J 



^gPTE3l3EK 21, 1912 



THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 



725 



lion 



SEEDLING DELPHINIUMS. 



Most people are well acquainted with 

 deiphiniums and the tine ettect they pro- 

 duce in tlie herbaceous borders during the 

 sammer months, tor when well grown the 

 lone spikes of tiowers tower above every- 

 thiiTg else. This season, in many places, 

 Old Clumps that were planted in well-pre- 

 pared borders, and allowed plenty of room 

 10 develop, have done remarkably well, 

 throwing up their spikes from eight to 

 ten feet hign. It is when grown thus that 

 they show themselves to advantage. By 

 the end of July, however, most of the 

 varieties have ceased to bloom, and unless 

 other provisions are made to extend the 

 usefulness of these plants, their flowering 

 period will be of but short duration. 



lo have plants to bloom early a batch 

 uiay be potted up in the winter and 

 brought lorward under glass, as the pro- 

 tection of a cold frame is all that is needed 

 to mduce them to make early growth, buc 

 It IS not to these that 1 wish to draw 

 special attention at the present time, buc 

 to the raising of seedlings to succeed those 

 that are planted out. Where a gentle 

 heat can be provided there should be no 

 aithculty in raising a batch early each 

 year, ihe seed should be sown in boxes 

 "early in February, which should afterwards 

 be placed in a gentle heat, either on a 

 hotoed or in a house where a temperature 

 of from 50 degrees to 55 degrees can be 

 maintained. Jaere the seed will soon ger- 

 minate, and when the plants are large 

 enough to handle they siiould be pricked 

 oif into other boxes, and grown on until 

 it is safe to transplant them in the open 

 ground. Choose a plot in a sunny posi- 

 j which should be liberally manured 

 and deeply dug. Here the plants should 

 be put out from a foot to nfteen inches 

 apart each way, when, if well looked after 

 in the way of watering and keeping free 

 from weeds, they will commence to produce 

 their flower spikes early in August, and 

 continue to bloom until late in the autumu^, 



The other day my attention was drawii. 

 to a large batch of seedlings that had been 

 treated in this manner . There were 

 several hundreds of them raised from seed 

 saved from some of the finest named varie- 

 ties. The plants had grown remarkably 

 well^ some of them producing spikes fl-om 

 hve to six feet high, of all the various 

 shades of blue one could imagine, both 

 double and single. By growing batches in 

 this manner each season, and selecting the 

 '><^^t varieties thus produced, a very fine 

 strain has been obtained, giving flowers of 

 'arge size and varied colours. Delphi- 



very freely, and as it ripens 

 in July^ those who have not the conve- 

 nience to raise plants in heat in spring 

 ^;ould do well to sow the seed as soon as 

 ripe in welUprepared soil either in the open 

 or m a cold frame. 



Aew seed germinates very readily, and 

 ^ould produce nice little plants by the 

 autumn, which, if pricked out singly about 

 inches apart in a oold frame would 

 ^ ready to start into growth as soon as 

 e weather is favourable in spring. Del- 

 Pmniums are most useful for the supply 

 cut flowers, especially those varieties 

 PrtHlucing pale blue flowers on loose spikes, 

 there are but few flowers of that colour 

 n long stems, especially late in the sea- 

 H nere cut flowers in large quantities 

 "quired in the autumn long spikes of 

 ^^^se will be found very' useful, and when 

 with ^ produced in such abundance 

 ^^tn so little trouble a quantity should be 

 s own for that purpose. Where large con- 

 ' /y^^ofies have to be kept furnished plants 

 these in pots will be found most useful, 



especially seedlings having one spike, as 

 such could be arranged in groups ot various 

 shades to suit the tastes or the most fasti- 

 dious. But to have fine spikes the planes 

 will need to be w^ell looked after during 

 the growing season, never aliovving them 

 to surfer for want of moisture at the roots. 



H. C. P. 



ber. 

 latter 



common 



but probably even better adapted 

 the garaen's needs. Excellent named 

 ts cosD but sixpence a plant. ^Snowdon 

 and Lady .Napier are pure whites, while 

 V\ nite Swan la extra floriterous. iJberon, 



and Mrs. 



Walter 



son. 

 are 



PHLOXES FOR GARDEN 



COLOUR. 



Duriiiij: the interval between the summer 

 and autumn &eason:= of rose blossom^ the 

 herbaveous phlox is of especial value in the 

 garden, aiiu should be tar more lavishly 

 planted to meet this serious need of colour. 

 No other flower is equally suitable. 



In a. Midland garden the best dwarf 

 phloxes are alternated with dwarf roses, 

 twenty inches distant from them, and it is 

 round that in rich, deep soil, with recourse 



feed' 



Jt\ose of <Jastille, Miss Mima,- 

 J^eekie are all rose-eyed white 

 Anderson is a charming rose, flaked with 

 white, while the Kev. Dr. Hornby is a 

 white, striped with rose, with a purple eye, 

 a most ettective flower. 



i'ale tints obtain most among the early 

 varieties, but Mrs. Miller is magenta-pur- 

 ple; so, too, IS Uoi. b'jatter. Chas. Dawnie 

 IS deep iilac-rose, and ii. l.ewan a beau- 



01 late-flowering varie- 



tiful pale mauve, 

 ties only dwarfs will be mentioned here, 

 the tail kina^i heiiiLr iar more known. 



being 



Jocelyn is tlie best scarlet 

 magnificent rose-pink, othei 

 beauties being Name Hebe, pale magenta; 

 Uura-gan, vioiet-blue ; i^ouvenir. violet- 



more 



, Profusion a 

 self-colourea 



had to liquid tending and cnemicai ore s- , j^^c ; rfultrage, 



'^m^l^'ir^'^::' J^il"--e; Tapis Blanc, white; Fvancii- 



least, but are actually benefited by the 

 shade to their lower stems and the ground 

 aoove their r(K)ts that the perennial pnloxes 

 atford. This method enables an infi- 

 nite variety of exquisite colour combina- ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ 



and h u r nous, crimson- 



house 



to „ . 



mon phlox, white phlox with orange-scarlet 

 roses, mauve with lemon, blush with 

 maroon, cream with carmine, vermilion 

 with gold, purple with rose-pink, and so 

 on through the wondrous range of hues. 



Though early winter is the time for 

 phlox planting, the clumps that exist in 

 the garden, it of sufficient size to divide 

 advantageously, should be broken up, and 

 replanted in small portions in semnshady 

 borders, as soon as they have ceased to 

 bloom. By this method vigorous young 

 specimens are gained for final removal in 

 October or November, whereas if clumps 

 were divided, then winter would be upon 

 them before they had time to de- 

 velop ; and several months' less growth 

 would have enisued before the next year's 

 florescence. Kich ground is essential for 

 the nursery borders or beds ; if preferred, a 

 trench across vegetable land will suffice, 

 without semi-shade, if left with sides raised 

 six inches or so to left and right of the 

 row of plants. Old cow-manure is the be&t 

 to use at the base of the soil for phloxes in 

 dryish ground, but horse-manure will 

 answer the purpose fairly well if mixed 

 with leaf-mould. At all periods of growth 

 the phlox needs humus in great quantity, 

 which is why it seldom shows at its best 

 in hurriedly-made new gardens, but luxu- 

 riates in old borders by cottages or farm- 

 houses. Of course, new land can be made 

 perfectly satisfactory by the incorporation 

 of turf-loam, leaf-mould, and vegetable 

 ashes in addition to manure. 



During summer notice should be taken 

 of the colours that phloxes actually are, 

 and the^ie compared with those of any yom^^ 



to 



Catalogue <le- 



scriptions are apt to be confusing, if not 

 absolutely false. For example, the familiar 

 Coquelicot is called bright scarlet with pur- 

 ple eye, but from a slight distance the 

 magenta-maroon eye in question entirely 

 destroys any vermilion of the whole mass, 

 rendering this an unsuitable flower for use 

 among vermilion roses. There k anotlier 

 admirable method of making phloxes supply 

 garden brilliance while roses are resting. 

 This is to alternate beds of each, or sur- 

 round the rosery with borders of the her- 

 baceous plants. 



Early-flowering dwarf varieties of 1 hlox 



suffruticosa blossom during June and July, 

 while the later varieties of Phlox decussata 

 becrin in late July and continue until Octo- 



lon, ileep pink; 

 scarlet. 



W ell-m an u red horde rs ag a i nst 

 walls may be kept gay all the summer and 



by massing them with 

 phloxes from both cia:.ses, a pjy ramidal etttx-t 

 oeing easily gained from a plant that has 

 one^ioot tall Tapis Blanc and the three to 

 four-foot orange-scarlet Aurore among its 

 members. Phloxes by the water-side 

 nourish exuberantly. Phloxes on rockeries 

 will revel in deep soil pockets between 

 stones. As hedges m front gardens, against 

 outer railings or dividing the tradesman s 

 path from the small lawn, the tall varieties 

 are magniiicent ; a shaded range ot <ol<.ur 

 slioukl oe planned, starting from wlnte Ijy 

 the gate, through blush, pink, rose, pale 

 magenta, carmine, to magenta-purple, and 

 finally claret maroon against the gray or 

 white waUs of the house. A red.bnck 

 building would require the phloxes to be 

 of salmons, scarlets, with perhaps lavenders 

 and blue-violets. 



Phloxes can be chosen freely to create 

 bold colour groups in shrubbery <^*l^arings, 

 and will thrive even in woodlands. M. H. 



Tamarix pentandra.— One fre- 



nuently meets with this tamarisk under the 

 names of Tamarix hispida astivalis and lama- 

 rix Pallasi rosea, as well as that at the head 

 of this note. Though opinions may vary as 

 to the name, there is no question that it is 

 a most desirable flowering shrub, which is at 

 its best during the latter part of the summer, 

 and often well on into the autumn. Seen in 

 a bed <>r mass, the rich pink feathery in- 

 florescences are particularly striking and 

 anyone unacquainted with it in this form 

 would, at a little distance, be puzzled as to 

 the identity of the charming flowers —K. 



Pancratiums. - Large, es ablished 



Iniihs will now l>e flowering, and should be 

 ■ ed in a light position in the intermediate 

 lioii-se or pit. When the flower spike is well 

 advanced cea*se overhead syringing, but give 

 copious waterings a': the roots. iSew growth 

 will commeucc soon after flowering is over, 

 and this is a capital time to repot or topdre^ 

 where required. It should be borne m mind 

 that pancratiums are impatient of much dis- 

 ^-"vbance of the roots, and if the soil remains 

 a sweet condition once in two or three 

 \oars is often enough to repot. At the t^ame 

 lime the drainage should be examined, and 

 a top-dretssing of good, loamy soil applied 

 ,H'casi(»nally. They delight in abundance ot 

 water a/ the roots, a humid atmosphere, and 

 frequent applications of an approved manure 

 during active growth. I prefer to grow the 

 hnU^ singly in 32-riized pots, and when repot- 

 ting is ncces,-;arv carefully remove all side 

 hulb^ and pot these three in a pot for grow- 

 iu^'^ on inr inciH^a.^e ot rtock.—H. T. Martin. 



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