March 7th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
421 
those that succeed them on a warm and sheltered 
border, are seldom damaged by the grubs, but they 
are removed for use as soon as they get of a serviceable 
size.— C. Warden. 
IMANTOPHYLLUM MRS. LAING. 
Imantophyllum miniatum, or as our Belgian friends, 
and as we ourselves, for brevity’s sake, would like to call 
it, Olivia miniatum, has long been a favourite in 
English gardens, but it was not until a few years ago 
that any improvement took place in the shape of its 
flowers, and the improved varieties in question were 
of Continental, not of English origin. First, if we 
remember rightly, came the variety Splendens, which 
had a more vigorous habit of growth, with an increase 
of size in the flowers, and the orange colour of a purer 
tint than in the ordinary miniatum. A few years 
later, Mr. B. S. Williams introduced the variety known 
as Martha Keimers, and which when awarded a First- 
Class Certificate, in March, 1881, was recognized at 
once as a still further step in advance. Martha 
Reimers is a vigorous grower, and produces grand 
umbels of bright orange scarlet blossoms, which are 
moreover of excellent shape. 
We have now from Messrs. John Laing 
& Co., Stanstead Park, Forest Hill, a flower of 
a new variety named Mrs. Laing, which marks 
a still further advance. The flowers are large, 
and, as will be seen from the accompanying 
illustration, of a neat symmetrical form, the 
segments being broad and well rounded. It is 
decidedly what florists call a smooth flower, 
and in colour is a bright orange-scarlet. The 
umbel of flowers on the Messrs. Laing’s plant 
measured 9 ins. in diameter, and consisted of 
twenty-one blooms, which may be considered 
pretty strong evidence of its being a vigorous 
grower. During the last few years some 
hundreds of seedlings have been raised, notably 
by M. Pynaert, of Ghent, yet we do not seem 
to be able to get far aw r ay from the orange 
shade of colour in the flowers. What is 
wanted now is a “break” in colour, but how 
it is to be obtained is another question—• 
one in fact which we must leave to the 
hybridists. 
The Imantopyllhum is a capital amateur's 
plant, as it will grow and flower as freely with 
ordinary care in a window as in a greenhouse, 
its thick fleshy leaves, w’hieli are easily cleaned 
with a sponge, standing the dry atmosphere of 
a room much better than the less substantial 
subjects usually grown. The plant likes a 
compost of rough fibry loam, leaf soil, cow- 
manure and sand, and it also likes plenty of 
root-room, though not to be too frequently 
potted, and plenty of water. 
— er^^ i x > c ? - ■ o — 
CROCUS IMPERATI. 
This is one of my most dearly prized hardy 
spring gems. It is a lovely species, but, more’s the 
pity, so seldom seen; and yet, if lovers of flowers 
knew how beautiful it is, and how easily grown, they 
would secure it. I grow it in pots, about eight bulbs 
in a pot; they remain in them for about three years, 
and then the bulbs, which increase considerably during 
that time, are repotted in entirely fresh soil when 
thorughly at rest. But during the summer—the early 
part of the summer—when the bulbs have matured 
their foliage, they have a sprinkling of Clay’s Fer¬ 
tilizer occasionally, and I am sure it is a mistake to 
allow the bulbs to become dust-dry. 
It is an early spring-flowering Crocus, coming into 
flower just before the earliest form of C. vernus in the 
open-air. The external divisions of the flower are of 
a pale yellowish-cream marked with dark lines ; the 
inner divisions are of a delicate, soft lilac-rose, or 
rosy-purple, perfectly captivating when the flowers 
expand and disclose their exquisite vernal beauty. 
Anyone may be well excused for going into raptures 
over a flower that is so charming. All that it requires is 
cold frame culture during winter when grown in pots, 
which it well deserves to be. In the open-air it is an 
object of great beauty on warm, sunny banks. It was 
found on the mountains of Calabria at a great 
altitude.— R. D. 
FLOWER SEED SOWING. 
Under this heading (see p. 413) I dealt mainly with 
hardy flower seeds. I purpose giving a few leading 
hints as to raising what may be termed greenhouse 
seeds. Many persons are found asking, How am I to 
treat so and so ? The best I can do is to lay down a 
few general directions, leaving your amateur readers 
to apply them in the best way in their power. Many 
things come under the heading of greenhouse 
plants : Cockscombs, Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Primu¬ 
las, Begonias, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Cyclamens, 
Gloxinias, &c. As a matter of course such things as 
Cockscombs, Gloxinias, and the like require more heat 
induce them to germinate than do some of the others 
named. Seeds of greenhouse plants do well if sown 
in pots or pans half full of drainage, broken crocks or 
charcoal. This should be covered with rough siftings 
of the mould, and then a layer of fine soil and silver 
sand, which should be moistened by means of a fine 
rose, if necessary. The seed should be sown thinly 
and evenly over the surface, covering them very 
lightly, shading them from the rays of the sun until 
the plants show the third leaf, then be pricked off into 
seed-pans J in. apart, keetnng them close and shaded 
until established, and giving a little air to strengthen 
IMANTOPHVLLUM MRS. LAING. 
them. As soon as they begin to touch each other the 
plants should be potted singly into small pots and 
kept in a cool airy part of the greenhouse near the 
glass, re-potting them when necessary, and growing 
on into size by all proper means. Things that partake 
of the character of stove plants require a moist 
bottom-heat to raise them in and to bring the tiny 
plants on into size for a time before they are taken 
into the greenhouse. 
Soil for greenhouse plants is a matter of the first 
importance, and especially for sowing the smaller 
kinds of seeds in ; the success or failure of the crop 
depends largely upon it. Gardeners sometimes speak 
of a “ mello .v loam,” and this is a loam of a desirable 
character, a medium soil between the extremes of 
clay and sand, made rich with leaf mould and 
thoroughly rotted manure that can be rubbed to a 
powder in the hands, and the necessary quantity of 
silver sand to keep it free and open. These ingre¬ 
dients make a light friable compost, through which 
the young plants can easily penetrate, and which will 
not bake in the sun after watering. If the compost 
should be thought too heavy, more leaf-soil and sand 
should be added. It must always be borne in mind 
that the soil should be so light that the delicate germs 
may force their way through. And now as to sowing. 
As a general rule, seeds are sown too deeply. From 
this cause they will often fail to grow; the seeds are 
pronounced worthless, and the seedsman is unjustly 
blamed. We state here an important fact which should 
be borne in mind. We might lay down this as a good 
rule: Cover only to the depth of the thickness of the 
seeds, and with the finest soil. In sowing in the open 
ground, such large seeds as Sweet Peas, Lupins, &c., 
should be sown an inch deep ; Asters, Balsams, a 
half-inch; Cockscombs, Petunias, and such like, a 
quarter-of-an-ineh. In sowing the very finest seeds, 
the soil should be pressed down firmly, and the seeds 
scattered very thinly over it, then dusted over with some 
fine soil, and gently pressed down again. The soil must 
be kept sufficiently moist to aid germination, and as 
soon as the seeds come through the soil, shading from 
the sun must be provided. The soil, whether in pots 
or in the open air, should be kept free from weeds and 
stirred with care; in the open ground the earth should 
often be loosened so that the plants may have the 
benefit of the rains and dews. And when it is neces¬ 
sary to water, use it when it has been long enough 
exposed to the air to have acquired its temperature, 
whether in the house or the open ground ; the water 
should be distributed from a watering-pot through a 
fine rose, so as not to disturb the soil over the growing 
seeds, nor injure the expanding foliage of the young 
plants. 
Just a few words as to making up a hot-bed 
in lieu of a greenhouse. In doing this the 
preparation of the manure is of importance, 
and it should be well turned over and shaken 
loosely previous to being used, if the bed is to 
retain its usefulness for any length of time. 
If obtained fresh and found to be too dry, it 
should be well watered and thrown lightly 
together to ferment. This will take place in 
a few days, and from three to four days after¬ 
wards it should be completely turned, shaken, 
and mixed; a second turning may be required, 
although one is usually sufficient. When this 
is cleared of rankness, the bed can be made. 
A place for the bed should be chosen where it 
is dry underneath, sheltered from the north as 
much as possible and fully exposed to the sun. 
It should be built up from 2 ft. 6 ins. to 4 ft. 
high, and wider by at least G ins. every way 
than the frame to be placed upon it. The 
manure should be well shaken and mixed while 
being put together, and firmly pressed by the 
feet. The frame should be placed on this and 
kept close until the heat rises, and three or 
four inches of sifted sand or light soil be placed 
on the surface of the bed. In a few days it 
will be ready for use; but air should be given 
night and day while there is any danger from 
rank steam. If the sand or soil are drawn 
away from the sides of the bed, they should be 
re-placed. When the hot-bed is used for seeds 
only, nothing further is necessary. Seeds sowm 
in pots or pans and placed or plunged in the 
bed, the heat of which will soon cause them to 
germinate, or this will, after some time, decline. 
A lining should be added, that is, fresh, hot, fer¬ 
mented, but not rank manure, applied about a foot in 
width all round the bed. This will renew its strength 
and assist its usefulness. Now, that seeds are being 
sown in large quantities, the foregoing remarks may 
be found of advantage to some of your readers.— Quo. 
-——- 
Linarla Antarctica. — This interesting genus of 
Scrophulariads yields a rather large contingent of 
ornamental plants to our flower borders and rockeries, 
among w T hich may be especially mentioned as 
eminently worthy of cultivation, the comparatively 
tall L. triornithophora with its singular bird-like 
blossoms, the brilliant L. spartea wdth bright yellow 
flowers, the striking L. triste with its pale sulphur- 
coloured corollas contrasting with the blackish-brown 
palate; the more recently introduced L. maroccana, 
and L. reticulata aurea, both of them valuable border 
annuals; the pretty but less effective L.multipunctata, 
and lastly, but by no means least worthy of notice, the 
elegant L. alpina, now tolerably well known and 
cultivated as a rock and wall plant. To the dwarfer 
section of the genus to which the last named species 
belong, the Linaria anticaria is a very recent accession. 
Like the L. alpina it forms tufts of procumbent shoots 
clothed with small linear, fleshy, greyish-green foliage, 
the stems terminating in short racemes of whitish 
flowers, tinged with lilac-purple and delicately veined, 
freely produced for some weeks. Its cultivation 
involves no difficulty, but light warm soils seem to 
suit it best. It is strictly of perennial duration, but 
being apt to perish in severe winters as well as in wet 
ones, will be better treated as an annual.—IF. Thompson. 
