320 



THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE, 



April 20, 1912. 



the cuttings, and many losses will result CULTIVATION OF 



from the neglect. Of course, slips will root 

 when inserted in the open border, but not 

 so freely as they will under the foregoing 

 method of propagation. 



An excellent white for general purposes 

 is Her Majesty, with large and fragrant 

 flowers freely borne : others are Snow- 

 flake, Albino, and Mrs. Simkins. The 

 newer Progress, with rosy mauve flowers, is 

 an exceptionally fine variety of vigorous 

 habit, and with strong flower stems. 

 Evelyn, white ground, with pink lacing; 

 Ernest Ladhams, blush, darker centre ; 

 Empress of India, dark-red ; Lady Craven, 

 red; Marion, rose pink; George White, 

 purple ; and Minerva, dark-red, are all 

 good and free-flowering pinks. 



Gnaton Gardens. E. C. Pooley. 



EARLY FLOWERING 



MAGNOLIAS ON WALLS. 



AVith the excej)tion of Magnolia grand:- 

 flora no great ]>rominem'e is given the 

 members of tliis genus for the purpose of 

 clothing walls, yot in the r/)lder parts of 

 these islands, at least, no i-hoicer subjects 

 can be conceived for such a purpose, while 

 even in favoured districts they attain a 

 degree of beauty under these conditions 

 that warrants much greater use being made 

 of these than heretofore. Although hardy 

 in most parts of the country, even when 

 planted in the open, it is always necessary 

 to plant in sheltered places, as, owing to 

 the wax-like texture of the petals, the 

 flowers are exceedingly liable to damage 

 from sun scorch following upon frost, or 

 from chafing against the branches during 

 rough winds. It is against accidents sucli 

 as these that the advantage of wall pro- 

 tection becomCvS apjiarent. 



Of early-flowering kinds, Magnolia stel- 

 lata is first to unfold, the flowers opening 

 toward the end of February or early in 

 March, according; to the season ; the 



flowers are white, and the strap-like petals 

 reflex at the points, and give the expanded 

 flowers a star-like appearance. It forms a 

 well-rounded bush when grown in the open, 

 and although not quite the best type of 

 wall shrub, it readily adapts itself to these 

 conditions; once well-established, growth 

 becomes fairly rapid, the plant fills 

 up well, aiid flowers with a freedom 

 that marks it as one of the best of our 

 deciduous flowering shrubs. Like other 

 members of this genus, it resents lime m 

 the soil, succeeding best in a cool deep 



sandy loam. 



Magnolia conspicua (the \ulan) blooms 



early in April, producing large white 

 scented cup-shaped flowers, that are borne 

 erect on the points of the branches. It is 

 a fast-growing shrub, and floAvers so freely 

 as to appear clad in white, and a goml 

 specimen constitutes quite a floral triumph 

 in the aarden in si>rino;. Magnolia Soulan- 

 geana is only a few days biter in opening 

 than conspicua ; it is regarded as a natura 

 hvbi-id between the last-named sjiecu^s and 

 obovata resembling conspicua in the lai'ge 

 *;ize of the flowers, but differing m colour 

 the flowers being heavily sufi^used with 

 purple externally. ^ 



Magnolias succee<l best m a fairly rich 

 loamv soil, and in a warm sheltered spot 

 open" to the sun. For the early-flowering 

 section a south-we.st or west aspect is much 

 to be preferred, as there the early frosts 

 are dispelled from the blossoms before the 

 morning sun falls upon them. Magno has 

 recent disturbance at the roots, so that 

 idantui^ should l)e regarded as permanent 

 in character, and ani}>le space be provide, 

 for lateral development at the time oL 

 planting. ^' 



CARNATIONS BY AMATEURS- 



(Continued from pa^e 287.) 



Newly-rooted Plants. 



When the cuttings l>ecome rooted, gradu- 

 ally harden them ofE, and put them into two- 

 inch pots, using a compost of equal parts 

 of loam, leaf-soil, and sand, with a few wood 

 ashes added, then place in a light position m 

 a temperature of 50 to 55 deg. Shade them 

 from bright sun for a few days until estab- 

 lished, and water carefully, remembering 

 that for the first few days the plants 

 have few roots, and so will not be taking up 

 a quantitv of moisture from the soil, which, 

 if kept wet soon becomes sour. A slight 

 spraying overhead might be given with ad- 

 vantage on bright days, but this should 

 always be done early in the morning, so that 

 the foliage will become dry before night. 

 A word of caution might be given as to the 

 manner of removing the cuttings from the 

 sand. Do not pull them up, or most of the 

 lower roots will be broken and left behind 

 in the sand, but take a label or flat piece of 

 wood, and push under the cuttings so as to 

 hreak the sand, and lift up the cutting with 

 the roots entire. Keep them growing, and 

 as soon as the roots show round the sides of 

 the pots, thev should be shifted into 3Un. 

 or 4in. size. For this shift use a compost of 

 three parts of good loam that lias been 

 stacked for some time, one of good flaky leaf- 

 soil, and one of old mortar rubble or screen- 

 ings from a clay or smother fire, and sand 

 with a good sprinkling of wood ashes. Pass 

 the whole through a quarter-inch sieve. 

 Take care at each potting that the stem of 

 the plant is not buried lower than previously, 

 or stem-rot is likely to set in. 



Continue to grow on in light, airy position 

 in a house with a temperature of 48 to 5o 

 deg., and in a few weeks they will require 

 aiiatiier move into their flowering pots, the 

 hirger into seven-inch, and the smaller into 

 s = x-inch pots. Use the same mixture of soil 

 as before, except that it should be coarser, 

 not requiring sifting, and adding a six-inch 

 pot of bone-meal to every barrowful of soil. 



In potting it is essential that both the soil 

 and plant should be in the right condition. 

 The soil should 'be moist, but not so wet that 

 it will stick to the hands. llie plant also 

 should not l3e too wet or too dry. If wet, the 

 ball of the plant is liable to break and injure 

 the roots, and it is impossible to make the 

 new soil properly firm, while, if dry, it is 

 difficult for the 'water to percolate through 

 the new soil, and so reach the roots, which 



consequently suffer. 



Growth 



required, and stopped while the roots are in 

 active growth, one could hardly expect such 

 clean growths from the former plants as 

 the latter. From this time, the plants should 

 be attended to once or twice a week, and 

 those growths stopped which are just begin* 

 ning to run, or are six to eight inches long. 

 Stop back to the matured wood, leaving four 

 to six joints. If not more than one or two 

 growths on the same plant be stopped at the 

 same time, it will help to keep up the per- 

 petual flowering character of the plant, for 

 naturally, if all the shoots were stopped 

 at the same- time they would flower 

 at very nearly the same time. The stopping 

 of most of the varieties should be discon- 

 tinued at the beginning of July, a few of the 

 more freer growing a fortnight or so later. 



mm 



m 



Stopping is an important item in the cul- 

 ture of perpetual-flowering carnations, and is 

 performed in the first place to insure a com- 

 pact bushv habit, and also to increase the 

 size of the plant, and the number of the 

 flowering growths. The first stopping 

 should take place just after the young plants 

 have received their second potting (i.e., into 

 3i or 4in. pots), and are about six inches 

 high, and have perhaps six or eight fully- 

 developed leaves. The points of the plants 

 should be pinched out, so as to leave about 



four joints. 



It may appear to the novice to be waste 

 of time to grow a plant for some time and 

 then take away what looks like the l)est part 

 of it and he would probably say, "Why not 

 stop earlier," but it is best to exercise 

 patience. The plant has been budding up 

 and becoming stronger and more active an 

 root growth, and, what is more important, 

 the whole of the four joints are matured and 

 more likely to break into growth at one time, 

 and so lay the foundation for a larger and 

 better plant than if stopped earlier, when it 

 would probably break into two growths in- 

 stead of four. ■ It will be seen that the cor- 

 rect method of this first stopping niakes all 

 the difference between large and shapely 

 plants and leggy weak specimens. In the 

 lame way, if they have l)een allowed to be - 

 cojne pot bound, and then stopped instead of 

 hein^r kent ffrowinsT and potted as soon as 



About the beginning of April the plants 

 may be removed into unheated frames and 

 gradually hardened oft' as the season ad- 

 vances. About a month later they may be 

 stood outdoors on an ash bed, ]>ut means 

 should be taken by which they may l>e easily 

 covered with glass lights, should a rainy 



period occur. 



Nothing will cause carnations to become 



unhealthy quicker than being continually 

 wet at the roots, and especially is this the 

 case with plants that are not well rooted, 

 which, of course, the carnations would not be 

 at this early stage of their growth. During 

 the summer, watering must be carefully at- 

 tended to, and when they are well rooted, 

 weak applications of soot water may be 

 given. During warm weather they are -mucli 

 benefited by spraying over with the syringe 

 in the late afternoon, wetting the ashes 

 around them to cause a moist atmosphere. 

 If the amateur cannot attend to his carna- 

 tions bv looking round them two or three 

 times a'^day during hot weather, it is a good 

 plan to plunge the pots in ashes, so that tliey 

 will not dry out so quickly. But otherwise 

 I prefer not to plunge, because in our capri- 

 cious climate we are just as likely to have 

 a dull time, and I think the plants benefit 

 by the air playing around the pots. 



Staking and tying should be attended to 

 as soon a's becomes necessary. This operation 

 should be begun early, not delayed until the 

 growths begin to bend or they will not make 

 shapelv plants. On windy days, the grower 

 will be much happier to know his carnations 

 are f^afe from being blown about, and some 

 of the best shoots broken. Place a stake in 

 the pots long enough so that it will not want 

 replacing during the plant's growth, lor 

 strong-growing varieties this should be to 

 3ft long. There are some patent wire rings 

 on the market, which can be used as substi- 

 tutes, for tving later, and these if carefuUT 

 placed, will keep the plants in good shape, 

 and save much labour in tying as well a3 

 when cutting the flowers. 



(To be continued.) 



Escallonia Langleyensis.'On 



seldom sees this recommended as a ^^auj^ 

 screen plant, yet I know of nothing ^ore 

 beautixul for the purpose. If ^^^^^^^^ 

 branches are secured to a wall, tence, or ui 

 support and the minor shoots are allowea i 

 dispose themselves at will, they ^^^^'^ 

 more or less semi-pendulous habit oi , 

 and a charming effect is thereby prod^^^^^ 

 More than this, the clusters of reddisli ru 

 flowers are borne in great profusion, anu 

 succession is kept up for some time, r.^ 

 tiful as many of the escallonms a^^^; ^^ig 

 upon this as one of the best It is surpnsm^^ 

 that it has not gained the First Class te 

 cate of the Eoyal Horticultural S^^^^^ 

 though it was given an Award of Mer r s 

 vears ago. Escallonia Langleyensis 

 raised in Messrs. Veitch's ^^^^^^^ f,r5 E. 

 ley, the parents being E. macrant a an 

 Dhiliimialia. TIuk last-named is docimi 



crreen in character. 'J here is a P^^^^., 

 tine specimen of this escallonia at 



Wood.— S.W. 



