathleen, Red Indian, Queen Alexandra, Queen Charlotte. Henry VIII., Prometheus, His Majesty and Star of the East. All these are procurable without much trouble. Other varieties recommended lately In England are: Brightest and Best, Queen of Spain, Fiery Cross, Citronnella Hades, Mephistopheles, Inca, Lady Wilson, Apricot Queen, Jessie (shrimp-pink), Sir Matthew Wilson, James Cross. Marjorie, Ruby Queen and R. C. Notcutt. We can expect to see these hi the next year or two, and all the time there are new varieties being raised in Australia and elsewhere. One species is said to be a cross between a Montbretia and an Antholyza (a genus allied to Montbretia and to Ixia) Montbretias are now classed as Tritomas, but the old name is handy, because it applies to a particular division of Tritomias.