Harvest sui

IT SEEMS to me that cach week, I offer premonitions of
frosty weather and warnings of the catastrophic loss of
some of your tender garden plants.

It also seems that the gods and
the weathermen are determined to
make me look even more foolish
by supplying us with continued
gorgeous weather.

I have therefore decided to take
advantage of their efforts to hu-
miliate me by offering further
predictions of doom and waiting
for “those in control’’ to prove me
to be a ‘‘gloomy Gus’’ once again.
This way | can claim responsibility
should this fabulous weather con-
tinue and wag my finger and say
“T told you so’’ if it does not.

The last few months of sunny
weather have brought hot, dry
conditions, which, although re-
quiring us to work harder at water-
ing the lawn and garden, have also
provided us with enormous success
with dahlias, gladioli, and
tuberous begonias,

Not only can this success be
measured in the beautiful, long-
lasting displays of flowers, but also
by the increased development
found in their tubers and corms.

If you consider the luss of all
this development to be a waste,
then now is the time to cansider
harvesting and propagation.

Dahlias should be lifted im-
mediately after the first frost
blackens their top growth and after
the spent foliage has been cut back

to the ground. Extra care should
be taken not to damage the tubers
below.

After allowing the tubers to dry

mer flowers

which has at least two ‘‘eyes’’
(dormant buds) with each division.

Place one inch of damp peat or
vermiculite in the bottom of a
waxed, cardboard box that has had
holes punched in its sides.

Cover this with two inches of
dry peat or vermiculite and lay the

over the

garden gate
by Geoff Tobiasson

for a few days, carefully remove
any bits of clinging earth and
remove any damaged or diseased
parts with a clean, sharp knife.

Dust any wounds, including
those made during division, with
sulphur, or some other suitable
fungicide, to reduce the risk of rot
over the winter.

The tubers can be divided now
or left until spring; dividing them
now may save on storage space but
can increase the risk of losing a
few to dehydration. :

Whenever it is done, be sure to
take some of the original stalk

tubers over this so that they are
not quite touching.

Dust the tubers lightly with
sulphur and cover with more pet
or vermiculite. Add another layer
of tubers, more sulphur, and top

21 - Friday, October 16, 1987 - Narth Shore Mews

with dry peat er vermiculite; repeat
to a maximum of three layers.

Place the box ina well-ventilated
area that will remain cool but will
not freeze.

Check them periodically over the
winter to confirm that they are not
too moist, which can cause rot,
nor dry enough to cause excessive
desiccati>=

GlaZs, as with the dahlias,
may survive our milder winters if
left in the garden, but why take
that chance when insuring their
survival is so easy and can give you
the opportunity to multiply your
stock?

Be careful when you are lifting
the corms of the gladiolus.

If you simply try to pull them
out of the ground you may break
off the stem, making the corm
more Gifficult to find and you are
likely to loose the cormlets in the
process.

After a few days of drying,
remove the old shrivelled corm and
discard it if it is present; also
remove the tiny, new corms or
cormlets. Store them in single, un-

before frost

covered layers in a dry, moderately
cool environment over the winter.

The salvaged cormlets can be
planted in a sunny, out-of-the-way
corner of the garden to develop for
one year, then they too will pro-
duce beautiful displays in the years
to come,

Tuberous begonias can be dam-
aged beyond redemption if they
are not lifted before the first frost.
They should be lifted now and,
after removing the tops, allowed to
dry for several days, and the earth
temoved.,

Larger tubers can be divided
now as long as each section has at
least one ‘teye’’ and the cuts are
dusted with sulphur; they can then
be stored in the satne fashion as
dahlias.

Don’t forget to throw ail of the
discarded plant parts into the
compost. The bi-annual ritual of
“the burning weekend” is soon to’
be upon us and I would rather see
most of your organic matter
recycled into a superior soil ad-
ditive than have more smog to
contend with.

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