590 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 16, 1891. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
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SEASONABLE WORK in the GARDEN. 
Linum trigynum and L. tetragynum.—The 
first named is a popular plant in many establishments, 
and the second is almost bound to become so when it 
is better known and more widely disseminated in 
gardens. Young plants that are now being grown on 
fcr winter work should be kept in a warm, moist 
atmosphere, and be frequently syringed in order to 
keep down red-spider, to which they are subject. 
Amaryllis.—After these go out of bloom they 
should be treated even more carefully than before, in 
order to enable them to make vigorous growth and 
plump up the bulbs for next year’s work. If they can 
be plunged in tan, coco-nut fibre, or even in a half-spent 
bed of fermenting manure, the roots will be encouraged 
or stimulated to make growth, which cannot fail to 
influence the foliage for good. Give water freely until 
the leaves begin to show signs of ripening, after which 
it should be gradually withheld. 
Bouvardias.—Where the practice is still continued 
of planting these out in frames, it may now be done 
after thoroughly hardening off the plants. Should a 
half-spent hot-bed be at command, it would be a good 
plan to cover with 6 ins. of good soil, and plant in 
that. After the weather becomes genial later on the 
lights may be thrown off altogether, and the wood will 
get better ripened thereby. 
Balsams.—If not already done, seeds should be 
sown at once in good heat. Expose the seedlings to 
light as soon as they have germinated. Pot them off 
singly in small-sized pots as soon as the cotyledons or 
seed leaves have become firm. The stems should be 
buried close up to the cotyledons if possible, in order 
to avoid legginess. Stand the pots near the glass, and 
give a proper amount of ventilation consistent with a 
due amount of heat and moisture in the atmosphere. 
Celosias and Gomphrena.—Seeds should be 
sown at once and carefully treated all through the 
growing period in order to ensure dwarf plants with 
large heads of C. cristata, and well branched bushy 
plants of C. pyramidalis and Gomphrena globosa 
compacta. A good strain of Celosia pyramidalis should 
be obtained in order to ensure that there will be a good 
admixture of the leading colours, such as scarlet, 
crimson, and yellow with intermediate shades. 
Passifloras and Tacsonias.—A considerable 
amount of young wood has now been made and it will 
be necessary in many cases to thin this out as well as 
to regulate and tie up the remainder. As this class of 
plants flower on the young wood later on, the shoots 
must on no account be stopped, otherwise the display 
of bloom will be scanty. 
Pigs.—Trees in pots from which the earliest crop 
has just been gathered, will require a thorough over¬ 
hauling to see whether they have become infested with 
red-spider ; and if such is the case a good syringing 
twice a day must be given them, with a close moist 
atmosphere, which will not only destroy the spider but 
induce the plants to swell up their buds for a second 
crop of fruit. Brown Turkey is one of the freest setting 
kinds after being forced, and should receive liberal 
treatment in the shape of liquid manure after the 
young fruits begin to swell. 
Melons.—Frames or pits should now be got ready 
for planting with Melons. Fresh beds of fermenting 
manure and leaves may be made up, or those from 
which an early crop of Potato3 has been taken may be 
utilised. Remove the old soil from the latter, shake 
up the leaves and add a quantity of fresh ones if 
available, and after treading down the whole, cover 
with some well-decayed cow manure, and lay on the 
soil in which the Melons are to be planted after the 
required temperature has been obtained. 
Cucumbers.—Thoroughly syringe the plants every 
day, in order to keep them healthy and free from 
insects. Those in bearing should be assisted with 
weak liquid manure at every alternate watering. All 
fruits of usable size should be removed, as this is the 
secret of keeping up the vigour of the plants by not 
exhausting them by unnecessarily heavy cropping. 
Bedding Plants.—All will now be activity in this 
department. Stocks, Asters, Marigolds, Helichrysums, 
Lobelias, Golden Feather and similar things may be 
planted out in frames in order to relieve the houses 
from crowding. Continue the propagation of Alternan- 
theras where the requisite stock has not been obtained ; 
they soon get to a useful size for carpet bedding purposes. 
Pot off the more tender kinds as soon as they become 
fit, and keep hardening them off by removal to cooler 
quarters as soon as established. 
Wallflowers, Aubrietias.—The propagation of 
hardy subjects may be commenced under hand-lights, 
placed in shady positions. Double Wallflowers, Ery¬ 
simum Marshalli, E. ochroleucum, Aubrietias, Candy¬ 
tufts, Double Primroses, and similar things may be 
treated at once in this way, as young growth is now 
plentiful. 
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ARDENING fflSCELLANY, 
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Victorian Dogwood. 
The above name is applied to Prostanthera lasianthos, 
a member of the Labiate family, and therefore very 
different from the plants to which the name Dogwood is 
applied in this country. Other popular names, such as 
Australian Mint-bush or Mint-tree, are more applicable, 
seeing that it belongs to the same order, that the leaves 
have some resemblance to those of Mentha viridis, and 
that all parts of the plant give off an agreeable odour. 
The last has no doubt been the most influential agent 
in giving rise to the epithet of Mint-tree. The in¬ 
dividual flowers remind us very forcibly of the American 
Catalpa both as to shape and colour, but they are 
smaller, and densely covered with short woolly hairs, as 
the specific name implies. They are also borne in 
large panicles terminating every shoot, so that a 
large bush of it has a grand appearance. A corre¬ 
spondent, Mr. George McKinnon, Melville Castle, 
Lasswade, sends us some branches laden with bloom, 
and which were cut from a bush 4 ft. in diameter. 
Their culture is .very simple, as all that is necessary is 
to plant it out in a cool conservatory or greenhouse, 
and an abundance of white flowers, spotted with violet- 
purple in the throat, will be produced during May 
and June. 
Dicentra canadensis. 
Of all the species of Dicentra in cultivation, none are 
prettier, although some may be showier, than D. cana¬ 
densis. This arises from the fineness of the glaucous 
leaves, which are four times divided, with linear 
segments, but more especially from the peculiar form of 
the flowers which are somewhat triangular or arrow- 
shaped, resembling the pendants of earrings or similar 
ornaments, dangling gracefully on their pedicels from 
the arching footstalk. The flowers are white, with a 
yellowish blotch just beneath the reflexed apex of the 
outer petals. "W'hat gives them their characteristeric 
form is the shortness of the petals and the great 
development of the basal spurs on the two outer ones 
and which are therefore very different in appearance 
from those of the Dutchman’s Breeches (D. eucullaria). 
Although introduced from North America in 1822, yet 
it is comparatively a scarce plant in this country. As 
it only grows about 6 ins. or 8 ins. high, it would con¬ 
stitute a suitable subject for pot work in the hardy 
plant house, as it is grown at Ivew. 
Trillium erectum. 
The flowers of this plant constitute a fine contrast 
with those of the white species. The inner segments 
of the perianth are oval or elliptic and of a deep purple- 
red. The odour is rather disagreeable, and on that 
account some authors have named the species 
T. fcetidum. The solitary, terminal flower is nodding 
or slightly drooping, and another authority named it 
T. pendulum. The unspotted, dark green leaves are 
diamond-shaped or rhomboidal, thus furnishing a 
fourth author with an excuse for naming it T. 
rhomboideum. Besides the botanical names, the 
Americans have found a number of popular names for 
. it such as Lamb’s Quarters, Beth-root, and Birth-root. 
A plant with so many aliases or names ought to be as 
popular amongst flower lovers as a notorious burglar 
with a similar multiplicity of appellations would be 
unpopular. 
Phlox stellaria. 
The habit of this plant is somewhat similar to that of 
P. subulata, but it is altogether a stronger grower, 
with trusses of bloom, the individual flowers of which 
are 1 in. in diameter. The slender stems are divaricate, 
much branched, and spread loosely upon the ground. 
The flowers are of a pale lilac, marked with five violet 
spots round the eye. The leaves are linear, and the 
plant is evidently allied to P. divaricata. It flowers 
during the spring months, and is valuable on that 
account for the rock garden. 
The Late Blossoming of Fruit Trees. 
1^ marked evidence of the lateness of blossoming of 
the fruit trees in this part of the country in the present 
season, allow me to remark that my old standard Pear 
tree—the Summer Thorn, I believe—an early variety, 
sweet, juicy, and rather musky in flavour, an excellent 
bearer, and similar in appearance to a medium-sized 
Jargonelle—was in full bloom at the latter end of March 
last year, whereas at the present time, on the 11th of 
May, its abundant crop of blossoms are only just 
beginning to expand, hence a difference of about six 
weeks. There is also another curious feature I have 
observed in the erratic vegetating of the tree in 
question—viz., the blossoms last season were con¬ 
siderably in advance of the development of the foliage, 
and failed to ‘'set ” a single flower, doubtless owing to 
the prevailing cold and dull state of the weather at the 
time, whereas this season the foliage is considerably to 
the fore, so as to almost hide the blossom, as seen at 
only a short distance from the tree. I may add that 
there is the prospect of a good crop of all kinds of 
hardy fruits in the district, and which we may reason¬ 
ably expect to secure owing to the lateness of the 
season. It is also to be hoped that the past severe 
winter has been potent in the destruction of the lame 
of those arch enemies the fruit-tree moths, &c., which 
were so evident last year. — William Gardiner, Har- 
ho?ne, near Birmingham. 
Cytisus Scoparius Andreanum. 
This beautiful variety of the common Broom is, no 
doubt, one of the coming shrubs, for everybody admires 
it. The attractive part of it is the rich velvety brown 
wing petals of the flower. All the petals of the plant 
that decks the waysides, railway embankments and 
heaths are of a uniform golden yellow, so that the 
beauty of the new variety will be greatly enhanced 
when planted in conjunction with, or in proximity to 
the type. The commonness of the latter prevents it 
from being largely planted in gardens and shrubberies, 
whereas if its native country were only separated from 
us by the “silver streak ” we should all be loud in its 
praises. The new comer, however, hails from Nor¬ 
mandy, and has a sufficiently foreign look about it to 
enlist our sympathies. It may be flowered in pots and 
placed in the greenhouse, as we saw it the other Jay 
in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
Worms in Flower Pots. 
All plant growers know what a nuisance worms are 
when they get into flower pots, and this they generally 
manage to do, no matter how carefully crocked with 
ordinary crocks, when stood outdoors. Mr. Porter, of 
Maidstone, has patented what he calls “ The Invin¬ 
cible Crock,” which is made of fine wire gauze, and 
which for simplicity, effectiveness, durability and 
cheapness leaves nothing to be desired. They are not 
intended to take the place of ordinary drainage, but to 
be used under it. One placed over the hole secures the 
plant against all intruders. Not only worms, but wood- 
lice, earwigs, slugs, beetles, ants and other vermin get 
into the bottom of flower pots, both when they are 
indoors as well as out ; but by simply placing one of 
these crocks over the hole they are all kept out. No 
need of standing the plants on ashes, boards, slates, or 
anything else ; they are absolutely safe from all intru¬ 
sion when protected with an “Invincible” crock. 
Those of your readers who value their time and wish to 
save themselves from annoyance cannot do better than 
give them a trial.— X. 
Hue Anemone. 
Thalictrum anemonoides is so curiously like an 
Anemone in several respects, that the order of the 
generic and specific name is reversed in some books, so 
that it reads Anemone thalictroides. As a Thalictrum, 
however, it is one of the neatest and dwarfest, being 
only about 6 ins. high, with a few, twice or three 
times divided leaves, and roundish segments. The 
flowers are terminal, white, and showy for a Thalictrum. 
There is a double variety in which the centre of the 
blooms is filled up with similar though smaller petals 
than in the type. A number of the species are valued 
for their finely divided foliage, while the flowers of a 
few are sufficiently conspicuous to be ornamental. In 
T. aquilegifolium and its purple variety, the stamens 
rather than the petals constitute the more conspicuous 
feature of the plant. The popular name of the species 
under notice is derived from the coloured flowers 
resembling a small Anemone, while the foliage is as 
certainly that of a Thalictrum. It is a native of North 
America and is suitable for rockwork. 
