November 3, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
157 
the whole mixture must -be kept churned up, and 
the soap dissolved before mixing begins. Sulphide 
of potassium at the rate of 2J lbs. per ioo gallons of 
water in which it readily dissolves, may also be 
advantageously used. It looses its strength unless 
applied when fresh. Other washes and solutions 
could be employed, but these will, one or other, be 
found safe and effective agents.— J. D. 
SOME PRETTY FLORAL DESIGNS. 
The ordinary circular wreath of flowers is suscept¬ 
ible to great variety in its make-up, in originality of 
conception, pleasing unions of colour, and bold 
conjoining of forms. Perhaps nowhere could those 
interested in the floral art go to better than, say, some 
of the finest of the West End London flower shops. 
Covent Garden is also a leading light upon which 
the played-out gardener, who possibly tries almost 
vainly to find something fresh in his decorative 
arrangements, may turn and receive, perhaps, slight 
help from which to build new ideas. For instance, 
in the making of crosses how many adopt the use of 
the dry, gray, Siberian or reindeer moss as a 
grounding, upon which nothing more than a central 
radiating bunch of half-expanded Rose buds may be 
arranged ? This, when properly completed, requires 
no adding to, no deducting from, and a prettier com¬ 
bination is not often seen. For very important 
occasions Gardenias, Pancratiums, Azaleas, Liliums, 
&c., above a broad, compact grounding of white 
Chrysanthemums, such as L. Canning, may be 
made. 
Pink Rose buds, interspersed with Lily of the 
Valley, and placed distinctly above a white, broad 
grounding, have at all times a very tasty effect. 
What seemed unique to me at first was the arrange¬ 
ments where a compact, even groundwork without 
any relieving material forms, say, three parts of a 
circle, the other third being occupied by a bold, up¬ 
raised shower of flowers, having an altogether con¬ 
trasting form and colour, but which gives sublimity 
to what might otherwise be puny, if not absolutely 
ludicrous. Dark brown Mahonia leaves as a 
groundwork, with one of the bunches as noted 
above, composed of broad yellow Croton leaves, 
pink flowered Chrysanthemums, Eucharis, and 
Roman Hyacinths form a capital arrangement. 
Then the following may be taken as nice in their 
way :—A very broad, circular frame, even to the 
breadth of five flowers of pure white or cream 
coloured Chrysanthemums as a grounding ; on the 
left-hand side a “ knot ” formed of a single, large 
bloom of Eucharis with a few upstanding spikes of 
Roman Hyacinths; then on the right side of the 
wreath and running round nearly a third of its cir¬ 
cuit Lily of the Valley spikes, Eucharis blooms, and 
dark green, red veined Croton leaves interspersed. 
The design of a cross is prettily worked out from 
a white groundwork of Chrysanthemums, and just 
at the juncture in the centre where the framework 
crosses, a raised bunch of pink Rose buds and Lily of 
the Valley spikes are used. 
For a " memoriam " cushion,a four-cornered frame¬ 
work, having concave sides (a square with hollowed 
sides), may be designed. Azaleas or whatever large 
and compact flowers were in season should be used 
to raise a convex or cushion-shaped froDt. Over 
this grounding the words At Rest, when traced out 
in Violets, have a simple yet lovely effect. Very 
small doves of stucco or marble, as the case de- 
mands.placed at each two opposite corners (those at 
right angles to Ihe words made in Violets) adds yet 
more tenderness. For an elaborate column with a 
well balanced base, Gardenias would be the most 
compact and pliable flowers to form the column 
with, and also the lower-most stance forming the 
base. This latter should slope smartly and regularly 
on all sides outward from the column, the column 
itself being about 6 in. thick, and high in propor¬ 
tion. The Violet The Czar and the lighter coloured 
one, De Parme, should form alternate layers in the 
composition of the spreading base. A twining 
string of Violets may be slung around the white 
column.— H. 
--5-- 
A warning against Blood Oranges. — The 
Vegetarian Messenger draws attention to a case of 
poisoning in Berlin from a person having eaten 
Blood Oranges. The doctor certified a case of 
aniline poisoning. There has been a stroDg suspicion 
for some time that Blood oranges are often arti¬ 
ficially made by the injection of red aniline dye. 
Gardening ||iscellany. 
IRIS VARTANI AND I. PERSICA. 
The first species,a native of Palestine, is now flower¬ 
ing at Kew, and has pale violet or lavender flowers. 
In many repects I. Vartani resembles I. persica. The 
flowers are about the same size, but differ slightly in 
colour. The former presents a combination of gray 
and pale blue when fresh, with streaks of orange 
below the stigmatic centre. It is now in flower in 
an open border of the herbaceous grounds at Kew. 
HELICHRYSUMS. 
In some of the more exposed situations these lovely 
everlasting flowers are beginning to go pist their 
best. It is therefore necessary that they should be 
cut and dried as soon as possible, unless their pur¬ 
pose has been quite fulfilled already. The whole 
plants may be pulled up and huDg head downward, 
in a dry airy shed. 
THUNBERGIA GRANDIFLORA. 
A good plant of the above and another, say of Alla- 
manda Hendersonii, in flower in a stove or corridor 
during the winter are a great boon to all who have a 
need for blooms for decorations, or who may with to 
maintain a gay display during these dull days. To 
add a third colour a plant of Bougainvillea trained 
to the roof of such warm structures as are mentioned 
could likewise be chosen. The Thunbergia makes 
long and strong growth when planted out in a 
narrow but rich and warm border against any of the 
sides of the warmer structures. The light violet- 
blue Allamanda-shaped flowers are exceedingly 
lovely, as indeed the whole growth of the plant is. 
As a rule, cuttings are employed as the means of 
propagation, and during growth it is ODly necessary 
to keep the shoots sparsely regulated, 
BEGONIA INGRAMIt. 
This exceedingly graceful winter-flowering stove 
Begonia deserves a word or two of attention quite as 
much as do the other Begonias, which have recently 
been noticed in your columns. It is one of the best 
known of the old hybrids, yet since the newer hybrid 
Begonias have been appearing B. Ingramii has been 
less seen. If the newer varieties are improvements 
or so much in advance on such old types as the 
above, it is right that the best should survive. But 
a well grown plant of B. Ingramii compares with the 
best of the other winter-flowering sorts. Begonias 
have for long been the centre of a great deal of atten¬ 
tion, and even now there seems to be much new 
enthusiasm in their favour. The older favourites 
are being “spotted" like something quite new, and 
altogether the signs are good. The hybrid under 
note was raised nearly fifty years ago at Frogmore, 
its parents being B. fuchsioides and B. nitida. It 
partakes of the elegant character of the former and 
the larger flowers of the latter. The blossoms are 
deep pink and of a smart and clean-cut form. The 
ordinary (Begonia) mode of treatment suits this 
variety.— D. K. 
READ THIS. 
A weekly award of 5s. will be made by the pro¬ 
prietors of The Gardening World, to the person 
who sends the most interesting or valuable item 0) 
news upon passing events likely to interest horticult¬ 
urists at large ; hints containing suggestive facts of 
practical interest to gardeners or growers of plants, 
fruits, or flowers; successful methods of propagating 
plants usually considered difficult ; or any other 
tobic coming within the sphere of gardening proper. 
The articles in question should not exceed 250 words, 
and should be marked " Competition." The address 
of the winner will be published. The Editor’s 
judgment must be considered final. The communi¬ 
cations for each week should be posted not later 
than Monday night. 
The prize last week was awarded to Mr. A. Man- 
son, Moreton Hall, Lancashire, for his article on 
"Growing Strawberries in Barrels," p. 134. 
Questions add Ansroens 
Will our friends who send us news apers be so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged by their so doing. 
[I Correspondents, please note that we cannot undertake to 
name florists' flowers such as Carnations, Pelargoniums, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, nor such as are mere garden 
varieties, differing only in the colour of the flower. 
Florists' flowers, as a rule, can only be named by those who 
grow collections of them.] 
Succulent Plant Supposed to be an Annual.— 
James Thurstan : You are right in supposing the 
plant to be an annual; and tbe fact of its flowering 
this year although only sowh in the open border in 
April last would suggest this. A few plants do, how¬ 
ever, flower the first year from seed although they 
are not truly annuals The specimens you sent 
were Cerinthe retorta, a native of Greece, and by no 
means common in this country. You did not state 
whether your friend had the seeds sent him from 
abroad or only from some other source in this 
country. That would have been interesting to us as 
showing how plants get brought to this country. 
The species belongs to ihe same natural order as the 
Forget-me-Not and the Borage. If you desire to 
have it again next year you must collect seeds as 
they ripen. 
Red Spider on Yiolets, — Omega : There was 
evidence on the leaves you sent that red spider had 
been at work upon the plants at ODe time or another, 
by the eggs and dead ones upon the leaves. If there 
were live ones upon the leaves when you sent them 
they must either have died or crawled away else¬ 
where when they found the leaves drying up. We 
presume the Violets had been growing in the open 
ground before you put them in the pit, and, if so, 
they had got established upon the plants during the 
dry weather. Ycur best plan would have been to 
have given them a good syringing with soft soap and 
water in strong solution, or with Gishurst Com¬ 
pound, before you put them in the pit, as you would 
have got at them more easily then. They lodge 
chiefly on the under side of the leaves, which should 
be thoroughly wetted with the insecticides named. 
You might give them a good syringing where they 
are. A boy could turn up the under side of the 
leaves while another syringes the plants thoroughly. 
Do this in the morning, so that the moisture will be 
dried up before nightfall. If the pit is not heated 
by hotwaier pipes the moisture from the soil, which 
should be kept fairly damp, will prevent the spread 
of the red spider. 
Bait and Traps for Ground Mice.— Omega : The 
perpetual mouse trap baited with cheese should catch 
numbers of the field mice, but they are wary crea¬ 
tures and often fight shy of traps after a time. A 
plan that has been found very successful with this 
kind of vermin is to get some old zinc pails or 
similar vessels. Dig holes in the ground so that the 
rim of the pails will be on a level with the soil or 
slightly under it. Put 4 in. to 6 in. of water in the 
pails aod grease the edges. These vessels should 
be sunk in places and runs frequented by the vermin, 
and when rambling about at night they fall iDto the 
vessels in great numbers, if plentiful, and are unable 
to get out again. Someiimes deep holes are dug in 
the ground, wider at the bottom than at the top, so 
that when field mice or voles fall into them they 
can readily be destroyed before they can make their 
escape. Of course this is more suitable for woods 
and forests than for gardens. The sunk pails would 
answer your purpose better. You might also en¬ 
courage owls about the place if there is any shelter 
for them. 
Colours of Lilium dalhansoni.— C. T. : The 
reason why ihe flowers of this Lily vary so much in 
colour and form is because it consists ot seedlings 
that have been raised by hybridising L. Martagon 
dalmaticum and L. Hansoni. The small dark 
flowers take after the former, and the large and more 
or less yellow ones take after L. Hansoni. The 
name is formed from dalmaticum by adding Hansoni 
to dal. 
Phlox Drummondii to Flower Early.— B. Davis.: 
The safer plan with this plant and its varieties is to 
sow seeds in February in heat. As soon as the seed¬ 
lings are up keep them close to the glass to prevent 
them getting drawn. At the same time you must 
gradually inure them to a lower temperature. When 
the first rough leaf has been made transfer tbe seed¬ 
lings to boxes about 2 in. apart each way, and stand 
the boxes in a pit or frame just sufficiently heated to 
keep frost out. Air must be freely given on all 
favourable occasions to keep the plants dwarf and 
sturdy. Full exposure to light and freedom from 
crowding will also encourage a bushy, branching 
habit. Harden them off and transfer them to the 
open ground in April, if the weather is favourable. 
Names of Plants .—A. J.B. : 1, Comus sanguinea; 
2, Clematis Vitalba; 3, Lycium barbarum.— T. M. : 
1, Chrysanthemum segetum; 2, Chrysanthemum 
frutescens var.; 3, Chrysanthemum uliginosum ; 4, 
Helianthus argyrophyllus ; 5, Physalis Alkekengi; 6, 
Erodium Manescavii— J. Thurstan : Cerinthe retorta. 
— R.M.: 1, Aster versicolor ; 2, Aster turbinellus.— 
H. J .; 1, Salvia patens; 2, Salvia azurea grandi- 
flora; 3. Liquidambar styraciflua ; 4, Salvia acu¬ 
minata Bethelll.— D. C. : 1, Fuchsia procumbens; 
2, Aponogeton distachyon ; 3, Polygonum cuspida- 
tum; 4, Cotoneaster congesta; 5, Symphoricarpus 
racemosus; 6, Berberis Wallichi.— Western: 1, 
Escallonia macrantha; 2, Euonymus latifolius albus; 
3, Leycesteria formosa; 4, Ligustrum vulgare.^. 
