104 
THE GARDENING WORLD. October ie, 1897. 
JlNTS FOR ||MATEURS. 
The Colchicuma—With the end of September the 
Colchicums come to us, just when the wear and tear 
of time is telling appreciably upon the occupants of 
the herbaceous border, when the cold, often frosty 
and dewy nights speak to us of summer gone and 
the glory of the year well advanced upon the down 
grade. At such a time the fresh beauty of the flowers 
cannot be other than refreshing, and we welcome 
them as eagerly as we do the golden glint of the per¬ 
ennial Sunflowers, or the starry sparkle of the 
Michaelmas Daisies. Possibly the appearance of the 
plants, with their bunches or clusters of flowers 
pushed out of the bare ground, and destitute of even 
a suspicion of foliage, endows them with an attrac¬ 
tion peculiar to themselves. The leaves make their 
appearance in the spring, and live their life and pass 
away by the end of June or the beginning of July, 
according to the special character of the season. 
The flowers follow after the heat of the summer has 
spent itself, and practically last until the advent of 
severe frost puts a stop to the existence of flowers in 
the open border. Not only are the flowers charming 
when growing naturally in the open ground, but they 
last and look well in vases within doors, and, indeed, 
are well worth growing for this reason alone. 
The cultivation of the plant is exceedingly simple, 
and chiefly consists in letting them alone once they 
are planted. Annual lifting is not to be recom¬ 
mended, and the probable reason why some people 
are not so successful with them as they could wish 
and expect is that they are far too fidgety with them. 
Often enough we see in old-fashioned gardens which 
have herbaceons borders dating back to a time prior 
to the "bedding-out ” rage, clumps of the common 
Meadow Saffron, Colchicum autumnale, in splendid 
condition, and this when the corms are not lifted for 
years together. 
One would imagine that a policy of “ let alone ” 
would be easy enough to follow. The most impor¬ 
tant point is to choose a suitable position for them 
in a rather moist situation. The soil should be a 
light, sandy loam for preference, enriched with 
thoroughly rotted manure. The best time for lifting 
and re-planting is after the leaves have died down 
and the corms are resting for the summer. There is 
a considerable number of species, but the following 
species and varieties recommend themselves most 
strongly to notice. 
Co'.chicum autumnale, the common Meadow 
Saffron, comes first on the list by reason of its 
cheapness, which is, after, all a matter of no little 
import to the would-be cultivator whose means are 
not above the average. Apart from the undeniable 
beauty of the plant and the several varieties which 
have sprung from it, it is a native of these Islands, 
and this fact should be sufficient to endear it to 
those who are lovers of home productions. C. 
autumnale has a fairly wide geographical range, for 
in the “ Illustrated Handbook of the British Flora,” 
Bentham says “ that it is to be found in moist 
meadows and pastures over the greater part of 
Europe, but rare in the north, and scarcely extends 
into Asia. Very abundant in some parts of England 
and Ireland, and a very doubtful inhabitant of 
Scotland.” The species itself has bright purple 
flowers. 
C. a. album, as the varietal name signifies, has 
white flowers, which are, moreover, of great size, 
and very effective in the mass. 
C. a. album longipetalum has a long name as 
well as long petals or perianth segments. The 
tubes of the flowers are much shorter than in C. a. 
album, but although the flowers look pretty enough, 
nearly sitting as it were upon the ground, a shower 
of rain is sure to spoil them. 
C. a. atropurpureum furnishes a distinct shade of 
deep purple, with various stripes or blotches of pale 
pink. It is one of the best of its colour, and well 
worth growing. 
C. a. roseum.—In this we have a medium-sized 
flower, exhibiting a charming shade of rosy-lilac, 
very delicate and pretty. 
C a album plenum —The forms mentioned above 
are all common and correspondingly cheap, but this 
double white form, although hugely pretty, is both 
scarce and dear. 
C a roseum plenum—This is the cheapest of the 
double-flowered forms. It is the counterpart of the 
single form with regard to colour. 
C. Parkinsoni.—Here the flowers are white, 
charmingly chequered with rose-lilac. They are 
stellate in form, very large, and of great substance. 
The flower tube itself is of moderate length, but 
very thick and strong. This species was introduced 
from the Greek Achipelago in 1874. Comparing it 
with the commoner C. variegatum we see that the 
chequerings or mottlings are fainter, and that there 
is less colour in the flower as a whole. 
C. yariegatum — While discussing the relative 
merits of C. Parkinsoni and C. variegatum it maybe 
stated that in one important point, viz., that of 
hardiness, C. variegatum excels. A very severe 
winter will work havoc with the former species, 
but the latter will stand almost anything with 
impunity. The corm is very large and egg-shaped, 
and the flowers are of medium size, deep rosy pink 
in hue, chequered with dull purple. C. variegatum 
was introduced to this country from Greece as far 
back as 1629, so that it has had longer time in 
which to get accustomed to the severity of our 
winters. Possibly by the time that C. Parkinsoni 
has been in cultivation here for as long it may 
develop greater cold resisting qualities. 
C. Sibthorpii is an exceedingly handsome form 
introduced by Leichtlin about three years ago. 
When well grown it is the largest and finest of all 
the Colchicums. We had an opportunity of seeing 
it growing in Messrs. Barr & Sons’ nursery at Long 
Ditton, where Colchicums, in common with other 
bulbous and hardy plants, are carefully looked after, 
and the finer forms eagerly selected. The flowers 
are almost globular in shape, rosy-pink in colour, 
and heavily tesselated with dark purple. It is well 
deserving of extensive cultivation, although at the 
present time the price is high. 
C. speciosum rubrum.—There is no doubt that 
among all the darker-flowered forms this is the best. 
Toe flowers are very large, globular in shape, and 
rich rose-crimson in colour. There are a few faint 
chequerings of light pink, but so faint as to be 
scarcely noticeable. In the centre of the flower 
about half way down there is a white band of medium 
width, which gives it a very distinct appearance. 
Messrs. Barr & Sons have a very fine stock of it at 
Long Ditton, and during a visit we were struck with 
the grand effect produced by bright sunlight upon 
the flowers. 
Shrubby Calceolarias.—The value of the shrubby 
yellow Calceolaria as a bedding plant for the outdoor 
garden is pretty generally recognised, although it is 
but seldom that we see it grown as a pot plant for 
the greenhouse or conservatory; and yet there are 
many plants, thus grown, that are neither so 
easy to manage nor so ornamental. Two or three of 
the sturdiest of the plants which have been doing 
duty in the flower garden through the summer, may 
be lifted before the frost cripples them, and potted 
up into as small pots as will comfortably contain 
them. A little coddling for a week or so after the 
shift will set them to rights again. Grow them on 
steadily through the winter, pinching out the points 
of any unduly gross shoots that may threaten to 
disturb the balance of the heads, and the labour will 
be rewarded next spring by plenty of flowers, which, 
as bright yellow is comparatively scarce at that time, 
will be doubly welcome.— Rex. 
-<*»- 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
“ Amateurs' Page ” on the top of their letters. 
Gymnogramme schizophylla.— Reader: Although 
an undeniably beautiful Fern this is an exceptionally 
tender one. There is very little doubt that the 
death of your plant is due to its having been over¬ 
looked for water. Soaking it with water afterwards 
ia the endeavour to bring up the fronds again is of 
very little use, for the plant seems to get its death¬ 
blow in the few hours of neglect. The younger 
plants you speak about should not be potted now. 
Leave them as they are until about the end of next 
February, and pot them then. 
Platycerium alcicorne.— Thames : There is a 
popular but mistaken idea extant that this Fern 
requires tropical heat to grow it, and that it will not 
grow in a cool house. You will find, however, that 
your plant will be all right in the cooler house. The 
temperature of 45 0 by night will suit it well enough. 
Pitting Potatos.— A. O. B. : We should not 
advise you to adopt this plan of keeping your 
Potatos unless you are obliged to by lack of other 
means. With the wet autumn there is sure to be a 
prevalence of disease, and although tubers on being 
dug up may appear to be perfectly sound to the eye 
and touch they are in reality in’ected with the 
disease, and sooner or later will go rotten. Now if 
a rotten tuber is in contact with other sound tubers 
it soon spreais decay on all sides. For obvious 
reasons the pit is not opened very often and it is 
almost impossible to give its occupants the looking 
over that is required to remove the bad ones, hence 
the work of destruction goes on unchecked. If you 
must make the pit, however, dig a hole about a 
couple of feet deep in some sheltered spot, line the 
sides and bottom thickly with clean hay and straw— 
the latter for preference -lay the Potatos in, cover 
them with straw, and then with earth. Finally over 
all lay a few boards or a sheet of galvanised iron to 
throw off the rain and keep the pit and its occu¬ 
pants dry. 
Dahlias.— F. C. : Leave the Dahlias out of doors 
for the present, and until the tops are blackened by 
frost. Then they may be cut down, and the roots 
dug up and removed to a shed or storehouse before 
the advent of severe frost. The roots ought gener¬ 
ally to be under cover by the beginning of 
November. 
Zonal Pelargoniums.— F. C.: With your lack of 
conveniences you will not be able to do anything 
with the plants as they stand. The succulent 
shoots would soon commence to damp off, and we 
question if you would save the plants. Cut them 
hard back, leaving only a few of the lower leaves on 
them, giving the longest roots a trim at the same 
time. This will adm t of their being put into com¬ 
paratively little space. They may indeed be potted 
two or three in a large 60-size pot. Do not give any 
water, and snip off with sharp scissors any pieces 
that may damp off. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias.— F. C. W.: The stelf 
on the western side of the greenhouse will suit the 
Calceolarias admirably through the winter. Tepid 
water is not necessary for watering them with. It 
may be as cold as you like, but not hard. We have 
broken the ice to take water out to water the plants 
and have found that it suited them capitally. 
Battersea Park.—You are wrong Parks, Battersea 
Park is not so large as Victoria Park, for the former 
has an acreage of 250, and the latter is 300 acres in 
extent. Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill together 
conta : n 450 acres. 
Pear Citron des Carmes.—About the only qualifi¬ 
cation that this Pear has Geo. Wencroft, is its earli¬ 
ness. From the points of flavour and appearance it 
is worthless, and we should advise you to devote the 
space to a good September or October variety. We 
are sure you would then be better satisfied with the 
results. William's Bon Chretien for a September 
variety, and Louise Bonne of Jersey, or Marie Louise 
for an October sort. 
Tacsonia Yan Yolxemii .—Toby : You will do well 
to cut out about 70 per cent, of the growths, and 
shorten those that are left. If you leave the Tacsonia 
as it is, so much growth will spoil any chances that 
the plants on the stage below may have. 
Chrysanthemums. I want to house my Chrysan¬ 
themums, but I have only a Peach house available, 
and as the fruit has only just been plucked from 
them, the leaves are yet green. Can I do anything 
to hasten the fall of the leaves, or may I pull some 
of them off in order to admit of a little more light, 
for at present the house is very dark — Rob. 
On no account must you pull off the leaves from 
the shoots that are to bear the fruit next year. The 
only way in which you may mitigate the conditions 
you name is to remove bodily those shoots which 
have borne fruit this year. This will also give the next 
year's fruit-beariDg growths a better chance. If this 
thinning out has already been given (you say nothing 
