THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 6, 4 December 1926, Page 11

THE GARDEN

THE FLOWER GARDEN

As soon as delphiniums have finished flowering cut them back to within a foot of the ground when they will quickly send up more shoots which will flower soon after the New Year. In the case of plants that have been set out this season it sometimes happens that they make very little growth the first year, or rather the first flowering, but will come away quickly for the second and will make good plants if left undisturbed for the next season. A good mulching of manure spread over the ground around tlio plants will do a lot of good and this can either be forked into the soil or left on the surface for the rain to wash the goodness down to the roots. Staking is an important item with these plants and good spikes cannot be expected without the aid of some ties to keep them from being blown pver. Seed of phlox drummond; sown in the open ground now will make a good edging to the border, and will last in bloom until the heavy frosts come to cut them down. Sow two or three seeds in one spot and if when they come up they are too thick pull the unwanted ones out. Nothing will grow if crowded together. Such plants as zinnias and African marigolds that are being grown for show purposes should be planted out in well worked and manured ground as soon as the plants are ready. Much pleasure can be got from growing these things to an extraordinary size, but the first thing to do is to get a good strain of plants and to plant them a nice distance apart so that there is room to work amongst them. Naturally, with heavy flowers like these there is always a tendency to topple over, so it pays to support them from the earliest stages. Chrysanthemums being grown for show purposes will be soon making their first break, but if this bud does not show nip the tops out of the plants or cut them hack to within a few inches of the ground. Some can be cut lower than others; it depends chiefly on the variety. Carnations are having a very bad time this year with leaf spot and rust, but beyond picking off the diseased leaves and burning them there is little' else that can be done. They are lovers of plenty of sun and air and, unless they can get both of these, they will not do well. Seeds of cosmos sown in the open ground now will bloom when flowers are scarce in the autumn and this is a better method of growing them than transplanting out. from boxes. Make a sowing of wallflowers and stocks in the open ground for transplanting in the autumn. " ROSES.

In those gardens that were affected so badly by frost in October the roses are just beginning jo come out. Even now there are plenty of damaged blooms, but it is generally the centre one that is affected and if rliis is picked out and one of the s.de ones allowed to come on in its place, they will make a good show very soon! Manure water may be given now as often as possible, and so far there lias been no need to bother about watering the beds beforehand. A good sharp lookout must be kept for mildew, which generally begins to make its appearance at this time of the year. If it once gets a good hold on the plants it will stop them blooming until such time as they are cleaned up again. Aphis have not been very had this .season, and as far as wo have seen the few that have come have been cleaned up by blight and birds. The sparrow is a much maligned bird, but he is very fond of aphis and will clean up a plant as quickly as anything we know without doing any damage to the shoots. [Keep all spent and faded blooms picked from the plants and, if possible, cut the flower shoots back to a good strong eye so that extra growths may come. ROCK GARDENS (Continued). A very important question to ask at this stage of proceedings would be: “When is the best time to sow alpine seed, or when is tlio best time to sow rock garden seed?” Really, the questions should be dealt with separately because all rock garden stuff is not alpine and all alpine are not for the rock garden. The best way to answer about the alpine seed would be to follow nature and to sow the seed as soon as it can'be gathered and is ripe enough. There are a good many failures with this class of seed which can he put down to the fact that growers do not understand that some of this seed, although it falls to the ground as soon as it is ripe, does not germinate at once, but will lie dormant in the ground for an indefinite period, due sometimes to snow covering it, or to the fact that it requires heat and moisture for germination. None of these tilings is available until the snow is melted in summer and then the seed gets a certain amount of covering from the fact that melting snow causes the disintegration of the rock and soil which cover the seed. Of courso these conditions can he brought about by artificial means and the seed can be germinated much quicker under artificial conditions than by the natural methods, but this does not disprove the fact that the seed should bo sown as soon as pos-

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siblo after it is ripe. There are plenty of plants that are grown in rockeries that are not alpincs at all, but are the dwarf and baby plants of the vegetable kingdom. In most cases you will find that it is easier to propagate these from cuttings and layers, but if wishing to grow from seed sow the latter as soon as it is ripe. . I do not know if I have made my points quite clear, but they are what are looked upon as the essential things to success with seed when working up a stock with these baby plants. Propagation from cuttings and layers is the samo with these things as it is with other plants when used for general purposes and need not be dealt with here, although I might say that I have attained considerable success with some things like Cytisus pi.losa by heaping sand and soil in the middle of it and taking small rooted pieces from the side when they are rooted, and there are plenty of other plants that could be treated ill the same way. Now that you have the young plants up and wish to prick tliem out into suitable soil, each one requires something different from the other. Whatever soil is used it should he thoroughly sterilised before use to kill all injurious bacteria and weed seeds. It is a curious thing, hut in the sterilisa-tion-'of soil, although you can kill all weed seeds , and injurious bacteria and a certain percentage of useful bacteria at the same time, the useful ones increase so rapidly when the time conies for growing plants in the soil that the loss is made up immediately, and I would advise anyone using soil for seeds of any kind to sterilise before using it. The English scientific colleges have been making research into this for some years now and have proved conclusively beyond all doubt that it is the most valuable kind of soil that can he used. Tlio handling of these plants must he doiio with great care and for this purpose a pair of celluloid tweezers will be found a great advantage. A plant can be picked up without hurting itt and another piece of stick or bone used to make a hole in the soil. Although the plants are small, room must be allowed for development and I never prick out at a less distance than two inches apart. Later on, when the young seedlings are large enough they can ho potted off singly into any sized pot you may like to use, but I would never advise using one bigger than a three inch with plenty of drainage in the bottom. Broken bricks and clean waslied and broken pots make the best drainage that can be got, and if a little charcoal is used in the potting soil so much the better. (To he continued). WINTER AND SPRING FLOWERING STOCKS. Stocks are plants of real decorative value for the garden, and there is scarcely a garden in which they cannot be grown. To secure good plants for putting out in the garden in the autumn get the seed and sow it now either in boxes or in a bed outside where the soil is fairly good and light. Remember when getting seed of stocks or anything else for that matter to get the best. It may cost a little more but the better flowers will be grown from it. When the young seedlings are large enough to handle pot them off into three or four inch pots and, whatever you do, do not throw away the little ones. The big coarse plants that come first are generally singles and the smaller ones doubles. By pricking them off into pots their growth will not be checked when, the time comes to plant them out in tiie garden, and good stocks cannot he grown if they get a severe check as they are likely to do if planted out in the open in the dry weather of autumn. There is a moth that lays its eggs on the leaves of the plants and, as soon as the young grub hatches out, it begins to eat the leaves, but this can he prevented by spraying the plants with arsenate of lead and the leaves will remain whole. Plant them out in good soil and keep the earth around them well stirred with the hoe. VEGETABLES. It seems to he a hopeless task trying to grow vegetables this season. For the Just month any kind of plant has made very little growth and it wants a week of fine, warm weather now to do any good. However, there is nothing for it but to carry on and then, as soon as the weather gets more like summer, the growth will be rapid enough for anything, so that, ill a few weeks the .wet weather of the last two months will be quite forgotten. Tomatoes are beginning to flower in many gardens and the plants should be staked as soon as possible. One main shoot is about all that can he managed, but in a few cases where tlio ground is not sufficiently covered two main shoots can be left on a plant. All laterals must be kept off any main shoots that are retained. The plants should be sprayed with Bordeaux as soon as the first hunch of fruit has set and this should he repeated every fortnight or three weeks or oftener, if the rain com»s on directly the spraying lias been done. Pie melons are useful things to have and a few seed sown in the same way as marrows and pumpkins will produce all the pie melons you, want.