718 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 11, 1891. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
-- 
SEASONABLE WORK in the GARDEN. 
The Stove.—Where the use of fire heat is dis¬ 
continued in the stove during the middle of summer it 
will be necessary to be more careful in the matter of 
damping down at night. A great amount of water 
about the house would cause excessive evaporation, 
which must be condensed upon the plants during the 
night, more especially if the house is kept close. To 
guard against injury in this respect a little ventilation 
should be left on all night, in order to carry off the 
superfluous moisture. 
The Conservatory.—It is sometimes obligatory 
on the part of the gardener to keep the floor of this 
house as dry as possible, in order to meet the con¬ 
venience of those who frequent it. Should the 
structure be located in a warm and sunny situation it 
will be necessary to maintain a certain amount of 
moisture in the house, otherwise the atmosphere is so 
liable to get arid, that the duration of the flowering 
period of the plant is thereby greatly shortened. To 
obviate this to some extent the floor underneath the 
staging, the pots and the staging should receive an 
occasional damping down with the syringe. 
Climbers.—Growth is now proceeding so rapidly, 
and the expanse of foliage so great, that large supplies 
of water at the root are necessary. A thorough soaking 
should be given whenever required, so that the whole 
mass of soil may be moistened. See that the water 
does not escape over the surface and down the sides by 
means of the shrinkage of the same from the walls. 
Besides watering, it will also be necessary to go over 
and regulate the shoots, and thin out all those for 
which there is absolutely no room. 
Chrysanthemums for Conservatory Work.— 
Plants intended for flowering in the bush form should 
now receive their final shift, in order that the wood 
may be ripened and the buds well set while the autumn 
heat and light is still good. Use fibrous loam, with a 
little well-decayed manure, and trust to feeding with 
liquid manure and other stimulants when the buds are 
developing. 
Vines.—While Grapes in succession houses are 
colouring a good circulation of air should be kept up 
by free ventilation, and should the nights at any time 
happen to be cold, then a little assistance with artificial 
heat will prove beneficial. Inside borders will require 
abundant supplies of water to keep the foliage well 
furnished with moisture, as the evaporation is great 
during hot, dry weather. Liquid manure or guano 
water will prove a great help. 
Peaches. — Tie down the shoots in succession 
houses to give the fruit that exposure necessary to high 
colour. Rampant shoots may be checked by pinching 
them or tying them down into a horizontal position, 
and if they are giving off laterals they also should be 
stopped. If it is desirable to hasten the maturity of 
the fruit in any house it may be done without the aid 
of artificial heat, by closing the house early and allow¬ 
ing the temperature to run up to 90°, giving at the 
same time a good damping down. 
Melons.—Where house room is a consideration, it 
will be necessary to plant a second crop in houses from 
whence one has just been taken. Where the fruits 
are now swelling, and will be ripe about the end of this 
month, preparations should be made by sowing seeds a 
fewtat a time at intervals of ten days, so as to secure 
plants for making a fresh plantation about the beginning 
of August. The house for this purpose should face the 
south, so as to enjoy as much light as possible during 
the dull days of autumn. The quality of the fruit of 
this late crop will depend on the nature of the weather, 
and the amount of sunshine we may receive during the 
waning months of the year ; but under fair circum¬ 
stances, good Melons may be expected. 
Cucumbers.—Syringe the plants twice daily, 
ventilate to keep the plants sturdy, and shade from 
bright sunshine so as to prevent the foliage from being 
overtaxed by an arid atmosphere. Where they are 
grown in houses, the paths and borders will afford 
plenty of convenience for damping down to keep up 
the atmospheric moisture. 
Rhododendrons and Azaleas.—Seed vessels 
may be removed from the choicer varieties in the open 
air as soon as the flowers have dropped, and an impetus 
will be given to fresh growth, which cannot be toe 
early matured. The amount of bloom set will be all 
the greater, according to the encouragement given to 
vegetative growth now. 
Roses.—Briar and Manetti stocks should be budded 
now, and if bright sunshine prevails with an arid 
atmosphere, the buds would be assisted if shaded for 
a few days with fresh Rhubarb or other leaves. 
Herbaceous Plants.—Go over the beds and bor¬ 
ders occasionally to see what plants require staking, and 
have the operation performed at once before the stems 
get broken or bent down. Neatness should be aimed 
at in all work of this kind. 
Pansies, Violas, &c.—In the southern counties 
of England it wall be advisable to mulch the ground 
around all plants of this description, should the 
weather continue dry for any length of time, otherwise 
the blooms will be small, and the flowering period 
shortened. 
Celery.—Give copious supplies of manure water to 
the early plantations, and partly earth up the plants 
with soil cut from the side of the ridges. Trim the 
plants previous to the operation, and guard against 
soil getting into the crowns, Have the main crop 
planted as soon as possible, getting out the trenches at 
once if the ground is available. 
"Weeding and Hoeing.—No better opportunity 
could be afforded than the present to get the compart¬ 
ments everywhere into clean and trim order. Run the 
hoe through the soil wherever that tool can be 
conveniently used, and the loosening of the surface of 
the soil will greatly tend to check evaporation. 
-- 
Hardening Miscellany 
—— 
Market Peas. 
Your remarks last week on Peas appear to me to be of 
a very timely character. It certainly is a strange thing 
that so many of the early white Peas should still be 
grown. Most of them when cooked are almost 
flavourless, whereas many of our mid-season varieties 
which follow so closely on the white rounds are certainly 
of much better flavour. A good saleable Pea is, I 
think, Sutton’s Market Favourite, aud another is 
Advancer. Neither of these grow very high. Another 
Pea that I am growing, and which looks likely to give 
good returns, is "Walker’s Perpetual Bearer. There 
are many varieties that are cheap, and which certainly 
fill the basket sooner than the early whites. The 
largest collection of Peas I have ever seen in a private 
garden was at Bolton Hall, where the able gardener, 
Mr. Hall, is a great admirer and careful hybridiser of 
the same. When there last year I saw many improving 
seedlings, which doubtless will find their way into 
commerce, and prove acceptable at the table. As to 
late varieties I still like the good old Ne Plus Ultra 
and Veitch’s Perfection. I found this season that my 
earliest Peas came into bearing at the same time as 
Those sown three or four weeks afterwards, so that early 
sowing is not “ all jam.’’— A. J. Brown, Chertsey. 
Dictamnus Fraxinella giganteus. 
The flowers of this form, as far as colour goes, are 
intermediate between the typical white form and the 
red variety. It is, however, of stronger and more 
vigorous habit, and in good soil attains greater height. 
The petals are red or pink externally, and white on the 
inner face, with red veins. The upper part of the stems, 
peduncles and calyx are dull red, and thickly covered 
with glands of a similar hue. The pinnate leaves 
consist of nine to thirteen ovate, serrated leaflets, and 
bear some considerable resemblance to those of the 
Ash, hence the specific name, which means a little 
Ash. The plant belongs to the Orange family, and 
like all the rest of the members, possesses a strong 
and somewhat pungent but not disagreeable odour. 
Some people like it on that very account, and regard it 
as one of the choicest of border plants. All the forms 
increase in size very slowly, and are very impatient of 
disturbance at the root. Propagation cannot therefore 
readily be accomplished by division ; but good seeds 
are freely produced as a rule, so that plants can be 
multiplied in this way to any extent. 
Silene Vallesia. 
To be seen in its beauty, this Catchfly must be visited 
early in the morning before the sun has shone upon it 
for any length of time, and again in the evening when 
the sun has gone down. Of course, in dull, moist 
weather, the chances are that it might be seen in full 
bloom at mid-day. In bright weather, however, the 
petals roll inwards at the apex, and the flowers then 
appear to be withered up or only in bud. The outer 
surface of the petals is bronzy red, which adds to the 
deception of the age of the flowers in the rolled-up 
state ; the upper or inner surface is pure white, so that 
a broad patch of the plant covered with fully-expanded 
white flowers is both attractive and ornamental. The 
leafy part of the plant is only 2 ins. to 3 ins. high, 
and the flower stems about 4 ins. Propagation is 
easily effected by cuttings or division of the rootstock, 
and the plaut is very hardy. Its dwarf habit makes it 
a suitable subject for the rock garden. 
Lilium elegans, Alice Wilson. 
Those who desire a dwarf Lily with soft and by no 
means glaring colours either for pot culture or the open 
border, will find Alice "Wilson, a variety of L. elegans, 
a beautiful and fitting subject. In the open ground 
the stems do not exceed 6 ins. in height, and 
terminate in one or two, large, erect, and spreading 
flowers. The segments are broad, particularly the 
inner ones, and considerably overlapping one another 
so as to make a close flower. They are of a deep 
Apricot, heavily shaded with orange along the centre, 
fading to a broad, much paler apricot margin, and all 
the six are thinly spotted with deep red or crimson 
near the base. The type was introduced from Japan 
in 1835, but since then a number of very distinct 
varieties have been introduced from the same country. 
Raising Lilies from seeds should more often be practised 
in this country than it is, with the view of getting 
varieties more adapted for our climate than those 
which exist. It is denied in some quarters that Lilies 
will hybridise with one another ; but this is contra¬ 
dicted by some growers and hybridists 
Helmholtzia glaberrima. 
"Where cultivated this species is best known under 
the name of Philydrum glabsrrimum. The erect and 
flattened leaves resemble those of an Iris, but they are 
differently constructed and differently arranged on the 
rootstock. When well grown the stems attain the 
height of 3| ft., overtopping the leaves which spring 
from the ground level, and are not much shorter as a 
rule. The flowers are of uncommon form, and although 
not large are very numerous, and produced in panicles. 
They appear white at a distance, but when grown in a 
position well exposed to light are flesh-coloured and 
tinted with red or pink in the centre. The plant 
belongs to an order consisting of three genera and 
only four species ; but that under notice seems to be 
the only one in cultivation, although one other member 
of the order was at one time grown. It is a native of 
Polynesia, requires greenhouse or stove temperature, 
and may be fairly well grown under either condition. 
Pink, Mrs. Walsh. 
As a border variety this bids fair to excel Mrs. Sinkins 
for general usefulness, especially in town and suburban 
gardens. Both kinds have had a fair trial at Tower 
House, Chiswick, and the last named is difficult to 
keep alive, as it dwindles away during the winter, 
producing but a small quantity of flowers. Mrs. Walsh, 
on the other hand, planted in quantity, is robust and 
vigorous, about 10 ins. to 12 ins. high, bearing from 
three to seven flowers on each stem. The flowers are 
pure white with broad petals, toothed at the apex, and 
fragrant, although not strongly so. The leaves are of 
a strongly glaucous tint, and in every respect suggestive 
of vigour. If it prove as vigorous in other town and 
suburban gardens as at Tower House it will be an 
acquisition either for ordinary border decoration or for 
cut flowers. 
Early Strawberries. 
"We gathered our first dish of Keen’s Seedling on the 
30th ult., which is exactly ten days later than last year. 
They needed rain badly in this neighbourhood—where 
they are largely grown for market—and received on the 
1st inst. a delightful shower, lasting over two hours, 
which well soaked the beds, since when they have swelled 
off rapidly. They were poorly represented at the Nor¬ 
wich show on the 2nd inst. A variety named The Captain 
took the first prize, and there were three or more 
dishes of Noble, which I have not grown yet, with 
some others of the old kinds. — T. TF. 
Musa Cavendishii. 
A splendid bunch of this fruit, weighing seventy- 
three pounds, was exhibited at the Norfolk and 
Norwich show last week, by Mr. R. Cross, of "Worstead. 
