266 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 4, 1S77. 



the first year had them layered in potg, and Rave them a 

 second trial this season in a different soil with no better result, 

 and was much surprised to see them so highly praised in your 

 Journal. We found them insignificant in size, not of the best 

 flavour, with but a very moderate crop, while other sorts were 

 in all respectB excellent. Some other new varieties are so much 

 inferior to many established kinds that we have not inserted 

 them in this season's list, and they will soon follow Traveller 

 and Exquisite. — Chaeles Tukner, The Boyal Nurseries, Slough 



SHELTEE FOE BEDDING PLANTS IN WINTEE. 



A correspondent, " R. F. B.," asks for advice about make- 

 shift contrivances for keeping Geraniums and certain other 

 bedding plants in winter, and wishes to know if they may be 

 wintered in a cellar, as he reads has been done. There are no 

 doubt numerous other readers of the Journal requiring advice 

 of a similar nature at this season of the year ; let me therefore 

 try to render this reply as comprehensive as possible, and first 

 as to keeping Geraniums in a cellar. Now, I have seen cellars 

 in which this could be done perfectly, for they were dry, had 

 ample light admitted through glazed windows, and were not 

 more than 7 feet below -the surface ; the Geraniums planted 

 thickly and firmly in boxes, having no water for months, and 

 requiring no other care than an occasional clearance of decay- 

 ing foliage, keeping plump and tolerably green, yet losing most 

 of the smallest roots — an evil soon remedied when warm 

 weather returns and water is given again. Will my friends 

 look about them and see if they have a similar apartment ? — not 

 necessarily a cellar so long as it is not very damp, is tolerably 

 well lighted, and is either frost-proof or possesses facilities for 

 the exclusion of frost. But if no such place is available I can 

 hold out no hopes of success in a dark cellar, for to tie up 

 Geraniums in bundles and put them aside till spring is, to say 

 the least, a very speculative affair, and I much fear very little 

 vitality would be found in any of them — certainly I cannot 

 recommend th9 plan. 



It is matter for regret that when means for winter shelter 

 are not available undue prominence is given to Geraniums, 

 there being so many other flowers wherewith a garden may be 

 made gay, and which can be kept in a dormant condition 

 throughout winter or easily protected, or, better still, be raised 

 from seed in spring — all three methods answering " B. F. B.'s " 

 wish " to have done with them until spring." 



AmoDg plants which may be said to lie dormant, tuberous- 

 rooted Begonias are beginning to take a prominent position. 

 Here in the sunny south thsy are left undisturbed in the beds 

 with a covering of coal ashes or litter to keep off frost; but as 

 "R. F. B." hailB from Windermere, he and others farther 

 north will probably succeed best by removing the bulbs from 

 the beds into a cold frame half filled with coarse sand and coal 

 ashes, in which the bulbs should be buried till spring, the 

 frame being placed upon a high sheltered position where water 

 cannot accumulate, and rough litter thrown over to exclude 

 frost. Next come Fuchsias, sometimes left in the same place 

 for many years. The best plan, however, for general purposes 

 is to take tbem up in autumn with plenty of soil about the 

 roots, place them close together at the foot of a wall, fence, or 

 any sheltering nook or corner, covering them with a heap of 

 leaves or other rough litter, and leaving them undisturbed till 

 the return of genial weather prompts us to plant them once 

 more in beds of very rich gritty soil for a summer display. 

 Then there are Cannas, holding an important position for a 

 variety of decorative purposes, and which may be treated pre- 

 cisely similarly to Dahlias, or, as is now the general way with 

 the more hardy varieties, be left undisturbed for two years, with 

 some coal ashes thrown upon the surface to exclude frost, only 

 lifting and replanting the roots in fresh rich soil in the spring 

 of the third year. 



Calceolarias have been so much written about that it seems 

 superfluous to add anything here, further than to note that 

 now is the time to insert cuttings in any unheated frame or 

 pit, watering well and shading upon bright days for a week or 

 two, afterwards as they begin growiDg withdrawing the lights 

 and exposing them fully to the air upon every fine day, taking 

 care to cover in frosty weather. Verbenas have been winterei 

 successfully in a similar manner, but it is questionable if it 

 could be done in northern districts, where the snow frequently 

 lays so long that the coverings remain on for weeks. Yet 

 much may be done by having the pit in a snug sunny corner 

 well sheltered from cold winds, so that every hour of genial 

 warmth may be turned to account, it often being possible to 



remove the mats and litter and open the lights, even when 

 every surrounding object is covered with snow. The success 

 of any such attempt to winter Verbenas will much depend 

 upon having the plants sturdy and well rooted by October. 

 The scarlet Lobelias are not half so much grown as they 

 deserve, yet nothing can be more striking than the dark crim- 

 son stems and foliage surmounted by spikes of brilliant scarlet 

 flowers. They are easily wintered by removing the stems 

 when the flowers fade and transplanting the Btools to a frame, 

 excluding frost and keeping a close watch for snails. The 

 crowns are divided in spring. Pentstemons may be wintered 

 as easily as Calceolarias, and do well in the north. And then 

 there are Violas, northern plants par excellence ; how easily 

 they are grown, and how beautiful they are in a moist cool 

 clime ! 



Thus much for means of protection, the successful applica- 

 tion of which will much depend upon the care and painstaking 

 with which they are carried out. Let me in conclusion urge 

 everybody doing their best in such makeshift fashion to give 

 serious attention to the value of annuals easily raised from 

 seed in spring, affording a succession of the gayest loveliest 

 flowers from spring till winter comes again, requiring no 

 costly glass structures or puzzling makeshift contrivances, in- 

 volving no outlay for fuel, mats, or straw, and yet when well 

 cultivated are often more really ornamental and attractive than 

 the most costly of our much-vaunted " bedders." Stocks, 

 Asters, Zinnias, Phloxes, Petunias, Nemophilas, Saponaria, 

 Senecio, Marigold, Poppy, Larkspurs, Balsams, and Portn- 

 laecas, all are worthy of a place — not one of them should be 

 excluded, and all are perfectly within the means of an amateur. 

 ■ — Edward Ltjckhuest. 



HARDY APPLES. 



By hardy Apples I mean those which appear to have hardy 



blossom or which are late in blossoming, and so escape injury 



from the frosts of an inclement spring. The spring of the 



present year was one of the most unpropitious that I have 



Fig. 51.— Cellini. 



experienced, and the Apple crop is consequently almost a 

 complete failure. In your answers to correspondents yon 

 mention that Cellini has proved one of the most fruitful of 

 Apples during the present year. I am able to confirm that 

 statement. A few years ago I planted a considerable collec- 

 tion of Apples. Amongst them were three trees of Cellini, 

 and so fruitful have these trees proved that I regret that I 

 had not planted three dozen trees of an Apple so valuable. 

 The three trees have produced more fruit than have a hundred 

 other trees in the same collection. This Apple is as handsome 

 and as good as it is prolific. I send a section of a fair-sized 

 specimen and ask you to give the prominence to it which I 

 consider it merits by figuring it, so as to impresB it the mora 

 fully on the public mind as a serviceable Apple both for home 

 use and for market purposes. It succeeds admirably on the 

 Paradise stock, and makes a handsome bush or pyramid. 



