Gardening for Amateurs 



347 



continues to be spotty, send samples to The 

 Gardener, and in the " Trials and Troubles " 

 column you will be told what particular 

 treatment is necessary. 



Staking and Tying. In May, flower 

 stems begin to shoot up, and require tying 

 to stakes. Do not be beguiled into getting 

 metal stakes for Carnations growing out of 

 doors ; they are too heavy, and a strong wind 

 is fatal. Thin bamboo canes, usually sold at 

 about Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. a hundred, are much 

 the best ; and for tying I prefer ordinary 

 soft bass or raffia to any of the patent 

 inventions. But in tying, always twist 

 the tie into a figure of eight to avoid any 

 chance of the flower stem rubbing against 

 the bamboo. And do not be economical in 

 bamboos ; it may sometimes be possible to 

 tic two flower stems to the same bamboo 

 without forcing either out of position, but 

 it is really best for each stem to have its 

 own stake to itself. Some of the new varieties 

 of Carnations are so extremely vigorous that 

 they send up numerous flower stems the 

 first year. It is best to remove all but the 

 four thickest and healthiest. You will then 

 have really fine blossoms in July ; and it is 

 quite likely the plant will send up additional 

 flower-stems after the first blooming is over, 

 and will flower on into late autumn. 



Disbudding. I will deal with the subject 

 of disbudding more fully when I treat on 

 pot cultivation for exhibition ; but even 

 with plants in open ground it is well to do 

 a certain amount of disbudding, in order to 

 secure fair-sized blossoms throughout the 

 flowering season. To this end it is a good 

 plan to remove, as soon as they are large 

 enough to handle, the tiny buds which 

 develop close to the main buds, both top 

 and lateral. It goes against one's feeling 

 to do it ; I confess it gives me acute pain ; 

 in fact, like Miss Squeere, I scream out loud 

 all the time. And if a beginner in the 

 cultivation of Carnations feels that to nip 

 off any of the precious buds is more than 

 he can bear, I would say, then don't do it at 

 all the first year. If you leave them alone, 

 you will have quite nice blossoms at first ; 

 but if you use your eyes critically you will 

 find a marked deterioration in the quality of 

 the later blooms, and next year the remem- 

 brance of this will fortify you to disbud. 



The Early Carnations. Early sorts, 

 such as Sam Weller and Lady Hermione, 

 begin to bloom in June in my garden, and 

 from that time onward till November, and 

 even December, I can always rely on having 

 some blossoms. It is very commonly 

 advised to defer layering until the flowering 

 season is over, but I am quite against doing 

 so. I always commence to layer as soon 

 as the shoots are long enough to handle and 

 peg down. In 1912 I accomplished two- 

 thirds of my layering in June ; but of course 

 that was an exceptionally early year. In 

 ordinary years, though I generally commence 

 in June, I do the bulk of the layering in July. 

 There is no reason why Carnations should 

 not be layered when they are in bloom. If 

 you go to Edenside in July, when all the 

 shows are coming off, you will find layers 

 pegged down in all the pots of the blossoming 

 plants. 



How Layering is Done. The actual 

 process of layering is not really as fearsome 

 as it sounds in descriptions. The healthy 

 shoots only should be layered ; it is simply 

 waste of time to layer a diseased or even 

 feeble plant. A special compost is not 

 essential, but it is certainly very beneficial. 

 At one time I always used the soil in which 

 I had grown Hyacinths and other bulbs the 

 previous winter, which consisted of a mixture 

 of loam, leaf-mould, sand, and finely sifted 

 cow manure. This was turned out of the 

 pots into a heap in spring, turned about 

 to sweeten, and, mixed with some additional 

 sand, proved an admirable rooting medium. 

 As I have ceased to grow bulbs in pots, I 

 now mix loam, leaf-mould, and coarse sea 

 sand, in equal parts, in June, a week or so 

 before commencing layering. Some recom- 

 mend the addition of stable manure ; if 

 this is used it ought to be very thoroughly 

 decayed. The compost is placed round the 

 plant which it is intended to layer. If the 

 shoots are long and sprawling, let the com- 

 post l>e even with the surface of the bed ; 

 it will then be eawy to keep it moist. But 

 some Carnations (for example. The Bride, 

 white ground Fancy) have short thick 

 shoots ; in this case it is necessary to raise 

 the compost above the surface, in order to 

 peg the layer into it without breaking the 

 latter. 



