644 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



The Greenhouse, Month to Month 



W. R. FOWKES 



JULY is the hottest month of the year, and irrigation 

 plays an important part in plant culture. Carnation 

 planting is in progress with field grown stock. Dry 

 weather has caused small plants which, being well 

 ripened, will soon thrive indoors. Stem rot will show 

 itself this season if careful cultivation is not adhered to. 

 Fungicides must be used. Do not forget to spray with 

 Aphine every week to kill red spider. 



The mums require much water. The disbudding of 

 the large kinds should be attended to, and one should 

 take care to retain the proper shoots. Begin to feed with 

 bone meal and soot water. 



There are many fine blooming plants that will give 

 pleasure in the greenhouse this Winter. At the end of 

 July, sow Clarkias; the seedsmen catalog the suitable 

 kinds. Sow in light soil in as cool an atmosphere as 

 possible, and when they appear, transplant into fiats, and 

 then later pot them. Cool treatment is enjoyed by these 

 plants. 



Wallflower. Kervensis. is another useful Winter 

 bloomer, and the same treatment which we give to 

 Clarkias will suffice. 



Schizanthus Excelsior should be sown in the same 

 atmosphere. One can cover a good-sized space from a 

 few packets oi seed at small cost. 



Mignonette is ideal for pot culture. It is grown so 

 successfully in the benches that pot culture is seldom 

 resorted to, but a few dozen pots well grown are a de- 

 light. Sow seeds of a good variety in two and a half- 

 inch pots in full light, and when the seedlings are one 

 inch high, thin out and leave two plants. When nicely 

 rooted, prepare a rich sandy compost and repot into five- 

 inch pots. Place some good old cow manure on top of 

 the crocks, which have been placed in the bottom of the 

 pots, and fill in with compost. Grow along steadily. 

 The main thing is to avoid damage to the tap root, so 

 stand on bricks in order not to tempt the tap root out. 

 Pinch growing shoots twice and they will be a useful 

 addition to the list of pot plants. 



Sow some Gloxinia seed. Corms were scarce this year 

 and in order to have your greenhouse attractive a year 

 hence, prepare now. Use light sandy soil and a well- 

 drained flat or pan, which should be watered with a fine 

 rosed can two hours before sowing. Do not cover the 

 seed with soil, but place a piece of glass over, and shade. 

 \\'atch the arrival of the seedlings, and as soon as they 

 can be handled nicely, transplant them into two-inch 

 pots carefully. This is an unwelcome task to many 

 people, but after they have been transplanted they can 

 be grown along until they are fair-sized corms and then 

 rested until next Spring. 



One should sow a little pansy seed in a coUl frame, and 

 they can he transplanted into pots and be useful in the 

 cool house. Polyanthiis also can be sown and Mxosotis. 

 which will please the eye with their beauty during next 

 Winter antl be a change from the regular stand-bys. 



Cyclaiiicii should be in four-inch pots and be given 

 their final six-inch pots early in August. These cool- 

 loving plants delight in a compost containing a little 

 French or Scotch soot and cool treatment. They must 

 be carefully sprayed and the fine colored folia.2:e is a 



pleasure to behold. We are growing Joseph Manda's 

 hybrids, which are a vast improvement over other exist- 

 ing kinds. 



iJegonia Chatelaine is a useful dwarf pot plant. Half 

 a dozen plants divided up will make a goodly number. 

 They will thrive under conditions that would be fatal to 

 the Lorraine types. 



Do not neglect the young Gardenias which were 

 propagated in Spring. In the Summer hurry, one should 

 not forget to^ add some peat to the compost and keep 

 them clean. If one has good stock in six-inch pots, he 

 will have a splendid array of bloom next February. 

 They should not be grown more than two years in pots. 

 The finest I have ever seen were raised at the Gardens. 

 Morsemere. Yonkers. by Hamilton Scott, who is an 

 authority on cape blooming plants. 



Young rose plants that were put in the benches six 

 weeks ago, should be carefully cultivated each week by 

 hand. Do not use any other cultivator. Keep clear 

 of weeds which harbor spider. W'atch that they are 

 never dry at the roots : try and encourage firm growth 

 by not spraying too often. Pinch all buds off as soon 

 as they are strong. Sprinkle lime under the benches 

 and do not allow ahphis to puncture them. 



If freesias are desired for the end of December, they 

 should be potted by the tenth of August and placed in 

 a cold frame with boards over the pots to keep the sun 

 from drying them out. They must not be covered with 

 ashes on sand like hyacinths, for they are too fragile. 



Procure some Bermuda buttercups, which will make 

 the most glorious straw yellow basket plants one can 

 possess in the Winter. Plant the small bulbs in little 

 pots and then when well established transplant into the 

 baskets. 



Pot mums of the bush kind should be pinched occa- 

 sionally and, if wanted for Octojier, should have the last 

 pinch by the twentieth of August. Give plentv of water, 

 stake, and keep clean. 



This is the growing period for orchids. Vvhich calls 

 for plenty of water. However, one should be careful 

 not to soak the plants too heavily. It is a wise plan to 

 syringe over head during the evening of a hot day, 

 which will help to maintain their growing in a natural 

 way, as the dews at night in their native habitat are so 

 beneficial. 



Be on a sharp lookout for snails. A few toads in the 

 greenhouse are of great assistance in this line. The 

 destruction caused by these pests to growing shoots and 

 floral spikes would be alarming if not checked. Many 

 cases where orchids have not bloomed can be traced to 

 pests. Cattlcya Gigas which has just blossomed, and may 

 need repotting, should be attended to. Do not use moss 

 for this variety ; peat, well firmed, and as light a position 

 as possible without scorching. 



The man who thinks he has done everything he can do, 

 has merely stopped thinking. He is what might be called 

 "up and out," and excepting that he has more money his 

 case is not really very different from that of the man who 

 is '"down and out." — American Maga-cine. 



