144 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
with the carmine of Jesse Palmer or the brilliant crimson 
of Lillian Morrisey breathes a very hearty welcome. 
No collection or garden will be quite complete without 
the glorious blue of Marie de Ruvter or Violet Perfec- 
tion, the yellow of Schawben or Glory of Nordwijk. The 
royal Rajah, Red Emperor, and Empress of India are 
the very finest of the rich, deep reds and are particularly 
desirable. 
A point of interest is the selection of bulbs. It is a 
mistake to entertain the notion that size is virtue. It is 
essential that the bulbs should be of the proper age, fully 
developed and healthy rather than over-fed, soft, and 
punky, though large. 
In cutting the flower spikes, it is ruinous to cut the 
stalk where the flowers end. There must be some 
foliage to lend grace. Cut the spikes so as to leave two 
or three leaves on your bulb root, thus giving you a 
flower spike sometimes nearly four feet long, leaving 
plenty of strength for the bulb, and beauty for the 
•decoration. 
The Gladiolus in the garden is an unsightly object if 
left to bloom to its limit. The flower-loving public must 
he educated to a willingness to cut the spikes when they 
have bloomed a little while in the garden, then to finish 
their development in the house. Nothing is more un- 
sightly than a mass of ragged, betasseled Gladioli bend- 
ing in the wind, when it is so easy to pick off the withered 
blooms, if one does not wish them for house decoration. 
The Gladiolus is a flower of easy culture and does well 
in any soil, but should be planted in full exposure to the 
sun. It will do well planted in the hardy borders or in 
front of shrubbery. Many of the best varieties produce 
small bulbs and the largest bulbs do not always give the 
best results. It is essential that the bulb should be of 
blooming age rather than size. Soil should be well pre- 
pared in the early spring, with a good coating of agricul- 
tural lime and bone meal thoroughly worked into the soil, 
but fresh stable manure should never be used, except 
where the ground may be manured the previous fall and 
well worked over in the spring before planting. 
The various ways in which the Gladiolus can be 
planted make it one of the most showy and attractive 
garden flowers. Planted in round, oblong or square beds, 
planting bulbs from four to six inches apart, so that they 
may be weeded and hand-hoed, they will give a wealth 
of color not equaled by any other flower. 
Plantings for cut flowers should be made in rows 
eighteen inches apart, with bulbs three inches apart in the 
row, covering from four to six inches, according to the 
size of the bulbs ; press the earth firmly around each bull). 
Care should be taken to plant the bulbs right side up, 
so that the new bulb, which forms on top will not be 
pushed too near the surface. For succession of bloom, 
plant from the time the ground can be worked until July 1. 
After the spike begins to show, all weeds should be 
removed, and if the soil is kept thoroughly worked, water- 
ing will hardly be necessary ; they are great drinkers, 
however, and respond quickly to water. Always water 
after sundown. 
The lower bulb, the one you plant, dies away and a 
new one forms on top, before blossoming, and if not 
planted deep, it will be so close to the top of the ground, 
after forming, that there will be no ground support for 
the bloom spike. Because of this lack of support, it is 
easily blown over and the roots loosened or broken ofF. 
F>v deep planting you do away with staking. 
Growing Begonia Glorie De Lorraine 
T 
HIS invaluable plant, Begonia de Lorraine, can be 
grown in pots, suspended in pans or wire baskets. 
It is one of the best winter subjects for decorative 
purposes, used largely as pot plants because the beautiful 
pink flowers make a charming table decoration. 
I have used small plants, grown in three-inch pots, with 
cut flowers in vases, and maidenhair fern and smilax, 
with splendid effect. 
To grow it successfully, a good start should be made 
in early spring, as soon as cuttings are obtainable. These 
should be taken from plants that have previously been 
pruned, and given rest after their flowering period. 
Young shoots taken from the base of the parent plant 
make the best cuttings. Insert three of these around the 
sides of three-inch pots, in a compost of sifted leaf mould 
and sand. The pots should then be plunged in a hotbed 
•of about 75 decrees, and when rooted should be allowed 
to keep growing, as the young rooted cuttings should not 
be disturbed. 
Propagation by leaf cuttings is another method, and I 
have found from experience that these latter make better 
plants than those obtained from cuttings taken from 
young shoots. 
Select the healthiest leaves, and take them from plants 
that have done flowering, and before they have been 
pruned. Insert them around the sides of pans filled with 
equal parts of fine leaf mould and sand and place in a 
warm propagating case. From the leaf stalk roots will soon 
form, and young plants will spring up from the stalk 
section of the leaf. When large enough they may be 
transplanted into three-inch pots and grown as advised 
for ordinarv cuttings. But great care must be exercised 
that the young plants do not receive a check through cold 
draughts or by reason of insufficient heat or by allowing 
them to become dry. 
When well rooted pot the young plants, and place them 
in a greenhouse, having a genial temperature until estab- 
lished. When the weather is warm enough remove them 
to a cold frame having glass lights and keep well shaded. 
Syringe the plants every afternoon, and close the frame 
so as to conserve the moisture. 
The final potting should not be later than the early part 
of July, using on this occasion loamy soil and leaf mould 
in equal proportion, pulverized sheep manure, adding 
charcoal and fine sand. This composition will tempt the 
plants to fill the pots with roots before the winter season 
begins. 
The points of the shoots must now be pinched out, and 
all flowers removed, so as to ensure a bushy habit of 
growth. I would even advise removing flowers until 
within six weeks or two months previous to the time when 
the plants are wanted in bloom. On the approach of cold 
nights the plants must be brought back to the greenhouse 
and given a temperature of 60 degrees, then commence 
feeding, by occasional applications of diluted liquid cow 
manure, until the plants are in full flower. A very pretty 
effect can be had by growing plants in orchid pans, sus- 
pended over the pot grown plants, and allowed to hang 
gracefully. 
By following out these cultural details, those who have 
at their disposal a warm greenhouse should find no great 
difficulty in growing these beautiful begonias. — James 
Tavlor in Suburban California. 
