210 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



100,000 copies. — I am, sir, yours obe- 

 diently, The Publisher of " Memory 

 Tablets of Garden Work" Queen's 

 Head Passage, Paternoster Row. 

 A Flower fob Sun and Shade. — It is so 

 difficult to find any plants that will 

 blossom abundantly under trees, that 

 having accidentally discovered one to 

 which sun or thick shade appears alike 

 indifferent, I enclose a blossom and some 

 of the seed. It is a kind of American 

 groundsel, perfectly hardy, seeds itself, 

 and continues in brilliant bloom from 

 May till cut off by the frost. Last year 

 I observed two of the plants coming up 

 in my garden, which had at one time 

 been a " botanical" one, and therefore 

 contains seeds of many curious plants. 

 One of these plants of groundsel was in 

 the sun, the other close to the stem of a 

 tree, in complete shade. Observing 

 that this one bloomed as well, and 

 longer than the other, I told my gar- 

 dener to plant patches of it under some 

 of the trees, which he did ; and this 

 year parts of my garden which hitherto 

 were quite bare of flowers, have been 

 bright with the yellow blossoms. The 

 spray I enclose was gathered from under 

 a large elm, where it has never had a 

 ray of sun, and hardly a drop of water, 

 as the elm keeps the ground beneath it 

 so dry. In your next number, be so 

 kind as to state what the advantage is 

 of boxes which you recommend for keep- 

 ing plants in winter, and for striking- 

 cuttings. I have a greeuhouse warmed 

 in winter, and pits which are not. Would 

 boxes he of any great use to me, and 

 why? Also, how should they be made? 

 I did not begin taking the Floral 

 World till after your first paper on the 

 subject.— A. B., Bath, Aug. 11. [The 

 plant is Tagetes lucida, a half-hardy 

 perennial, from South America. All 

 the species of Tagetes are suitable for 

 shady banks, and are very showy. 

 T. pumila, a very dwarf annual, makes 

 very neat masses ; T. signata and T. 

 tenuifolia are of larger growth, and also 

 annuals. Any kind of boxes do for 

 cuttings. The advantages of using 

 boxes are— economy of space, a given 

 number of plants in boxes occupy- 

 ing not much more than the space re- 

 quired by half the number in pots ; 

 economy of time, as all the trouble of 

 potting is saved ; and increased safety, 

 as the body of soil being large, there is 

 less fear of loss by want of water, etc. 

 Oid boxes that are a nuisance in the 

 lumber-room answer well for plants ; 

 the most convenient size is one foot 



wide, eighteen inches long, and six 

 inches deep. If made for the purpose, 

 they should be of inch deal, and with a 

 false bottom, as represented in Floral 

 World, Feb. 1862. The partitions may 

 be dispensed with. 

 Ferns from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 etc. — A correspondent sends us a series 

 of fern fronds, neatly mounted and se- 

 verally labelled " Seedling from Ja- 

 maica," " Seedling from Cape of Good 

 Hope," etc. It is a strange thing that 

 the fronds are all of examples of Las- 

 trea dilatata, a common British fern. No 

 doubt, our correspondent has noticed a 

 great sameness among these seedlings ; 

 as they get older they will be found to 

 be identical, and of the species to which 

 we now refer them. But how comes 

 this? Were the Cape and Jamaica 

 spores dead, and did the Lastreas come 

 up through the use of peat soil already 

 containing spores of L. dilatata; or were- 

 spores of dilatata supplied instead of 

 Cape and Jamaica species ? Of course 

 we cannot answer, though we may pro- 

 perly ask such questions. In all cases 

 where fern-growers sow foreign spores, 

 it will be well first to bake the peat in 

 an oven before using it. This will de- 

 stroy the spores of British ferns. 

 Various. — F. A. N. — We really cannot 

 now present you with a design for a 

 rustic house. We can, however, strongly 

 recommend "Mr. Curry, of Brook Street,. 

 Upper Clapton, as a very proper person 

 to supply one ready made, if it is your 

 intention to purchase, and not to build 

 one. The best book on bees is Taylor's 

 " Bee-Keeper's Manual," published by 

 Messrs. Groombridge and Sons, price 4s. 

 — E. G. G. — Your flowers were shri- 

 velled up, and indeterminable. Cut 

 down the clematis in March next. — 

 #. jy w B. — The " Rose Book " is not 

 out of print. If your bookseller repeats 

 that story, send direct to Messrs. Groom- 

 bridge, and have it through the post; 

 the price is 5s. H you follow the in- 

 structions therein given, you may have 

 yellow roses in any quantity. — S. S. S. — 

 The great circle is a fine feature in your 

 plan. Pray do not spoil it by introduc- 

 ing any complicated flower-beds; its 

 simplicity is its best recommendation. 

 In the long beds following the sweep of 

 the walk would be a good place for 

 Caraganas, Koelreuterias, Rose acacias, 

 and other trees of interesting habit — all, 

 of course, standards. If you put planes 

 and limes there, as you propose, you will 

 drag it down instanter to merest com- 

 monplace. 



