WATERING 



WATSONIA 



3.509 



sive humidity, which tends toward a soft watery growth 

 and extreme sensitiveness and susceptibility to disease. 



Vessels to contain plants should always be provided 

 with openings at the bottom for perfect drainage. 

 This, in a measure, is a safeguard against overwater- 

 ing. Investigation has shown that a soil which is kept 

 continuously wet through bad drainage or otherwise is 

 rapidly impoverished through loss of nitrogen. A fer- 

 mentation is also set up in the roots, which, through the 

 formation of various deleterious products, results in 

 their destruction. 



While a constantly wet soil is always very objec- 

 tionable, thoroughness in watering as often as the 

 plants need water is of the greatest importance. When 

 enough water has been supplied there will be more or 

 less dripping from the bottom of the pot. It is a good 

 plan to leave a space of 1 } 2 to 2 inches or more at the top 

 of the pot, according to its size, for the reception of 

 water. This space should be so large that when filled 

 the supply of water in soaking downward will penetrate 

 to the bottom of the vessel. 



Plunging the pots or tubs is a means of controlling 

 the water-supply. The late William Scott gives the 

 following advice on this practice: While it is true that 

 most of the water given to the plant passes through the 

 soil and escapes from the hole in the bottom of the pot, 

 yet much that is left in the soil which is considerable 

 if the soil is saturated as it should be is evaporated 

 from the porous sides of the earthenware pots. In 

 warm sunny weather, plants in small pots, standing on 

 a bench, dry out very quickly. This can be avoided by 

 plunging the pots in some material, as coal-ashes, tan- 

 bark, or, better than all, spent hops. When plunged to 

 the rims, only half of the surface-watering is needed, 

 and the advantage of less watering is shown by a 

 marked improvement in the health and vigor of the 

 plants. Such a benefit is this plunging that plants which 

 would otherwise need a shift into a size larger pot can 

 be carried along another month in perfect health. This 

 applies more particularly to quick-growing soft-wooded 

 plants, geraniums more especially, for these are quickly 

 exhausted by too frequent waterings. 



In watering beds in the open ground and lawns, the 

 chief consideration is thoroughness. Superficial water- 

 ings induce the formation of roots near the surface. 

 Neglect and subsequent drought then prove more dis- 

 astrous than ever. The evening is the best time for 

 surface sprinkling. Watered in the heat of the day, grass 

 and various other plants are likely to have the foliage 

 injured. Ordinarily it is better to avoid watering beds of 

 plants in the open ground if possible or delay it until 

 really necessary, and then water thoroughly. Other 

 references to watering may be found in the article 

 "Greenhouse Management," beginning on page 1408, 

 Vol. Ill; see also "Sub-irrigation in the Greenhouse," 

 page 1684. ERNEST WALKER. 



WATERMELON: Xtlon, Vol. IV, page 2031. 



WATSONIA (named for Sir Wm. Watson, M.D., 

 1715-1787, electrician and professor of botany at 

 Chelsea). Iridacese. Tunicate bulbous herbs, much 

 like gladiolus, used in the garden for summer bloom. 



Stems usually tall: Ivs. long, sword-shaped: spikes 

 long, simple or slightly branched; spathes lanceolate 

 oblong or narrow, usually numerous: fls. 1 to a spathe, 

 sessile; perianth-tube curved, broadened above, lobes 

 subequal, ovate, oblong or lanceolate; stamens affixed 

 within the throat; ovary 3-celled, cells many-ovuled: 

 caps, globose, ovoid or short-oblong, loculicidally 3- 

 valved. About 33 species, S. Afr. The main differ- 

 ences between Watsonia and Gladiolus, from the 

 horticultural as well as botanical points of view, are the 

 longer tube and regular fl. of Watsonia, 3 of the 6 

 perianth-segms. in Gladiolus being usually different in 

 size, shape, and direction of spread. An important 



botanical difference is that the style-branches of 

 Watsonia are simple, while those of Gladiolus are bifid. 

 Watsonias bloom from July to September and have 

 scarlet, rose, or white six-lobed flowers, with usually a 

 long slender tube which is bent near the base. They 

 are very much like gladioli, having the same kind of a 

 conn, the same sword -shaped rigid leaves, the same 

 kind of a spike and the same season of bloom. It is, 

 therefore, a great mistake to suppose that they are 

 suited only to greenhouse cultivation. Great interest 

 has been aroused in watsonias by the introduction of the 

 white watsonia, known to the trade as W. Ardernei. The 

 plant might be roughly described as a white gladiolus. 

 It grows 3 to 4 feet high, strong specimens being 

 branched, and bears a dozen or more flowers, each 2J^ 

 to 3 inches long and about 3 inches across. The 

 purity of its color and its value for cutting make it of 

 exceptional interest to florists. There are other white- 

 flowered forms of watsonia, but none of them seems to 

 be in the American trade. Pure white is the exception 

 in the iris family, while it is a common, if not dominant, 

 "color" in the lily and amaryUis families. The white 

 watsonia has acquired so many names that a short 

 historical sketch of the plant is desirable. All the stock 

 in the trade at present is supposed to be descended from 

 plants cultivated by H. W. Arderne, of Cape Town. 

 The original bulb was found 80 miles away in a peat- 

 bog amongst thousands of the common pink-flowered 

 kind. In October, 1892, Arderne had 400 spikes in 

 bloom and in March, 1893, some of his plants were pic- 

 tured in "The Garden" under the name of Watsonia 

 alba. However, a pure white-flowered form had been 

 previously found near Port Elizabeth and a bulb sent 

 to J. O'Brien, of Harrow, flowered in England in 1889 

 and was then fully described as PP. iridifolia var. 

 O'Brienii, the name adopted in this work. In the 

 recent discussions of the plant, the fact has been over- 

 looked that T. S. Ware, of Tottenham, cultivated a 

 white variety in 1880, it being figured in "The Garden" 

 for that year as Watsonia alba. A nearly white form 

 was cultivated in England as early as 1801, but the 

 tube was pinkish outside and there was a rosy spot at 

 the base of each perianth-segment. William Watson, of 

 Kew, was the first to emphasize the close horticultural 

 parallel between Watsonia and Gladiolus and to urge 

 the whole group on the attention of the plant-breeder. 

 This suggestion, coming from the man who may be 

 said to have created the modern Cape primrose or 

 streptocarpus, should result in another fine race of 

 hybrids before many years. However, the Watsonia 

 "bulb" is not so easily and safely stored as that of 

 Gladiolus. 



A. Upper part of tube cylindrical or narrowly funnel- 

 shaped. 

 B. Length of perianth-segms. H-J^in. 



aletroides, Ker-Gawl. Bright scarlet or pale pink-fld. 

 species, 1-2 ft. high, remarkable for the short perianth- 

 segms.: st. simple or branched: spikes 6-12-fld. B.M. 

 533 (rosy scarlet, splashed with cardinal, the inner 

 segms. white at the tip). 



BB. Length of perianth-segms. %-l in. 



c. Sts. tail, 3-4 ft., often branched. 



D. Spikes lax, 12-20-fld. 



E. Fls. scarlet. 



angusta, Ker-Gawl. (W. iridifolia var. fulgens, Ker- 

 Gawl.). Scarlet-fid, species distinguished from W. Meri- 

 ana by the color of the fls. and by the shape of the per- 

 ianth-segms. In TF. angusta the segms. are decidedly 

 acuminate, while those of W. Meriana are more nearly 

 oblong and come to a point suddenly; also the style of 

 IF. angusta reaches to the tip of the perianth-segms., 

 while in TF. Meriana it does not. B.M. 600. Gn. 17 :390 

 (as FT. Meriana var. coccinea); 44:164. Gn.W. 21:683. 



