374 



THE 



GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 



Max 11, 1912. 



of a flower-hue cannot be loved as it 

 should iinle.ss it can be seen with the com- 

 plement of leaf and stem tints that were 

 its birthright. 



To return to the consideration of tender 

 colours, we recognise at once that they are 

 yielded by the mauvy, rose, purple-crim- 

 son nicotianas; by cream, peach-blossom, 

 mauve and dull rose stocks. The scabious 



is obtainable in shades of 



ii>shed 



berry. The salpiglossis shows a glorious 

 ruby-red, as well a^i a purplish-blue that 

 is a vastly superior shade to the gentian 

 or cornflower, from an artist's point of 

 view. 



Maroon or claret flowers or foliage 

 banked up against the crudest of red villas 

 will subdue the garish appearance; while, 

 if silver-green foliage is present also, a 

 softer effect will be enjoyed. A plea shoidd 

 also be put in for the grouping of different 

 colours in house-front borders, instead of 

 the stiff ugliness of the straight rows of 

 various heights, ending in the unbroken 

 edging, usually of lobelia or miniature 

 sweet alyssum. AVby should our edging be 

 continuoiis in colour, when lengths of rose, 

 pale blue, cream, carmine, deep blue, 

 lemon, pale pink, and mauve can succeed 

 one another, affording the charm of a rain- 

 bow harmony, and |>ermitting a collection 

 of different plants to be exhibited. 



Then what a satisfaction it is to come 

 upon a lawn, tlie beds of which are filled 

 so as to supply a selection of heights among 

 themselves, not jimt a selection of heights 

 in each bed. Tlie stately Nicotiana macro- 

 phylla gigantea, witli its noble leaves and 

 purple blooms, may fill a large round or 

 square; while some of the oblongs, stars, 

 < rescents, or diamonds can be ma<le beauti- 

 ful without the employment of any plant 

 taller than a viola. Variety in habit of 

 growth should also be aimed at. One cause 

 of the stiffness or the monotony of bedded- 

 out gardens is the use of too many stubby 

 plants, such as the zonal pelargonium, cal- 

 ceolaria, and fuchsia. There should be the 

 stateliness of the Lilium auratum, canna, 

 or gladiolus ; the waving light-stemmed 

 grace of poppies; the branching luxuriance 

 of gazanias, verbenas, ivy-lea vcfl pelar- 

 goniums, and lesser favourites such as 

 eschscholtzias and mignonette. For, only 

 by taking all the qualities of our bedding 

 plants into consideration, and combining 

 them so as to mitigate their demerits, can 

 we gardeners claim to have made the best 

 use of our tools. M. H. 



BOUVARDIAS. 



Strictly speaking, bouvardias are green- 

 house plants, but to obtain good results 

 they must be started in heat, and remain 

 in a genial temperature for several weeks, 

 in order to build up strong plants before 

 transfer to frames or cold pits for the 

 summer. The stock plants should 1>e 

 turned out, and a good portion (»f the ex- 

 hausted soil be removed. Shorten the 

 strongest r<x)ts, and place in pots of as 

 small a size as will hold the plants. A 

 compost I find suits them well consists of 

 two parts loam, one each of leaf-soil, and 

 decayed manure, and sand. Place in a 

 temperature of 6o or 70 degrees, and keep 

 well syringed. 



When the young shoots are two or 

 three inches long, pinch out the points. 

 To increase the stock some of these young 

 shoots may be taken off with a heel and 

 inserted in small pots. Another method 

 that answers well is to cut the strongest 

 roots into inch lengths, and lay them in 

 a pan of sandy soil, slightly covering them. 



H. T. Martin, 



"Warren Wood Gard 



HELIOTROPIUMS. 



These sweet-scented flowers are always 

 appreciated, whether grown in the flower 

 beds during the summer or in pots, either 

 in the greenhouse, conservatory, or dwell- 

 ing house. As summer bedding plants they 

 are much in evidence, as no garden seems 



complete without them. 



It is not, however, as bedding plants 



that they are most appreciated, but as de- 

 corative subjects for autumn and winter 

 flowering. Most people have seen how well 

 heliotropes will grow when planted out in 

 a light rich soil, and how profusely they 

 bloom during the autumn previous to being 

 cut down bv the frost, yet but few can 

 realise the wealth of bloom they will give 

 during the dull months of winter. True, 

 the plants require rather more heat than 

 they usually receive during the cold 

 weather to flower them to perfection, but 

 when A\'ell grown they repay for this extra 

 care. If the plants are healthy, and 

 covere<l with their trusses of sweet-scented 

 blossom, they are sure to be prized. But 

 to be useful, the plants must be vigorous, 

 otherwise the flowers will be poor. In 

 order to have a wealth of bloom through 

 the winter months it is necessary to have 

 some large and well-established plants. If 

 such can be grown \\p pillars, along rafters, 

 or against a wall, where the young growths 

 are allowed to extend themselves at will, 

 fine trusses on long growths may be 

 gathered the^refrom. But to produce 

 j)lants of this class takes time, so that 

 propagation should be commenced at once 

 where this has not already taken place. 



The yoimg growths will root readily 

 enough if inserted in a light sandy com- 

 post, and placed in brisk heat. When 

 rooted they should be potted singly, and 

 grown in a temperature of from 60 to 65 

 degrees. At this stage the shape the 

 plants are to assume must be decided. If 

 for planting out they should not be pinched 

 until they are from six inches to a foot 

 high, according to the position they are in- 

 tended to occupy, as it is seldom a quan- 

 tity of shoots are required near the 

 ground ; on the other hand, if required for 

 decorative purposes in pots, the nearer the 

 jdants are to the soil the better. Shoidd 

 they be intended for standards they 

 must be kept to a single stem until the 

 desired height is attained, when growth 

 must be stopped to induce a bushy head. 



As the pots become filled with roots the 

 plants should be transferred to others, a 

 couple of sizes larger, using a light rich 

 compost, and not potting too firmly. As 

 plants of this class make rapid growth they 

 require ample root room "if they are to 

 give satisfaction. Potting heliotropes is 

 quite different to potting hard-wooded 

 plants. If they have grown satisfactorily 

 they should be large enough to occupy their 

 flowering pots by August, after which they 

 should not be st-opped. During the sum- 

 mer months stand them on a bed of ash(>s 

 in a sunny position, but sheltered from 

 rough Avinds. See timt they never suffer 

 for want of water, and as the roots fill 

 the pots giA'e weak liquid manure two or 

 three times a week. Al)out the middle of 

 September they should be housed, but it 

 is not well to grow them in too high* a 

 temperature; therefore if the weather is 

 hot, as sometimes is the case, keep the 

 ventilators open as wide as possible in order 

 to keep the plants sturdy, but as the nights 

 get colder it will be necessary to apply 

 a little fire heat to keep up the requisite 

 temperature, or the flowei-s will not ex- 

 pand freely, neither will they he of that 

 fresh appearance that is so desirable. 



As winter approaches a temperature of 

 from oO to 55 degrees should be main- 



tained, with a rather dry atmosphere in 

 order to prevent the flowers from damp- 

 ing, and to keep the growth as sturdy a.s 

 possible. 



Heliotropes that are planted out should 

 not be tied in closely, as this would cause 

 them to lose their leaves, and prevent them 

 flowering as profusely as one would wish. 

 After flowering, both standards and those 

 plant-ed out, should be allowed a rest, as 

 they will grow more vigorously again when 

 the days are longer. Standards should be 

 cut back a bit, repotted, and placed in a 

 warm house to induce them to make young 

 growths. If such plants are too large for 

 indoor use the pots may be plunged in the 

 flower beds during the summer, when thev 

 will make a fine display. Those growing 

 close to the roof or on walls should have 

 their vshoots shortened, and be thinned so 

 as to make room for the young growths 

 which should be encouraged as much as 

 possible by the aid of liquid manure during 

 the growing season. P. G. 



SOYA BEAN CULTIVATION 



IN SCOTLAND. 



Colonel Johnston of Lesmurdie, Elginshire, 

 ably seconded by his head gardener, Mr. 

 Smart, was successful last season in produc- 

 ing a number of plants of a very fair size, 

 and in reaping a crop of the soya bean (Gly- 

 cine hispida). This is not by any meana 

 the first occasion on which Colonel John- 

 ston has been successfid in experiment- 

 ing on tender plants, his interest in plant 

 life being- very keen and extensive. This 

 season the Colonel is sowing alongside a plot 

 of imported seed, the seed he himself pro- 

 duced last year^ in order to ai^certain if any 

 degree of acclimatisation has been acquired 

 bv association with the conditions attached 

 to his district. Of course, it has to be re- 

 membered that last season was an excep- 

 tionally favourable one, and one which is not 

 likely to occur again soon, but it is hoped 

 the partial acclimatisation may have im- 

 parted a degree of hardiness to the seed pro- 

 duced at Lesmurdie last year' which may 

 enable them to withstand less favourable 

 conditions. As is well known, thi& 

 bean requires warm weather for its develop- 

 ment, otherwise it makes but slow progrej^s, 

 and may not mature even in the space of live 

 months. This fact was illustrated in the 

 experiments carried out in Nairnshire in 191^^ 

 with the soya bean by the North of Scotland 

 College of Agriculture. 



That season was Avet, cold, and unsettled, 

 yet the plants developed a good display oi 

 foliage, and attained the flowering stag€. 

 but they failed in producing pods. This vyas 

 simply "brought about by the season, owing" 

 to the lower temperature, being rather short 

 to permit of ripening, or it lacked tiufficient 

 or continuous warmth for the sufficiently 

 vigorous g»;o\\i:h of the plant. Hence last 

 summer, being warm and forcing, the Lesr 

 murdie experiment proved most successfui- 



The bean can be cultivated on a wide rang^ 

 of soils, but it is somewhat fastidious abom 

 climate, and is s-ensitive to cold aud fi'Oe • 

 In the North of Scotland the climate is 

 uncertain and generallv too cold and dull o 

 its liking. This, however, is not to dete 

 Colonel Johnston from following up hi^ '^'^^ 

 season's succ-ess, and his efforts will 



tainly be watched with much interest. 



W. h. 



Veronica, diosmaefolia-— 0^ 



different shrubby veronicas now in our g^^^ 

 dens this stands out markedly 



from 



numerous forms of Veronica speciosa, 



inas- 



much as the flowers are borne during 

 spring and earlv summer months, ^'"^^".i. 

 a five-inch pot," it forms a neat little bu^^.- 

 with branches which are somewhat ^ ^ 

 zontally disposed, clothed with small po"l 

 leaves, and plentifully sprinkled with spiK 

 of lilac-coloured flowers. — W. T. 



