632 
THE GARDENING WORLD- 
June 4, 1898. 
flNTS FOR mMATEURS. 
BEDDING OUT. 
At last the time has arrived when the multitudes of 
plants which have been worked up through the 
winter and spring months may be consigned to their 
flowering quarters out of doors. The cold weather, 
which was pretty general through the country last 
week, has happily given place to a milder and more 
genial condition of things. The rains have penetrated 
to a considerable depth, and although at the time of 
writing the soil is too wet to be worked properly, this 
need not cause any great amount of fear, since 
moisture at this time of the year soon dries up, and 
by the time these notes are in the hands of my 
readers everything will be in readiness for a 
start. 
First of all the beds have to be cleared of their 
spring-flowering occupants, and where these were 
rather later in blooming than usual, for the season 
after all has not been an early one, some little delay 
may occur. The earlier Tulips and Narcissi have, 
of course, been out of bloom for a considerable 
time, but their growth may not yet have finished. 
The drought which preceded the recent rains pre¬ 
vented the growth from being very rank, but the 
rains seem to have given many of the apparently 
ripening plants a fresh lease of growth. Where 
this is the case they must not be unduly disturbed. 
Once the stems of the Tulips can be bent without 
breaking the plants may be lifted and laid in in ashes 
or dry soil in a sunny corner of the garden to ripen. 
Narcissi are even more particular than the Tulips, 
for they continue to grow for a considerable time. 
The beds in which they have flowered, therefore, 
should be left undisturbed until the last moment, 
when the plants may be lifted and laid in in the 
same way as the Tulips. Where the Daffodils are 
planted in the mixed border they should be left un¬ 
disturbed, and this system should be followed 
wherever it is practicable. Hyacinths have long 
since become shabby, and if they have not been 
already removed should be seen to at once. 
In putting out the various subjects that it is pro¬ 
posed should enliven the garden during the summer 
months some judgment must be used, for even a 
small garden has usually a sunny as well as a shady 
side. In larger gardens the variety of positions that 
have to be filled with something is necessarily much 
greater, and the wise gardener will so adjust matters 
that the plants that best love the sun, shall, all 
things being equal, have the sunniest spots whereon 
to grow. Generally speaking, all the flowering 
plants love the sun, although Calceolarias are more 
partial to the shade. If, therefore, there is a shady 
corner it should have been given them. We say 
" have been given " advisedly, for the beginning of 
May is not a bit too soon to put out the Calceolarias, 
for they make much better growth, and get a hold of 
the new ground more easily than they would if left 
until the end of the month, when the sun is as a rule 
far more trying. It is a bad practice to keep the 
poor plants cooped up in frames or pans until they 
spoil each other, and when sent to the garden look 
both ragged and ugly. 
Now that the actual process of transplanting has 
begun the amateur will soon discover how much 
easier it is to “ bed out ” from pots than from boxes. 
But this is not the only advantage that the pots have 
over the boxes, for it is obvious that to simply knock 
a plant out of its pot does not cause nearly so much 
disturbance to the plant as it does to dig it out from 
amongst others in a box. There is apt to be a 
heavy run on the pots, however, in the months of 
March and April, and thus boxes have often to be 
employed just because there is nothing else to use. 
. Wide yersus Close Planting.—This is a point 
that is likely to cause the amateur some little exercise 
of spirit, and " how much room shall I give my 
plants?” is likely to be a common query. The 
amount of space given must in all cases depend upon 
whether or not an immediate effect is desired. If it 
is there is nothing for it but to put the plants so close 
together that the beds wear a furnished appearance 
at once. The disadvantage attaching to this system 
is that as soon as the plants begin to grow at all freely 
they become crowded, and they are not then in a 
position to acquit themselves so well as they might 
otherwise do.unless thinning is practised consistently. 
All plants do better for a free passage of light and 
air all about them, and not merely over their tops, 
although in the case of purely foliage subjects 
crowding is not so great an evil, since the crowded 
parts are hidden from sight. 
A good rule to follow under all circumstances is to 
give each plant at planting time enough room to 
contain it when it is full grown. Those who do this 
will not go very far wrong. 
There is very little to be said about the operation 
of planting itself. A trowel will be found the proper 
tool to use, for there are not many plants of such a 
size that a spade will be required. If such things as 
Pyrethrum Golden Feather, Stocks, Asters, Zinnias, 
and other annuals have to be lifted from the ground 
or from boxes in which they were pricked off, care 
should be taken to avoid having too many out of the 
ground at once. The hot summer sun plays sad 
havoc with these delicate young plants, and the 
severe wilting they are likely to get by exposure to its 
rays generally handicaps them sadly, and if dry 
weather immediately follows their putting out, is 
often the beginning of their end. If showery weather 
follows immediately after the plants have been put 
out there is very little fear but that they will do well, 
but if, on the other hand, it is dry it will be necessary 
to give repeated waterings until the roots have got a 
hold of the soil, otherwise the poor things will have 
but a rough time of it. 
Plunging Pot Plants.—This practice obtains to 
some extent in both large and small gardens, although 
it is not by any means one that should be followed 
extensively. It may happen now and again that it is 
desirable to keep the plants in the pots even when 
they are sent out into the flower garden, and then 
they are plunged deeply enough in the beds to cover 
the rims of the pots so that it cannot really be seen 
without examination but what they are planted out 
in the orthodox way. There is no doubt that in the 
autumn the fact of the tender subjects being in pots 
renders it easier to lift them and place them in 
security, but this, we think, is more than counter¬ 
balanced by the great danger that the plants run all 
through the summer months of suffering from lack of 
water. Then again the roots usually grow through 
the holes in the pots, and at lifting time these roots 
have to be cut or twisted off in order to get the pots 
to stand level, and a more or less severe check is the 
inevitable result. We should advise therefore, to do 
with as little of this plunging as possible, for 
generally speaking all plants do far better when 
planted in the ground Jthan when confined in pots. 
In the few cases in which plunging may have to be 
done see to it that during dry weather plenty of 
water is given to the plants so treated.— 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 of their letters. 
Yellow Coleus.— R. Strong : The nearest approach 
to a yellow Coleus which we know is one named 
Cloth of Gold. The leaves are yellow but for a 
shading of green, which varies in extent according to 
the conditions under which the plant is placed. 
Tomatoa.—I intend making up a bed of soil out¬ 
side for Tomatos, and should be glad if you will tell 
me how much soil per plant would be enough. The 
bed would only be temporary and would be enclosed 
with boards on three sides, and would have the wall 
at the back.— F. Williams. 
In this case you do not want to have too much 
soil. You will find a cubic foot per plant will be 
ample. Thus if you put in your plants about a 
foot apart the bed may be a foot deep, exclusive 
of drainage, and a foot wide. 
Mimulus Moschatus—Is the little yellow Musk, 
which is usually grown in pots, hardy ? I noticed the 
other day several fine clumps of it in the open ground. 
Amateur. 
Yes, the Musk is hardy and the fact of its being 
utilised so frequently as a pot plant is due to its 
beauty and suitability, not to its tenderness. 
Azalea mollis losing its Buds.—I have several 
plants of Azalea mollis in 8-in. pots. They were set 
well with flower buds last autumn, and I looked 
forward to a good show of flowers. For some reason 
or other, however, the sparrows declared war against 
them, and picked out fully two-thirds of the buds, 
for what reason I know not. The buds were simply 
picked out and thrown down by the side of the 
plants, and I could not, upon examination, discover 
any traces of insects to induce the sparrows to do 
this. Can you assign a reason ? And is this a com¬ 
mon occurrence?— A. Wylie. 
Pure cussedness on the part of the sparrows is 
doubtless the reason. The occurrence is not un¬ 
common. Have any other of our reader's p’ants 
suffered in the same way this year ? 
Yine LeaveB Spotted. — Anderson-. The Vine 
leaves are badly scorched by the sun. This scorch¬ 
ing has been caused by the sun shining directly upon 
the leaves when the latter are covered with moisture. 
Although the leaves have not been syringed, as you 
say, this deposit of moisture is caused by the lower¬ 
ing of the temperature during the night. You must 
first of all try to prevent the serious lowering of the 
night temperature, and next you must ventilate the 
house early in the morning, so that the leaves may 
be dry by the time the sun gets high enough to 
burn. If you can manage to leave a little air on the 
house all night it will be better. 
Box Edgings Dying.—Last autumn the Box 
edgings to several of my flower beds were relaid, but 
I find there are several dead patches in them. How 
can I best mend these, must I leave the dead pieces 
in with the living until next autumn ?— Enquirer. 
What is the reason of the deaths ? 
Taking the second question first, it is difficult to 
assign the exact reason for the failure of some of the 
plants to grow. Perhaps they were trimmed too 
severely ; indeed this seems to us the most probable 
cause, as we have known failure to result in this way 
in not a few cases. You may try and mend the 
brown places by planting now small plants with 
plenty of roots. If the wet weather continues for 
long they will have a chance, and you must follow it 
up by waterings as required. If you are successful 
in mending a few of the bare places it will be some¬ 
thing gained. 
Tomatos not Setting.— Tomato : The dull, sunless 
weather is no doubt to blame for your Tomatos fail¬ 
ing to set. Try and keep a bouyant atmosphere in 
the house by giving plenty of air and more heat in 
the pipes. It will be also worth while to pollenise 
the flowers artificially by brushing them over with a 
soft brush. Keep all the laterals pinched in pretty 
closely, but do not defoliate your plants any further 
than this operation entails. 
Lapagerias .—Ohio : From the description you 
give, it would seem to us to be almost hopeless to 
think of separating the growths. You should not 
have allowed them to intertwine so closely with each 
other. An attempt to disentangle them now would 
inevitably ruin most of the young growths, for they 
are very soft and easily bruised, and death is sure to 
follow bruising, You will be able to put matters 
straight next winter when you prune. 
Dahlias.— Benj. Comble : The plants may be put 
out of doors at once. Frost, we are hoping, will not 
visit us again this side of September. Certainly we 
have had frosts in June, but to keep the plants out 
of the ground so long as that would scarcely be 
advisable. 
Top-dressing Fuchsias .—James R. : Unless ycu 
left room in the pots last March for a further top¬ 
dressing, we should not advise you to give it. Even 
a small further quantity of soil would cause serious 
difficulties in watering the plants, and you must 
avoid this. Liquid manure may be given instead of 
the top-dressing. 
Tree Carnations.— W. Soames : About the end of 
the first week in June the tree Carnations may be 
stood out of doors. They will do better there for 
the summer than they would under glass. As they 
are old plants, they will probably throw a few 
flowers, which should be picked off before they 
expand, so as to husband the energies of the plants. 
Give a sheltered position, and attend to the tying in 
of the shoots as they become long enough. 
