146 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Febeuaet 24, 1912, 



ANSVERS TO 



CORRESPONDENTS, 



Editorial Communications should be addressed to the 

 Ediix>r of the Gardettf.rs' Magazine, 148 and 149, 

 Alder&gate Street, E.G. 



Secretairiefi of horticultural societies are invited to 

 send early notification of forthcoming exhibitions 

 and meetings, and ere requesttd to advise lis con- 

 cerning chsmgce of dates. 



WHAT IS A GLAZED FROST?— M. J., 

 Streatliam : Kindly give me an explanation 

 of the term "Glazed Frost.'— In further 

 answer to the above question, appearing in 

 our issue of February 3, Mr. W. Gardiner, 

 Horsham, writes: In addition to the answer 

 already published, it may be interesting to 

 your corres^:ondent and other readei-s to know 

 that on January 18 a glazed frost was very 

 much in evidence at Horsham and the neigh- 

 bouring districts of Sussex, and upon en- 

 quiries I cannot ascei-tain that a similar oc- 

 currence had been noticed during the last 

 ^venteen years. Seventeen years ago the 

 lake at Warnham Court was sufficiently 

 frozen over for skating, but never again 

 since until this year. The last glazed frost 

 was I have been informed, so shai-^iD and 

 general in this part of Sussex that the very 

 highways afforded excellent skating, but, 

 so far as I can gather, no material damage 

 was done to vegetation bv it. 



FILLING A LONG FLOWER BED.— 

 Strathmore, Cambs. : I have in my garden 

 a ^bed about 18 or 20 yards long, backed bj 

 a hedge, ornamental trees, and some herba- 

 ceous plants. The front of the bed, which 

 comes down to a lawn, I thoug'ht of planting 

 something as follows, and shall be pleased 

 to have your opinion of the correctness of 

 it, or any suggestion for improvements: 

 First row, echeverias; second row, lobelias; 

 third row, yellow violas; fourth row. Cine- 

 raria maritima or Dactylis glomerata varie- 

 gata; fifth row, Pentstemon Newbury Gem ; 

 sixith row, Yellow Queen antirrhinums ; 

 seventh row, Zonal Pelargonium King of 

 Denmark. I have all the^ie plants by me, 

 and hence would like to use them, but would 

 gladly consider your suggestions for addi- 

 tion or substitution. — Although it is no un- 

 common thing to find hardy and very tender 

 su'bjects associated in beds and borders lor 

 a summer display, it is much better to keep 

 the two distinct, if ipossible ; hence the 

 eoheverias, lobelias. Cineraria maritima, and 

 Pelargoniums King of Denmark should be 

 associated in beds or borders near the house, 

 while the 'bed referred to could be devoted 

 to the hardier subjects. Use an edging of 

 sweet alyssum, and cover the ground be- 

 hind it with the yellow violas. In this 

 groundwork set the pentstemons and antir- 

 Ainums in groups, each group about a yard 

 across, adding groups of pink, white, and 

 vellow early-floiwering chrysanthemums of 

 various heights, some annual chry.^anthe- 

 mums (sown now under glass), and some 

 chamois and pink antirrhinums. Tliese ad- 

 ditions would not add very materially to the 

 expense. Each group might have an encir- 

 cling rin-ff of the variegated Cocksfoot grass. 



PINK EARLY -FLOWERING CHRY- 

 SANIHEMUMS.— H. P., Gamlingay: You 

 will great! V c^blige me by giving a short list 

 of pink or pink shaded chrysanthemums of 

 the early-flowering section in vour " Answers 

 to Correspondents" column.— Tiie following 

 are all excellent varieties in various shades 

 of pink: Ada, Daintv, Dolly Reeves, Dora 

 Biick, Dorothy Humphery, Elenore, 

 Goacher's Pink, Glory of Merstham, Hector, 

 Jas. Bateman, L'Aube, Lillie, Nellie Hems- 

 lev, Normandie, 0. J. Quintus, Provence, 

 Patricia Rabbie Burns, Ryecroft Beauty, 

 Satin Rose, and September Belle. 



LENTEN ROSES.— H. E. B., Berkhamp- 

 st^ad : Having greatly adlmired the iT!i- 

 proved forms of Lenten roses exhibited dur- 

 ing late years. I am anxious to secure some 

 of the hest varieties. I fancy some are 

 named, and should therefore be glad if you 

 will give a selection of the.se, and^ some sug- 

 gestions for planting, in an early issue. — 

 Hellebores do well in rich loamy soil, inclin- 

 ing to heaviness, and are usually best man- 



aged, in a semi-shaded position where their 

 roots will be constantly moist. To produce 

 a good effect, the plants should be grouped 

 in considerable numbers. When new growth 

 is being made, a top-dressing of decayed 

 manure and leaf-mould will add strength to 

 the plants, and result in a finer crop of 

 flowers. - The true I*enten roses are varieties 

 of Helleborus orientalis, but this latter has 

 been crossed with other species for the pro- 

 duction Oi new colours. Excellent varieties 

 of this section are A'bel Cai*riere, dark pur- 

 ple; ALbin Otto, white, spotted with deep 

 purple; Apotheker Bogrin, purple, spotted 

 with crimson, very fine; Councillor Benary, 

 white, with purple spots; Diadem, rose, 

 spotted with purple; Duchess of Cleveland, 

 rosy4ilac; Gretchen Heinmann. rosy-purple, 

 with crimson spots; Norma, white, faintly 

 spotted; and W. E. Gladstone, rose, shaded 

 pink. 



BIGENERIC ORCHIDS.— S. C, Chippen- 

 ham : Kindly tell me the chief bigeneric 

 Combinations that have been effected by hy- 

 bridists among orchids. The names of in- 

 dividual results I do not need at present, but 

 simply the generic combination. — The fol- 

 lowing combinations have been effected suc- 

 cessfully among orchids: Ada and Cocklioda, 

 Brassavola and Cattleya, Brassavola and 

 Laelia, Cattleya and Laelia, Cochlioda and 

 Odontoglossum, Cochlioda and Oncidium, 

 Cochlicda and Miltonia, Odontoglossum and 

 Oncidium, Odontoglossum and Aliltonia, 

 Diacrium and Cattleya, Diacrium and Lselia, 

 Epidendrum and Cattleya, Epidendrum and 

 Laelia, Epidendrum and Sophronitis ,Epiden- 

 drum and Brassavola, Sophronitis and Catt- 

 leya, Sophronitis and Laelia, Phaius and Cal- 

 anthe, Phaius and Cymbidium, Schromburg- 

 kia and Cattleya, Zygopetalum and Bate- 

 mannia, Zygopetalum and Colax, and Zygo- 

 petalum and xlgani&ia. 



TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. — A. E. C, 

 CliisLehurst : In the course of the next week 

 or so I propose to place my begonia tubers 

 in sandy leaf-mould, in boxes, over gentle 

 bottom-iieat, to start them into growth. Is 

 this right? So far, I have not been so suc- 

 cesslul in the general cultivation of these 

 handsome flowers, and should, therefore, be 

 glad if you could give an article on this 

 matter in an early issue, as doubtless other 

 readers are interested in begonia culture as 

 well as L — Your proposed method of start- 

 ing the tubers into growth is a good one, 

 but there is a little danger lest they are left 

 too long in the ,boxes, and the roots become 

 entangled, and consequently become 

 damaged when potting becomes necessary. 

 In our issue of March 2 we shall publish an 

 article on tuberous begonias, which we are 

 sure, will prove very helpful to you. 



LOPPING AN ELM.— J. D., Atherstone. 

 — Two large elms, each with huge branches, 

 occupy a position near a cottage, and I am 

 told that such trees are dangerous as big 

 limbs are apt to fall during summer-time 

 without warning. Please say whether I 

 am rightly informed; and, if so, what do 

 you suggest I should do? — Old elm trees with 

 large hmbs are undoubtedly dangerous, and 

 ^ould be lopped. To properly lop a big 

 elm is itself a dangerous proceeding to any 

 but those used to such work; moreover, 

 without seeing the trees it is not possible to 

 advise vou as to how much of the tree should 

 be cut back. Your best plan will l>e to place 

 the matter in the hands of a woodman, lores- 

 ter, or nurseryman after obtaining from 

 either an estimate of the cast. 



DIMORPHOIHEC^VS.— P. R. D., Bishop- 

 stoke: Last year I grew a numb3r of plants 

 of the beauTiful Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, 

 and have purchased seeds this year of that 

 species and also of dimorphotheca hybrids. 

 But, athough the plants was successful in 

 raising during the spring of 1911 proved 

 moist delightful subjecits ffoir positions on 

 a low piece of rockwork, I was not able to 

 raise more than a^bout 30 per cent, of the 

 seedlings that appear. When transferred to 

 the open air, they failed unaccountably and 

 in considerable numbers, but the few that 



I have 



splendid. Can you give me any cul- 



tural hint that would enable me to secure 

 a larger number of the plants after gerraina. 

 tion — We had a similar experience two 

 years ago with one pan of seedlings. Froji 

 some cause or other, the plants were not 

 pricked out promptly while quite tiny, and 

 so they never did any good, while seedlings 

 from another pan, trausferred singly into 

 small pots as early as possible, made ca,pital 

 plants, and did not suffer in the least when 

 transferred to their flowering quarters. We 

 noticed that the seedlings were inclined to 

 make top roots and very few fibrous brandl- 

 ing roots, and so, instead of pricking them 

 out into other pans and boxes, we gave 

 each one a large thumb pot, and in due 

 course a large 60-sized pot, and by tliis 

 means every plant so treated was a success. 

 We imagine the new hybrids will prove sue- 

 cessful under similar conditions. 



TS. 



Odontogl 



1, Saintpaulia 



E. M. H., Ulverston.- 



c el lens. 



P. P., Hayward's Heath. — 1, Acacia Drnni- 

 mondi; 2, Helleborus colchicus; 3, Erica 



carnea. 



M. T. L., Hornchurch. 

 ionantha ; 2, a garden form of the achimene- 

 flora section of streptocarpus. 



M. C. G., Hitchm.— 1, Pleroma macran- 

 tha; 2, Peristrophe speciosa ; 3, a fairly good 

 form of Cypripedium Actseus; 4, Nephrolepis 



Duffi. 



F. J. C, Chelmsford.— 1, Euphor*bra spleii- 

 dens ; 2, appears to be a piece of ^chyuai- 

 thus, send when in flower; 3, Debregsecia 

 velutina; 4, Virburnum Tinus; 5, Cydonia 

 japonica; 6, Ruscus aculeatus. 



We can still offer 

 extra fine canes of 



GRAPE VINES, 



up to our us 



ual 



well-known quality 

 for present planting 



Orders dispatched 

 same day as 



receive 



d. 



. B\ii\yard 



& CO., LTD., 



Royal Nurseries, 



MAIDSTONE. 



pulled 

 said, 



tlnougli all right were, as 



