122 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 24, 1857. 
of the effects in summer; and where comparative dryness at 
these periods can be obtained it is desirable, whatever the 
means employed.] 
LILY OF THE VALLEY CULTURE. 
“ Having a bed of Lily of the Valley not taken up now 
for four or five years, when it flowered last season the leaves 
would not allow the flowers to open as they ought. I shall 
be obliged by proper directions for replanting the roots, and 
by being told if they should be separated when taken up; 
also which is the best time to replant the roots. I wish to 
know if Lily of the Valley will look well if planted in a belt 
a foot wide round a bed of Roses or shrubs. Will Lily 
of the Valley flower in boxes the same as Mignonette is 
generally sown in ? ”—M. F. 
[If your bed is extremely thick the crowding you allude to 
will happen. If you take it all up and divide the roots sepa¬ 
rately you will not have many flowers for a year or two. 
Could you manage to take up six or nine-inch spaces, and 
leave nine or twelve, those left would be little injured, and 
would have more room to bloom. If you take up all, and 
wish bloom next year, you must not separate the roots much, 
but plant in littie patches from six to nine inches apart. 
In forming a hew plantation, and roots are an object, they 
maybe distributed over the ground about three inches apart. 
This may be done any time during the winter, but the end of 
February and the beginning or middle of March are the best 
times, as their growth commences immediately. This plant 
is rather capricious as to likes and dislikes so far as locality 
is concerned, growing freely in almost any kind of soil in 
some places, and refusing to grow freely in any compost at 
another place. You seem to have no difficulty as to the 
growing. Good light loam seems, on the whole, to suit it 
best, pretty well enriched with rotten leaf mould. Proceed 
thus with your new plantation if the roots are to be made 
the most of:—See that there will be no stagnant moisture; 
dig and trench, and pulverise well, and add fresh loam and 
leaf mould if necessary. Dig again freely in March ; remove 
from two to three inches of the surface ; jdace the plants 
all over two or three inches apart; sprinkle with sand and 
fine leaf mould ; water the whole gently; replace surface soil, 
and cover with an inch of half-rotten leaves. 
The belting Rose beds and shrubberies with this general 
favourite is purely a matter of taste. We do not think it 
would harmonise with Roses. It would be more in cha¬ 
racter among shrubs. We have never seen the flowers 
finer than in rather thin woods, where the roots had made 
themselves at home. The roots will thrive in boxes as well 
as in pots, but if you want a mass of bloom you must select 
the plants with bold firm buds, and pack them thickly. By 
nibbling the buds between the thumb and finger you will 
soon learn to discern those that have flowers in them. If 
you could slightly force these boxes you would have flowers 
all the sooner. We know a lady that gets them moderately 
early merely by moving the boxes to the vicinity of the 
kitchen fire at night.] 
RIPENING THE WOOD OF BRUGMANSIA 
KNIGHTII. 
“ My plant of Brugmansia Knight'd, about which you gav 
me very lengthened and good directions, is still growing am 
showing flower-buds, hut all of them drop off. This loss 
do not regret, but I wish to know how I can ripen the youm 
wood. It is in a cold pit with Heliotropes and other plants 
I suppose the cuttings will root freely in the spring.” — 
M. F. 
[You will not have heat enough in the cold pit to open the 
flowers. For ripening you had better remove all the larger 
leaves, and let the plant get almost dry, and as much 
sun as possible. When you prune back the plant in spring 
every bit will strike; but after the fresh shoots break a 
thinning of them, when three inches long, will strike quickest 
if you can give them a hotbed. 
STRAWBERRY BEDS. 
“ My strawberry beds are now in fruit and flower. Of the 
former I gathered some a few days ago, ripe and highly 
flavoured, from the productive Plautbois and other sorts not 
Alpine. I wish to know whether it will be desirable to cut 
off the stems of fruit and flowers in order to secure a crop 
at the proper season next year.”—L. F. L. 
[You can do neither good nor harm by cutting off now all 
the fruit and flowers you find on the beds, or by letting them 
take their chance. If you had thought on the subject six 
weeks since you might have spared your plants considerably 
by cutting off the old leaves, all the runners, and every 
blossom and fruit you could find, then to fork in between the 
rows a sufficient quantity of rotten dung to carry the next 
crop. We cut Pelargoniums, roots and branches, to renew their 
strength and power, and we yearly transplant our Phloxes, 
Chrysanthemums, and other fibrous-rooted herbaceous plants 
for the same practical reasons. We cut their roots to in¬ 
crease their sucking powers sixfold, and we give them fresh 
soil or dung or compost to feed on “ near home.” Why, then, 
taboo the Strawberry from the benefits of practical gardening 
to please such people as do not seem to appreciate the yalue 
of a right application of their own theory ?] 
PROPAGATING THE GLADIOLUS. 
“ How is it that the Gladiolus is not grown for sale in this 
country, but that we are indebted to Holland for the im¬ 
portation of this splendid bulb ? Two years ago I planted two 
dozen Gandavensis in a bed, leaving them in the ground with 
a protection of loose leaves; they have flowered magnifi¬ 
cently, and have been the admiration of all who have seen 
them. This autumn I have taken them up, and have found 
the stock increased to eighty-four very large bulbs, besides 
numerous small ones. They appear to reach this country 
from Holland in September: how do they get ripened so 
early ? The bulbs sent, I presume, are this year’s growth.” 
—R. 
[Free trade is at the root of it all; they can grow these 
“ roots ” on the Continent cheaper, and we go to the cheapest 
market. There are kinds of Gladiolus abroad that are never 
ready for the English market before November. The 
Emperor of the French is the first grower of Gladioluses 
in the world, and his gardener, M. Chuzet, at Fontainebleau, 
the most successful hybridiser of them oxi the Continent or 
anywhere else. There is not an individual who can approach 
him in this race. Did you never hear how Queen Victoria 
was enchanted with Chuzet’s Gladioli all over the shrub¬ 
beries—merely cut flowers put in for the occasion ?] 
PHLOXES.—POMPONE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
“ Will Phlox omnijlora compacta stand the winter in the 
open air unprotected ? What is the best mode of propa¬ 
gating it—by cuttings in the spring or by dividing the 
roots ? 
“ Is Phlox Canadensis, pale blue, a good qolour for a 
bedding plant, and lasting ? Phlox procumbens is also blue. 
Which is the best blue, this or P. Canadensis? 
“ At your convenience I should be obliged for a list of the 
bestPompone Chrysanthemums, well quilled, of the following 
colours—yellow, orange, bronze, purple, pink, scarlet, or the 
nearest approach to that colour.”— VeRax. 
[Phlox omniflora and all its varieties, with all other 
Phloxes except the breed of Phlox Drummondi , are quite 
hardy, and while they are young plants they are best 
propagated by spring cuttings ; but when they come of age 
divide them in March. They all do best in free, sandy, fresh 
soil, and should have fresh quarters every second year at 
least. 
Phlox Canadensis makes a nice variety, but is not a good 
colour for a striking effect in a bed. Phlox procumbens ditto. 
Where did you hear of quilled Pompones ? You 
i might just as well ask for a bottle of Barland perry in 
| London. We have examined 7(50 kinds of Chrysanthemums 
| without finding a single quilled flower, or a double either, or 
