Gardening for Amateurs 



345 



layers will arrive in March. In the latter 

 case they ought to be sent in the small pots 

 in which they have passed the winter, as 

 in spring Carnations are very sensitive to 

 any disturbance of their roots. The layers 

 should be planted 15 to 18 inches apart. 

 In a border about 4 feet wide I just manage 

 to get four rows by a zigzag arrangement 

 thus * * 



I have inveighed in no measured terms 

 against the mixed border for Carnations, 

 but let me say here 

 that Spanish Irises may 

 be planted in the Car- 

 nation bed, without 

 harm to the Carnations. 

 The Iris bulbs are very 

 small, and do not draw 

 much goodness out of 

 the soil ; the blossoms 

 come out in June, and 

 are over before many 

 Carnations are out ; the 

 two agree together very 

 well, and the effect is 

 excellent. But I should 

 deprecate even English 

 Irises being planted with 

 Carnations, their bulbs 

 are much larger than 

 the Spanish, and they 

 flower later. 



Whether you plant 

 layers in autumn, or 

 from small pota in 

 spring, the process is 

 much the same. Do 

 not let the little things 

 lie about out of the 

 ground or out of the 

 pots so that their roots 

 get dry. Choose a day 

 when the soil is friable, 

 and plant very firmly, 

 pressing the soil with 

 your fingers round the 

 little roots. If your 

 soil is not very good, 

 work in a compost 



good loam, sifted manure, leaf -mould, and 

 sand round the roots. If planted in 

 autumn the Carnations will not require 

 much attention till the following spring ; 

 but it is well to look them over at inter- 

 vals for signs of maggot, and after frost 

 press any that have lifted firmly into the 

 ground again. 



Work in Spring. In spring the question 

 presents itself, whether to hoe or to mulch. 

 I personally prefer the former ; I always 

 have an uneasy feeling that a mulch harbours 

 slugs and other pests, and also that weeds 

 may be growing out of sight beneath it. 

 But if you don't mulch, you must hoe, and 



Mrs. Griffith Jones, a Carnation of soft apricot colouring. 



