January 10 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
■ '27 
READERS’ COMPETITION. offered, please see page 17. 
Lenten Roses (Helleborus orientails). 
These beautiful winter flowers com© in just as their near 
relatives, the Christmas Hoses, go- out of bloom, and form 
worthy successors to them. There are now numerous hybrids 
in cultivation, ranging in colour from purest white to darkest 
purple, and including many beautifully spotted varieties. 
Under liberal cultivation both floKver, stems,, and leaves attain 
a height of from 12 in. to 15 in., and this fact renders them 
more valuable for decorative purposes than the Christinas 
Rose®, although they do not last quite -so long in a out state. 
If the ends of the flower stems are slit up for an inch or so 
with a sharp knife, it will improve their- keeping qualities. 
The requirements of the Lenten Roses are identical with those 
of the Christmas Rose, growing them in separate beds or 
clumps being preferable to cultivation in the mixed bed or 
border. The ground should be deeply trenched, and well en¬ 
riched with farmyard or other cool manure previous- to plant¬ 
ing. Beyond an annual mulching in the spring with farmyard 
manure, they will require Little attention for many years. Of 
course, they must be kept free of weeds, and get- lib-era! water¬ 
ings during a prolonged drought. The frame® or plant-pro¬ 
tectors that have been used for covering the Christmas Roses 
should in turn be used for covering the Lentens. They will 
go on flowering from January to March, according to the 
season. Mont Blanc and Norma are the two- best whites I 
know; John Bright and W. E. Gladstone are good lilacs; 
Labyrinth and Ne plus Ultra are good purples. 
C. Comfort. 
Flowering Trees and Shrubs. 
There are many beautiful trees and shrubs 'which seem to 
be neglected or quite forgotten by many gardeners when they 
are laying out or improving grounds. I notice, at least, these 
pretty trees are generally conspicuous by their absence. The 
general -idea of picturesque beauty -seems to be a taste for 
planting Co-niferse, or plants of the Pine tribe. No doubt these 
give immediate effect-, but I think the majority of these- ever¬ 
greens are adapted only for the front of the pleasure ground 
scenery. To- plant chiefly Coniferse give-s the grounds a ceme¬ 
tery-tike look, not like a style for the vicinity of mansions or 
villas. It gives a far more natural blending to the landscape, 
besides being not so monotonous when flowering trees are 
dotted amongst the others. The different sorts of Haw-thorns 
(double and .single), the double Cherry, Guelder Rose, the finer 
Laburnums, and all grow well in most soils, and to see 'estab¬ 
lished -tree® of the above in full bloom is a glorious sight. Ho-w 
few shrub® are more beautiful than the Wedge-las, shrubby 
Spiraeas, Philadeiphus or Mock Orange, Deutzias, Rib-e-s of 
sorts, Lilacs, Laurustinus, with its lovely blossoms in winter, 
Tree Paeonias, Primus of sort®, Olearia Haaistli, Andromeda 
flo-ribunda, and several others equally good. These florifero-us 
plants, if arranged with good taste-, will form picturesque and 
permanent features in the pleasure-ground scenery. 
John C. Dick. 
The Gardens, Ohampfl-eurie, Linlithgow. 
Propagation. 
As there are many plants which it will be desirable to- increase 
during-the next-three months, no time should be- lost in making 
the necessary preparations. 
Stock plants of soft-wooded subjects should have an increase 
of temperature to induce a soft-, quick growth. Propagating 
cases must be thoroughly cleansed, replacing the cocoa-nut fibre 
with -a layer of fresh material. If these are not -available a 
series of hand lights may he- arranged in the 'warmest house, 
while, if nothing better is at -hand, the well-made hot-bed is 
not to be despised, but to sustain a temperature of 65deg. to 
70deg. d-t must be of good size, and the material (lo-n-g manure 
and tree leaves) well mixed and turned 1 previous to be-in" 
made up. 
lvee-p a small quantity of the various soils in the ho-u-se w arm 
and ready for use at any time'. Pots that have been w-ashed 
should be well dried; if used iu -a damp state, the soil adheres, 
and much injury occurs to‘the roots when repotting. 
Good drainage is essential. Siftings of fibrous loam, peat, 
and leaf mould -are better than mo-s-s to cover the- crocks, as it 
a-llows the plants to be parted easily. When sand is place-d 
on the to-p of the soil, a small quantity is carried down by -the 
dibber, which should be blunt rather than pointed, -allowing 
the ba-se of the cutting to-rest firmly on the bottom of the hole ; 
then fasten firmly. J. C. 
The New Year. 
With the advent of the New Year, all gardeners, whether pro¬ 
fessional or amateur, will be making preparations for meet¬ 
ing the demand which the coming season ma-y bring forth. 
As regards forcing, hotbeds will have been made before th-is, 
at least for early forcing, a-nd all -subjects intended to- flower 
in the next month or so should b-e introduced into steady heat 
at first, so- that they ma-y afterwards be subjected to stronger 
measures. Such plaiisjs as Lily of the Valley, Spiraea flori- 
b un-da, S. ja-ponic-a-, etc., Lilacs, Dielyt-ras, Deutzias-, Staphyl-eas, 
Azalea mollis, -and other plants may be brought- on gently by 
means of hotbeds, plunging the p-ot® up to- the rims when the 
heat of the bed has sub-sided enough. Keep the frame damp 
by daily syringing overhead, -arid -if there b-e fire-heat-, do -non; 
-allow the temperature to- exceed 60de-g. for a week o-r two-. To-o 
hard forcing at first is most injurious t-o- ail. plants-. Better 
place them in a -little earlier, and bring on -steadily. Seeds 
of Melons -and Cucumbers -s-hould be so-wn no'w -in -a b-otto-m 
be-at of 75deg. or SOd-e-g. in a propagating pit, placing one seed 
in a small sixty-sized pot, using turfy loam, charcoal, and a 
little -leaf soil. Water very sparingly until the plants -are 
rooted well. Tomato s may -also be -sown thinly in well-drained 
pans or pots about once a fortnight to- ke-e-p up a succession. 
Vines, Peaches, and Nectarine® should be cleaned and -ready 
for starting into growth w-hen required. The houses -should 
be thoroughly cleansed and freed from all insect pests. 
Wis-t-ow Gardens, Leicester. . R. Thatcher. 
Zonal Pelargoniums for Winter. 
To make sure of a go-o-d s-upply of bloom during tli-e winter, 
strike the cuttings' now, and give them careful attention 
through the entire period between the time of -striking and 
flowering. The following system produc-e-s- very satisfactory 
results: Sturdy cuttings -are taken early in the year and are 
.struck in -small pots of sandy soil in the early vinery. Only 
one cutting is placed in -a pot, and from the first it is kept near 
the glass, and given plenty o-f -room. As the pots fill with 
ro-pts, the plants are p-otted -o-n, using so-i-l ■consisting mainly of 
sandy loam. Whenever the weather will allow, -air is given 
freely. Six-inch pots are usually the size they flower in; when 
potted into- these the compost consists: of three parts fibrous 
meado'w lo-am to one of leaf so-il and dried cow dung. For open¬ 
ing material use burnt clay. When the weather becomes 
warmer, the- plant® -are put into frames, -and from -these they 
are put outdoors into- the sunniest place possible-. In order to 
induce bushy growth, the main growths are st-o-pped occasion¬ 
ally. As soon as -a flower bud f show®; it is- pinched out. and 
not until late in the autumn are any allowed to develop. When 
the pots are filled with roots, snot, water and liquid sheep dun" 
are given tw-ioe a week. By th-i® treatment the plant® produce 
very hard growth; and when they are allowed.to blo-oni they 
make up for the delay. 
M. E. P. 
-*** The prize last week was awarded to Mr. R. Thatcher 
Wistow Gardens, Leicester, for his article on 
“Cleaning Vines,” p, 279. 
