600 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 21, 1898, 
INTS FOR MMATEURS. 
Hardening off Bedding Plants.—We are once again 
clo^e upon the heels of the bedding-out season, so 
close indeed that it is of paramount importance that 
what time remains should be properly utilised in 
preparing as far as possible the plants for an outdoor 
life. Many subjects that will ordinarily grow in a 
comparatively low temperature have been luxuriating 
in heat during the spriDg months in order that the 
requisite stock of plants may be furnished by propa¬ 
gation, and in addition there are numbers of others 
that really require a high temperature at all times ; 
also seedlings of plants almost innumerable that 
have passed their babyhood in warm pits and 
houses, and are now fast developing into sturdy 
young plants. All of these need a special education 
before they can be safely transferred from the shelter 
of glass structures to the open ground ; they must be 
inured to stand the lower temperatures, their tissues 
must be toughened to resist with the minimum of 
injury to themselves cold winds and rains, for it is 
quite likely that they will have to contend with both, 
and the gardener gives this special education by the 
process that he pithily calls “ hardening-off.” 
It does not take a very vivid imagination to see 
that the sudden transition from heat to cold must be 
injurious to a high degree. But the plants are now 
in heat and there is the other probable extreme 
looming in their near future. The only thing to do, 
therefore, is to effect a gradual transition, of which 
each stage shall not be sufficiently great to do direct 
damage to the things subjected to it, but which, on 
the other hand, will be a preparation for the next. 
Plants are like human beings in many ways—-they 
may be trained to stand a good deal by means of 
suitable preparation, for they have within themselves 
the power of adapting themselves to circumstances 
to an extent that comparatively few appreciate. In 
employing this their adaptability to attain his own 
ends, the gardener then is only taking advantage of a 
potentiality wherewith Nature has endowed all her 
children. It would be somewhat late in the day had 
this "hardening- ff ” process only commenced in 
this, the third week in May ; it should have been 
began at least a fortnight ago, or better still with the 
beginning of the month, and thus only the final 
stage will be wanting to complete the education of 
the hardier plants. 
Zonal Pelargoniums.—For the last six weeks 
these, with the exception of the later cuttings, have 
all been in cold frames. First of all the frames were 
kept rather close, then air was gradually admitted, 
and then the lights were pulled off altogether during 
the day, but pushed on again at night. Now the 
light may be left off all night unless frost threatens, 
when, of course, on they must go. It is more than 
likely that the frame room will be wanted for 
sheltering other more tender plants, and hence the 
Pelargoniums must be shifted out of it, and stood in 
a sheltered corner out of doors, where, in addition to 
the natural shelter afforded by position, further 
covering may be given if it becomes necessary— 
which may the fates forfend. The late struck 
cuttings that were potted up singly in small pots at 
the beginning of the month have now got a sufficient 
start. They should be shifted at once, therefore, to a 
vacant frame, kept close at first as the older plants 
were, and gradually inured to free ventilation, also 
as the others were. Ivy-leaved varieties may be 
treated in similar fashion. 
Heliotropes, Yerbenas, Iresines, and Coleuses 
are all of them much more tender than the " Gerani¬ 
ums,” and if possible these should be kept in the 
frames until the last moment. At the time of writ¬ 
ing the weather is anything but genial, cold rain and 
even colder winds are making it uncomfortable for 
man and beast as well as plants. Such things as 
Iresines and Coleuses too are particularly liable to 
receive damage when the low temperatures are 
combined with too much water at the root, and 
when they are put out of doors they naturally have 
to take and put up with all the rain that falls. The 
result is that exposure to such untoward conditions 
causes mauy to damp off. 
Seedlings.—These require the greatest care of all, 
for in addition to having to get over their liking for 
heat they have not yet passed entirely out of the 
baby stage, and with it the tenderness that accom¬ 
panies it. Too much water at the root is as injurious 
to them as it is-to the Iresines and Coleuses, and 
hence it is almost as important that they should be 
shielded from cold rains as from low temperature. 
Sub tropical Bedding Plants—In these we may 
include many Palms, together with other ordinarily 
stove foliage subjects as Acalyphas and Musa 
Ensete, flowering plants like Cannas, Eryihrine 
Crista-galli, Plumbago capensis, P. rosea, and such 
annuals as the Castor Oil Plants. These have to 
undergo a preparatory training similar to that given 
the smaller subjects, but their greater height and 
bulk renders the frames that are employed for the 
smaller plants of no good. For these subjects, 
therefore, it is necessary to have a roomy, cool 
house, in which they will not be crushed up against 
the glass, and the ventilators of which may be 
opened more and more each day in the same way as 
the lights of the frames. 
Tuberous Begonias.—These constitute such an 
important feature in the flower garden that any extra 
pains that may be taken to secure superior plants 
are well repaid. We always follow the plan of tak¬ 
ing out the plants from the boxes in which they 
have been started into growth, and planting them out 
in a prepared bed of light, rich soil, placed upon a 
hotbed, and covered by a frame. This intermediate 
shift is given not later than the beginning of May, 
and great care is subsequently taken in the matters 
of shading, watering, syringing, and airing. The 
plants are now a mass of fine, stout foliage, and as 
the glass is so close they are all dwarf and sturdy. 
Air is given them pretty freely in the daytime now, 
although up to the present it has been taken off at 
night. During the coming week, however, if the 
weather be at all suitable a little air will be left on at 
night, so that the plants will ere long be fit for their 
final transference to their flowering quarters. Frost, 
however, may even yet make its appearance, and it 
must be watched for vigilantly, for with the leaves so 
close to the glass they would suffer almost as much 
as if they were out of doors. In the event of even 
a slight frost, therefore, the frames must be warmly 
covered. 
Seedling Begonias.—The raising of these hand¬ 
some plants from seed is a hobby that specially re¬ 
commends itself to the amateur, for with a packet of 
seed purchased from a reliable source he has every 
prospect of getting a number of good things. More¬ 
over, he has not to wait, as in the case of many 
other seedlings, for years before he can see the result 
of his labours,for if he sows fairly early,and has a fair 
amount of luck, he will be able to tell what the plants 
are like, and whether they are worth saving or not 
in the first season. Of course, with the seedling plants 
there is no necessity to harden them off so quickly 
for planting in the open, but they may and should 
be kept growing on under glass until the summer is 
fully here, when they will grow quite as fast out of 
doors as they would under glass, provided a warm 
and sunny spot be given them. Just now the young 
plants are in the boxes into which they were pricked 
off from the seed pans, and in these they may 
remain until there are signs of crowding, which, if 
growth proceeds as it ought to, should be by the end 
of this month or the beginning of next. The present 
is a rather critical time with the young plants, for 
there is a great tendency to over-water them, when 
when the soil becomes sour and unkindly, and the 
vigour of the plants crippled. Consistent shading 
will be necessary, for whilst under glass the foliage 
burns very quickly. 
Yiolets.—It is now high time that something was 
done with these or the season will be too short to 
obtain good, sturdy plants by the end of September, 
when it will be time to put them in the frames again. 
The frames in which the old plants were accommoda¬ 
ted last winter were lifted off them at the end of last 
month. This was rendered necessary by the large 
amount of, room needed by the bedding plants, and 
the Violets would, of course, take no hurt, as the 
most of the flowers were over by that time. The 
old plants should now be rooted out, and divided up 
into single young crowns, with two or three leaves 
and a few roots attached. These divisions may 
straightway be consigned to the open, and the 
old plants thrown away. If there is a vacant 
place on a north, east, or north-east border 
this should be selected for the Violets, as they will 
be there less liable to the attacks of red spider than 
they would in a sunnier locality. The best method 
is to plant in rows about i ft. apart, leaving g in. 
between each plant in the rows. If the showery 
weather that we are now having continues, the 
Violets will soon take a hold of the ground, but if 
dry weather supervenes immediately after planting, 
watering must be resorted to. All the subsequent 
attention that will be necessary will be further 
watering, and keeping them clear of weeds. An occa¬ 
sional stirring of the soil by means of the Dutch hoe 
will be of great service. 
Richardias have now finished flowering for the 
season and may be kept rather drier at the root than 
formerly, so as to give them a period of partial re; j 
before they are planted out in the open border to 
make their growth for the season, or re-potted, 
according to which system the amateur prefers. 
Each plan has its advantages, but we should recom¬ 
mend planting out as being most suitable for 
the amateur to follow, for it is always best to have 
as few pot plants as possible to water during the 
summer months.— Rex. 
- 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone 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 ot their letters. 
Ten-Week Stocks Dying.— 5 . 0 .: With the 
information contained in your letter it is impossible 
for us to say definitely what is the cause of your 
seedling stocks going off. Do the young stems show 
evidence of rottenness near the point of contact with 
the soil ? If so, you have probably over-watered them. 
If this is not the case you have most likely committed 
one of the mistakes in pricking them off that Rex 
speaks of in his recent article on seedlings, which 
see. 
Polygononum cuspidatum.—This is the plant 
you speak of, R. Strewd, as being employed to a 
considerable extent in town gardens. It is a fairly 
good town plant, but it is apt to become sadly 
besmirched by the smoke. When placed in more 
favourable surroundings there is no finer sight than 
a good clump of it with its numbers of pure white 
flowers arranged in long, graceful sprays. We 
should not advise you to plant it in your garden 
unless you have plenty of room. It throws up a 
lot of suckers for some distance around the old 
stool. 
Mignonette in Window-box. —I should like to fill 
one of my window-boxes with Mignonette this year. 
Which would be the better plan—to sow the seed in 
the boxes, or to sow in other pots or boxes and 
transfer the plants to the window boxes as soon as 
they become large enough.— G. Laithway. 
Mignonette does not take with great readiness to 
transplanting, although the operation may be per¬ 
formed if care is taken; hence we should certainly 
advise you to sow the seed in the window box 
straight away. The plants may be afterwards 
thinned as required. 
Size of Pots.— E. A. : The following are the 
diameters in inches, inside measurement, at the rim of 
the pots of the following sizes:—small 6o's, 3 
inches ; large 6o’s, 4 inches ; 48’s, 5 inches ; 32's, 6 
inches ; 24's, 7 inches ; 20's, 8 inches ; 16's, 9 inches ; 
and 12's, 10 inches. 
Large Chrysanthemums.— Amateur: You will find 
the following the eight largest-flowered varieties of 
those you have enumerated in you list, taking them 
in order, as you have written them down:—Phoebus, 
Lady Ridgway, Baron Hirsch, Emily Silsbury, 
Edith Tabor, Silver King, Col. W. B. Smith, and 
Charles Davis. 
Lily of the Yalley Crowns are of no use' after 
they have been forced, T. W. The flowers are pro¬ 
duced chiefly at the expense of the nourishment 
stored in the swollen crowns, root action being com¬ 
paratively weak. 
Yiolet Comte de Brazza.— E. S. : We do not 
know whether you could obtain divisions or crowns 
of Violets from nurserymen. You see if they sup¬ 
plied orders of this kind they would be spoiling their 
trade for plants in the autumn. You can only write 
to one and ask. 
