June 11, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
483 
Hardy Herbaceous Border. 
Aquilegias.— These have been so greatly improved during 
recent yearsi that they now rank among the most beautiful of 
herbaceous plants, and, compared with the older forms, they 
are so vastly superior that these are hardly worth growing. 
Some twenty or thirty years ago many named varieties were 
in cultivation, but for some reason they seemed to lose their 
popularity, and not until they received much attention from 
the hybridist did their value become apparent. The improved, 
lonc-spurred varieties are now highly valued by those who 
appreciate good border plants, embracing as they do a wide 
rano-e of colour, and no flower surpasses them for cutting pur¬ 
poses. We have for some time grown the excellent strain 
offered by Messrs. Yeitch, of Chelsea, and no one could desire 
a better. Aquilegias are of easy culture, succeeding well and 
in almost any well-worked soil in an open position, and pror 
viding they are watered occasionally in dry weather and the 
surface soil is kept loosened, little other attention is necessaiy, 
as the stems are sufficiently strong to support themselves. 
The seed should be sown early in the year, and when the young 
plants are large enough to handle, these should be pricked off 
into boxes of light soil about 3 in. apart each way. When 
thoroughly hardened, the planting-out can be done, allowing 
quite a foot each way between the plants. These will flower 
the first season, and' every other plant can be removed the 
second year if necessaiy. Several of the Aquilegia species are 
also excellent and showy border plants. One of the most con¬ 
spicuous is A. glandulosa, which has large, deep blue flowers 
with a white corolla. A. Stuartii is similar in colour, also A. 
caerulea. A. alpina, with blue and white flowers, and A. pyren- 
aica, blue, are dwarf and suitable for-planting on. the rookery. 
A. califomica is a pretty species, red and yellow in colour, 
while A. aurea and chrysantha are both yellow. A. Skinneri, 
a combination of scarlet, yellow and green, is very distinct. 
Geum Ewenii. — All the Geums, or all the well-known varie¬ 
ties, are valuable border plants and highly appreciated as such, 
but the one under notice does not appear at present to. be so 
well known as it deserves. In general appearance it resembles 
G. Heldredchi, but the flowers are a most intense orange colour, 
and, excepting the scarlets, this is the finest coloured of the 
family. For the rockery or front of the border this will be 
found a very desirable addition. 
Sweet Peas.— The present season has been a very favourable 
one for these, and good results may be expected if timely atten 
tioni is given. During showery weather a good dusting of soot, 
should be given occasionally, which is an excellent stimulant 
and greatly improves the colour of the foliage and floweis. 
The stems, should be kept supported to the sticks, and it neces¬ 
saiy a few more bushy ones added. Mulching in diy wcat iei 
proves of great value to Sweet Peas, as it prevents the ground 
from cracking, thus retaining the moisture. Long stable litter 
is 1 excellent material and should be laid over the boa ei v ien 
the plants are about half way up the sticks. In dry vc.it iei 
copious supplies of water, both clear and liquid manure, ve 
diluted (that from the farmyard and soot being equally good) 
should be applied well around the roots. 
Chrysanthemums. — These are looking very promising this 
season and making strong, healthy growths, which shoul © 
kept tied loosely to the stakes as they need it, and as gi ecu } 
or other insect pests are sure to appear, a dusting of to racco 
powder should be given to the points immediately they aie 
seen, and this syringed off tire following morning. 
Delphiniums.—.' These will need thoroughly supporting with 
good stakes, and a mulching of rotten manure should be giv en 
if not already done, which does much to .improve the spi eS 
both in, size and colour. A- Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Value of the Orchids at the Temple Show.—A ccording to 
a daily contemporary, an expert at the Temple Show valued the 
Orchids at £50,000. The prices of the plants individually 
varied from 10s. 6d. to £2,000, 
Wallflowers; a Retrospect. 
To hundreds 1 of people Wallflowers have an irresistible 
charm; they are amongst the blossoms that are truly old- 
fashioned, and yet never go out of favour, because they are 
possessed of fragrance that is delightfully sweet, and their 
culture is such that all who can give them an open sunny 
situation and a long period of growth may have a brilliant 
show at a minimum cost.—a display that will make a garden 
attractive for weeks in the spring-time; that, add, indeed, a 
brilliance to the beds and borders from March to May that no 
ether blossoms can. But is it not a, fact that with some the 
growing of Wallflowers is not always a satisfactory achieve^ 
meat? I know some establishments where, especially if the 
winter prove a hard one, the plants die off wholesale in spring, 
and I think the reason may be explained in the late sowing 
of seed. In May and June, the best time of all, when seed 
should be got in, other matters press heavily, so much remains 
to be done in the bedding-out arrangements ; there are plants to 
prepare, for the summer beds, so that the sowing of Wallflowers 
is postponed, and often it is July, and even, later, before the 
bed is prepared for the reception of seed. This is undoubtedly 
where one-half of the failures occur, for it is practically early 
autumn before the seedlings are transplanted, whereas the end 
of June should see them pricked out, and thus ere the summer 
has far advanced they have made nice-sized plants. In their 
early -stages, at least, they do not need a soil charged with 
manure ; “ plain living ” is in my opinion more conducive to 
the building up of stout, healthy plants, as. to start with a. soil 
impregnated with manure they are liable to make a superfluity 
of wood at the expense of blossoms, and on this account cai*e 
should he taken not to overdo in this direction. My method 
is to sow seed in well-dug ground from the middle of May toi 
the end of June; prick the seedlings out at the first oppor¬ 
tunity, planting each 6 in. or 7 in. apart, which saves a further 
removal, until they are ready for their final quarters, which 
should take place in October or early in November. The 
shifting the plants to their flowering-places is sometime® left 
until too late, and if their roots are much disturbed and hard 
frosts ensue, then before they can get established they are 
crippled and not a few die off. How to avoid these disasters— 
for they are little short of such where there are many plants 
to get out.—is to sow early and carry out that oft-recommended 
rule, shift them “ with a good ball of soil,” an. operation that 
often means much labour, but which in the long run pays. 
Tlie past season has been one of the best for V allflowers, 
and I, in common with many others, have had an excellent! 
display. Owing very largely, of course, to. the mildness of the 
winter, few failures to record; but. even with a favourable 
winter, showing by their early blooming the advantage of a 
good start and a careful removal of plants into the beds. In 
the old days one met with Harbinger and Blood-red very fre¬ 
quently ; now, ini 'addition, we have the delicate Primrose 
yellow of Faerie Queen, the soft apricot of Eastern Queen, the 
deep' fine blooms of Golden King, the almost blue of Purple 
Queen, the ruby-violet of Ruby Gem, the darker maddei-scailet 
of Vulcan, and others noted for their rich tints, so. that, by 
"■rowing a collection one may have a garden almost as gay in 
April as when summer flowers are in the. full zenith of then 
beauty in July. It is to these old flowers that—for the present 
the season of blooming is over—one. should again revert for a 
time, making all needful preparations for sowing seeds, and 
so have plants of good size before autumn is upon us With 
some things it is possible to make up for lost, time by forcing 
them. With Wallflowers, however, it. is not desirable, loi 
being hardy such a procedure would only prove disastrous, and 
the plants, instead of being robust, would be weak and spindly, 
an easy prey to enemies, and almost sure to go unc ei a. i© 
first spell of hard weather. The solution of the difficulty, 
then is to sow seed in good time; treat the ground sparing v 
with manure at the outset, reserving the enriching it until 
planting them finally in their blooming quarters. One variety 
which I have been well pleased, inasmuch as it bloom® 
practically all winter when the weather is mild, and especially 
ff planted on the south side of a garden under a wall, is 
