472 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 23, 1895. 
ACHIMENES. 
These beautiful Gesneraceous plants have already 
attained to a degree of popularity to which it is 
granted to but comparatively few of our garden 
flowers to reach, and throughout the summer many 
a glimpse of their bright showy presence greets us 
from even the most unexpected corners. That they 
are favourites with all classes of the flower-loving 
public goes without saying, although the amateur is 
not able to command the heat necessary to have 
them in bloom early in the season. Still, as has 
been proved over and over again, Achimenes can be 
grown, and grown well, too, with the expenditure of 
very little fire-heat, and this only in the early stages 
of the plants’ growth. 
Grown in pots, and nicely staked, a quantity of 
Achimenes will produce a really gorgeous display, 
the colours, of which there are such an infinite 
variety, being so vivid and striking in their profusion 
of brilliancy. Many of them, too, show themselves 
off to perfection when grown in a basket suspended 
from the roof. The chief drawback to their culture 
from the amateur’s point of view, is that they require 
a stove beat to start them into growth. If it is 
desired to have them in bloom during a fairly long 
season, a batch should be started about the middle 
of February. From thence onward, till the month 
of April, succession batches should be placed in 
heat, thus securing plants in flower during the whole 
of the summer. In potting them up, 
the small tubercles should be carefully 
removed from the old soil and sown in 
a fresh compost consisting of one part 
good loam, the same of fibrous peat, and 
two parts of good leaf-soil, together with 
plenty of silver sand and a few nodules 
of charcoal. Some growers do not add 
the last-mentioned ingredient, but that 
it is of the utmost service in assisting to 
keep the soil sweet is undoubted ; and 
from the large quantities of water which 
passthrough the soil in which Achimenes 
are growing it is evident that there is a 
danger of the soil becoming sour under 
careless or unskilful treatment. 
A thirty-two sized pot will be found 
to be about the handiest size in which 
to grow them, as a sufficiency of root- 
room is thus given, and at the same 
time the size of the pot does not preclude 
the possibility of using it with the plants 
it contains for the filling of any orna¬ 
mental vases or stands within doors 
when required. Although such exceed¬ 
ingly showy subjects, Achimenes are 
not suitable for indoor decoration in 
any other than a very light position, for 
if placed in anything like a dark corner 
the want of light soon causes the dropping 
of the flowers, after which, as may be supposed, the 
plants present a rather melancholy appearance. 
After potting, the plants should be placed in a 
brisk moist heat, under which conditions it will be 
found that growth is very rapid. As soon as the 
shoots are about 2 in. long, however, preparations 
must be made to remove them to a somewhat lower 
temperature, for too long continuance in a very warm 
place will be sure to cause the plants to become 
drawn and spindly, a state of affairs that detracts 
considerably from their beauty And usefulness. An 
ordinary greenhouse temperature will amply suffice 
for them after they have reached this stage. 
Staking.— Too much stress can hardly be laid 
upon the great importance of careful and efficient 
staking ; indeed, it is useless to expect to have fine 
shapely plants unless this is looked after at an early 
stage of the plant’s career. To wait until the 
growths have lopped all round the sides of the pot 
and have, in the natural course of things, started to 
turn the points of their shoots to the light and to 
grow upwards again, is a practice that cannot be too 
strongly condemned. The contrast between the 
gouty, deformed plants that result from this kind of 
treatment, or rather mistreatment, and those that 
are obtained where staking is attended to early 
enough in the day, is sufficiently striking. Occa¬ 
sional supplies of liquid manure as the pots become 
filled with roots will greatly assist in developing 
large and finely-coloured flowers. Perhaps weak 
farmyard manure will give as much satisfaction as 
anything, but as this cannot always be obtained 
when fresh, resource may be had to Peruvian Guano, 
which, if carefully used, is an invaluable manure. 
Insects, particularly green-fly, will sometimes 
prove a nuisance during the growing season, when 
light fumigations must be given before too extensive 
a footing has been acquired by the mischievous 
insects. As the plants go out of flower the supply 
of water should be gradually reduced in proportion 
as growth becomes feeble and finally ceases alto¬ 
gether. The plants may then be dried completely 
off and the pots placed on their sides to rest for the 
winter months beneath the greenhouse stage, as a 
temperature of from 45° to 50® Fahr. is a necessity 
to insure the tubercles passing through the winter 
safely. 
Propagation. —The multiplication of the plants 
may be effected by a variety of methods. Cuttings 
will root very readily if the cutting pots are plunged 
in a nice bottom heat. It is, moreover, not necessary 
to cut them off at a node, as roots are produced 
freely from any part of the stem. The scales of the 
corms will, if rubbed off and sown like seed in a pan 
filled with fine soil, germinate freely, and plenty of 
plants may be obtained by this means. Lastly, 
they may be propagated by seeds, which, from their 
infinitesimal size, require exceedingly careful 
handling when sowing. Only a slight covering of 
sand should be given them, and watering being con¬ 
ducted very lightly, or the seed will be washed in 
heaps. 
Spiraea astilboides floribunda. 
From the readiness with which the different 
species cross with others, numbers of hybrids have 
been placed upon the market that exhibit such a 
wealth of variety that it is almost a matter of 
difficulty to make a selection without doing an 
injustice to some of the numerous fine varieties 
The undermentioned will, however, be found to be 
well worthy of cultivation :—A. longiflora, longiflora 
major, Vivicans, Rollisoni, Argus, Firefly, Diadem, 
Eclipse, purpurea elegans, Mauve Queen, longiflora 
alba, and Madame A. Verschaffelt.— G. 
-- 
SPIRAEA ASTILBOIDES 
FLORIBUNDA. 
The showiest and most ornamental form of S. 
Aruncus would be much appreciated for forcing 
purposes were it not for its inconvenient height, 
S. astilboides resembles it in miniature, and has 
proved both ornamental and most serviceable for 
forcing purposes. The variety under notice is a 
great improvement upon the type, inasmuch as the 
panicles of bloom are larger, more freely branched, 
and the individual blossoms much more numerous 
This has the effect of making it a choicer and more 
showy subject than the original S. astilboides, which 
has indeed bean an acquisition to gardens for some 
years past. The plant uuder notice has the recom¬ 
mendation of being perfectly hardy and amenable 
for culture on the rockery, in the herbaceous border, 
and for forcing purposes. It is a bolder and more 
handsome plant than Astilbe japonica, now so 
universally cultivated for forcing purposes, and will 
in a few years’ time be much in request for conserva¬ 
tory decoration during the spring months. The 
accompanying illustration, for which we are indebted 
to Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, gives a good 
idea of a plant that has been grown in the open 
ground and allowed to attain some size. Smaller 
plants with fewer stems are generally found to be 
more serviceable for pot work, as they are more 
graceful and can be more readily made to associate 
with other subjects. The usual height of the plant 
is 2 ft., and under good management that will not be 
exceeded. 
•> « 
ABOUT LAWNS. 
It must be admitted that a close velvety lawn is 
something to be proud of. What can be more 
charming or more effective than a wide spread of 
green well-kept turf, broken here and there by a bed 
of such flowers as hardy annuals or Paeonies, Sun¬ 
flowers, Phloxes, or a stately Conifer. The prepara¬ 
tion and formation of lawns are often too hastily and 
imperfectly done, while it is in this operation that 
patience and care is most assiduously required, for if 
badly done at first, faults observed afterwards cannot 
easily be remedied without cost. 
The best time to prepare the ground for a lawn is 
the autumn, when the frosts of winter and spring will 
thoroughly pulverise the soil, and when the earth is 
in good working condition, not in dry 
weather. The ground must be dug to 
the depth of from 12 in. to 18 in., and 
care should be taken to take out all weeds 
and coarse-growing grasses, and then 
be left until spring. March and April 
are the best months to sow the seed, 
but before sowing the soil should be 
well raked with a heavy iron rake until 
the surface is perfectly smooth and free 
from stones, made level, and carefully 
rolled to obtain a hard surface. At this 
stage the ground is in condition for the 
seed ; a light rake must now be used to 
break the surface a little so that the seed 
may fall into the interstices or broken 
soil. The seed may be sown broadcast, 
at the rate of from three to four bushels 
per acre, or sixty to eighty pounds; 
one pound will sow fifty square yards. 
Many fall into the common error of 
sowing insufficient seed, which results 
in an uneven, thin, and in fact, alto¬ 
gether a badly made lawn. It is always 
a wise and safe plan to provide oneself 
with more seed than is absolutely 
necessary for a given space than too little. 
Should the weather be favourable the 
grass will be ready for the first cutting 
in about two or three weeks, and 
any weeds that may put in an appearance must 
at once be extirpated. The grass should be 
cut with a sharp scythe ; the fallen grass may be 
left upon the ground to prevent the sun’s rays from 
burning the young grass plants. The grass should be 
mown and rolled frequently to obtain a close green 
sward. To reno ate an old lawn the surface must 
be made loose with an iron rake to receive the seed. 
When the seed is sown it must be top-dressed with 
fine soil and be rolled. If the lawn should suffer 
through drought, it must be regularly watered with 
a fine hose every evening.— IF. L. 
-- 
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE. 
The saying that “ a little knowledge is a dangerous 
thing ” is always remarkably well exemplified at this 
season of the year in the sowing of seed, and the 
subsequent management of the seedlings, be they 
intended to produce products for the decoration of 
glass structures, flower garden, or the kitchen 
garden ; therefore, I hope that the excellent and 
timely remarks on the subject of Seed Sowing, by 
“ Experience,” p. 453, will be read and studied, 
especially by all those who ” think they know.” 
As your correspondent points out, some people 
cannot seem to gauge what they require, sowing ten 
times the amount they want, but I am inclined to 
believe that it is not always done through ignorance, 
but sometimes perversity, to make off with a lot of 
seed, and at the same time to fill their glass 
structures ! When, if they really knew, the space is 
wanted for other things, and could be turned to far 
