IST OCTOBER. 



THE EARLIEST spring bulbs will soon be over. Sparaxis, 

 Streptanthera, Freesia and Lacbenalia are now making their 

 seeds, and I have to keep a sharp eye on the early Gladiolus 

 species. A day of roystering south-easter will leave me with 

 never a seed. 



Ixias are brilliant. There is a plot resplendent with orange 

 ones that show red on the outside of the segments, and here 

 and there Ixia virldiflora is opening its startling green flowers 

 to show the shining black eye swaying on thin two-foot stems. 

 I never dare to plant more than a few together, as rodent moles 

 will come from all around to eat the bulbs. I once had over 

 1,000 of these bulbs, but they were stricken with the dreaded 

 Sclerotium Rolfsii and completely wiped out. Now, on new 

 ground, I am slowly working up a stock again, but the proba- 

 bility is that the moles will defeat me. 



I have just finished potting up my Protect and Leucospermum 

 seedlings. This must be done as soon as they have four leaves. 

 They are difficult to handle, for the long tap root is fine as a 

 hair, and if damaged the plant dies immediately. They are 

 planted in 4 Ib. jam tins, and the best way to put them into 

 their permanent quarters is to cut out the bottom of the tin 

 and place in the soil with as little disturbance as possible. 

 Like young turkeys, they will die if they can find the slightest 

 excuse for doing so. They should be planted out on well- 

 drained slopes in full sun, and Leucospermum reflexum definitely 

 does better facing the morning sun. During their first summer, 

 they must not be allowed to dry out, but watering must not be 

 frequent. After their first year they usually go ahead and are 

 no more trouble ; and when the blooms appear in their third 

 year one is more than repaid for all the care bestowed. In 

 my garden now I have great silver-grey bushes of Leuco- 

 spermum reflexum crowned with one hundred to two hundred 

 blooms of fiery red. Leucospermum nutans, the flame-orange 

 pincushion flower, rivals it for sheer beauty of colour and form, 

 its stiff branches making a compact bush covered with yellow- 

 green leaves. Protea barbigera holds out great shining pink 



