246 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r March 20, 1890 
unique and charming, with great wing-like petals, which give it a most 
efiective appearance. It is sometimes “ altered in character,” I should 
say, by dressing, but it would be diiBcult to make it look anything but 
lovely. Liable to mildew, but not absolutely intolerant of rain ; a very 
free bloomer of most charming buds, but these must be unsparingly 
thinned to see the Rose in perfection. It is of large size if grown as it 
should be, able to hold its own with any H.P.’s, and excellent in every 
good quality. I do not find it to be of good constitution or long-lived 
as a plant, and should not call it a good autumnal.—W. R. Raillem. 
(To be continued.) 
MAKfiCHAL NIEL ROSE. 
The following may perhaps interest some of your readers. Last 
April I moved two plants of thio Rose out of G-inch into 12-inch pots, 
using rather heavy fibrous loam only. They were placed in a late 
Peach house and trained to the roof, fully exposed to the sun. They 
grew rapidly, and at the end of the season one plant, confined to one 
shoot, measured 21 feet of young growth. The other plant had three 
growths, which measured collectively 23 feet. They were turned out¬ 
side at the end of September to ripen their wood. The plant with the 
single shoot has forty flower buds on it now, the other plant thirty. 
The former is coiled round four stakes placed in the pot. I may mention 
that the plants had an occasional surface sprinkling of Beeson’s manure 
during their growing season. They are on their own roots, having been 
struck in the summer of 1888.—C. Russell. 
MIGNONETTE IN WINTER AND SPRING. 
I noticed recently some fine specimen plants of Mignonette in 
the gardens of E. R. Trotman, Esq., The Elms, Frome. The seeds, I am 
told, were sown several in a 48-sized pot, and the seedlings were reduced 
to four in each pot when sufficiently advaneed in growth. From these 
pots they were removed into others 10 inches in diameter, which seems 
rather a large shift, but their present condition speaks volumes in favour 
of the liberal treatment. They are 2 feet high and proportionately 
bushy and crowned with vigorous flower spikes in goodly numbers. The 
soil used consisted of loam three parts to one each of spent Mushroom 
bed, leaf mould and sand. In potting the soil was pressed down firmly, 
which induced a sturdy growth, and until recently no stimulant was 
applied of any kind. They occupied a position in the front of a large 
and lofty vinery having deep front lights, and only a frost-proof 
temperature was maintained. 
Begonias. 
On entering a small stove in the same garden I was much struck 
with the beauty of some Begonias of the variety Gloire de Sceaux, 
having bold spikes of large and beautiful pink-coloured flowers. The 
latter is well displayed from their upright character of growth, and is 
well relieved by its dark bronzy foliage. It is a continuous flowering 
plant of the evergreen fibrous-rooted section, and makes in a small state 
remarkably effective table plants for the house. It requires intermediate 
or stove temperature in winter, but, like B. nitida, may be used for 
conservatory decoration in summer. It is a plant of somewhat recent 
introduction, sent out, I believe, by Mr. William Bull of Chelsea, and 
those unpossessed of, or having a liking for these plants, should certainly 
not be without this, one of the most beautiful of the Begonia family. 
It merits a place in every collection, even for the beauty of the foliage 
alone, which is of very fine lustre when grown in a light position.— 
W. S., Frame. 
GANNAS. 
Stately in growth, with highly ornamental leaves and attractive 
flowers, Gannas are altogether noble and effective for decorative pur¬ 
poses, the chief purpose to which they are applied being sub-tropical 
or summer gardening. They are also extremely useful for decoration 
in the conservatory and house. No plants are more easily grown. They 
are also readily increased by seed. 
The seeds should be sown in heat in March. I usually sow them in a 
Cucumber pit. They may be soaked for twenty-four hours in tepid 
water, which will materially stimulate generation, the seeds being very 
hard. Old seeds are long in germinating and uncertain. They may be 
sown thinly in pans, the seeds being placed about an inch apart in a 
compost of equal parts of light fibrous loam, leaf soil, and sand, covered 
to the depth of about an inch. Care is taken to keep the soil 
uniformly moist. When the plants appear they are well exposed to 
light, and a sharp look out is kept for slugs and even crickets, which 
are fond of the young growths. Searching with a lantern is best for 
the former, and phosphor paste (an old remedy) makes quick work of 
the crickets, also of blackbeetles or cockroaches. These are creatures 
that often clear off a pan of seedlings as they appear, and the seedsman 
is blamed. When the seedlings have formed two leaves I lift them 
carefully with the end of a label, and pot them singly in 3-inch pots. 
The soil used is equal parts loam, manure, sand, and a dash of Thom¬ 
son’s manure, a little peat being a beneficial addition. The soil can 
hardly be too rich and porous. As the seedlings become large enough 
they are transferred to pots. Keep the plants growing in a tempera¬ 
ture of G0° to G.5°, with an advance of 10® to 15° or more by day, 
and instead of allowing them to become stunted in the small pots they 
may be given a size larger, or 5 to G-ineh pots when they have filled 
the first, or 3-inch pots, with roots. Towards the close of May they 
should be hardened in a greenhouse or in any structure where they 
can be kept rather close for a few days, and then prepared for planting 
out early in June. 
Propagation is also effected very readily by means of division. The 
Cannas form rootstocks, not unlike a German Iris, and these may be 
broken or cut up in spring, being careful to retain a bud and portion of 
roots to each division. Place them singly in 4-inch pots, or such a size as 
will hold the root divisions with an addition of soil all around. Placed 
in a house with a temperature of G0° to G5° they will start freely, but 
are the better for a bottom heat of 75°, in which they quickly root and 
grow freely. They do very well in a vinery or other forcing bouse, but 
they always do best when grown on in plenty of light and in a position 
well up to the glass. They should be transferred to larger pots as 
they require it, and they will be useful by the early part of June for 
planting out, care being taken to harden them previously. 
In some instances the pot system is dispensed with. If stored m 
boxes or in any safe place for the winter in sand the rootstocks are 
divided and placed in boxes in spring, and are given such positions in 
houses at command as will insure their gentle advance until the time 
arrives for planting out, the plants being transferred from the boxes or 
even beds under glass to their summer quarters, and they will do very 
well. 
Cannas outdoors require sheltered situations. In exposed places 
their noble leaves are much injured by winds. They also do 
not like dry and shaded sites. What they tvant is an open or sunny 
position, but sheltered from winds. The soil should be deeply stirred 
and well enriched, plenty of moisture also being an essential of Canna 
culture. In planting the rootstocks should be kept down at least 
3 or 4 inches and duly watered, but avoid saturating the soil until they 
become well established. A sprinkling over the foli.age in the evenirug 
is highly beneficial, and equally so is a mulch of well decayed manure, 
or preferably of cocoanut refuse. When they begin to grow freely they 
can hardly have too much water, especially when the weather is 
droughty, and liquid manure applied once or twice a week will 
materially help them in making foliage, and by August the Canna beds 
will be gay. I consider that no beds of foliage plants can equal well 
filled ones of Cannas. Their noble foliage and flowers render them 
singularly pleasing during the late summer and autumn months. 
After the first frost, which usually leaves its mark on the foliage, 
the plants may be lifted, and either potted or stored away in boxes 
packed with light soil and placed in dry, frost-proof places or cellars or 
sheds, or under greenhouse stages during winter, but having tried most 
plans I find nothing equal to potting the roots before the foliage is 
damaged by frost, and placing them in a house where they can be kept 
rather close and moist until the potting is recovered from, duly supplying 
with water. This insures the completion and ripening of the growth, 
and they form much finer rootstocks, which divide and start into 
growth much better than those that have the growth destroyed by frost, 
and are lifted and stored in places which are so dry that most of the 
life is withered out of the rootstocks during the winter. This drying 
and withering process is not of any use to anything, particularly Cannas. 
When the stems die the roots do not, of course, require to be kept wet ; 
yet there is a difference between having moisture enough to keep the 
rootstocks plump and keeping “dry as dust,” so as to impair their 
vitality if not jeopardise their existence. 
In warm sheltered situations and well drained soil Cannas are said to 
winter safely in the open, the bed being covered with a good thickness of 
cocoa refuse and some litter or fern to keep out frost, about a foot 
thickness altogether being necessary. I have not, however, tried this 
plan, nor have I known any cultivator who from experience could vouch 
for the success of the system. These poor soils are not good for Cannas 
unless they are specially prepared. Where the soil is wet and cold it is 
much the safest plan to lift the rootstocks and store them. 
Cannas are useful and effective for greenhouse, conservatory, and 
house decoration. For these purposes select the best plants after they 
have been started into growth in spring or the most sturdy and pro¬ 
mising of the seedlings. These may be grown in 9-inch, 10-inch, 11-inch, 
or 12-inch pots, using a compost of turfy loam, well decayed manure,, 
and peat in equal parts, with a free admixture of sand. I find it best, 
however, not to divide the rootstock so much for this purpose as for 
those that are intended to be planted out ; therefore those grown for the 
purposes indicated are kept in pots constantly, and are grown as green¬ 
house plants, being duly supplied with water until a much later period 
than those that are lifted and dried, and they may be said to never be- 
rested so far as the drying process is concerned, though they are kept 
somewhat dry during the winter, or from midwinter to March. When 
they begin to push fresh growths in spring the plants are turned out of 
the pots, they are given fresh and clean pots, and the roots are reduced, 
repotting in fresh material. Larger pots are given if deemed expe¬ 
dient, or they are divided if increase is needed or the rootstock is con¬ 
sidered too large for the pots they are to occupy. A little of some 
approved fertiliser is mixed with the compost in potting, which gives 
them a start, care being taken not to overwater or make the soil sodden- 
until the plants push fresh growths and are making roots freely, when 
they require copious supplies of water, and of liquid manure when the 
roots are fully possessed of the compost. With this and full exposure 
to light they will make sturdy, thoroughly ripened growth, a genial con¬ 
dition of the atmosphere being secured by keeping the stages well damped 
with an occasional sprinkling over the foliage, but not having it wet 
when the sun falls powerfully upon it. The only other attention requi- 
