120 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 22, 1908. 
and as soon as it has flowered once, the 
flowering stems may be cut off and it will 
flower again and yet again. 1 he Antir¬ 
rhinum seedlings should have the tops 
pinched out when two or three inches in 
height. 
F. Norfolk. 
-- 
THE CALIFORNIAN 
Bush Poppy. 
Romneya Coulteri. 
The above subject, commonly known 
as the Californian Bush Poppy, is one of 
our most beautiful border plants, and as 
it is of easy culture, perhaps a few words 
about it may be acceptable tq “G.W.” 
readers. 
The plant is a half-hardy perennial, 
but I believe, given a warm situation, it 
would Stand out all the winter, and take 
no harm, especially in the South. In this 
district (Market Harboro’) and farther 
North, it would be wise to winter the 
plant in a cold greenhouse. To obtain 
the best results, seed should be sown in 
spring in light soil, and when the seed¬ 
lings are large enough to handle, pricked 
off into small pots and grown on in a 
cool house. When danger of frost is 
gone, the plants should be put out on a 
warm sheltered border, where they will 
have plenty of sun. They are not par¬ 
ticular as to soil, but will make finer 
specimens if the ground was well manured 
and trenched the previous autumn. Keep 
the plants growing with liberal supplies 
of water during dry weather, and occa¬ 
sionally feeding with Clay’s Fertiliser or 
manure water. A mulch of well-decayed 
manure will be very beneficial, especially 
should the season be a dry one. 
Under good treatment the plants will 
reach a height of six or seven feet. The 
foliage is of a grey, glaucous nature, and 
is deeply cut, and very attractive. The 
flowering shoots are thrown up from the 
base of the plant, each one terminating in 
a branching head of three to five blooms. 
These are like a large single Paeony, and 
the petals are very thin, and beautifully 
fringed. The centre disc is a deep yel¬ 
low, which greatly adds to the effect. 
The best blooms are always obtained 
from the current year’s growth, but if the 
flower heads are cut off when finished, 
the plant pushes out side growths all up 
the stem, which will flower early the next 
season, although not so finely. Another 
way is to cut the flowering shoots right 
down in the winter, after the manner of 
herbaceous plants. Strong growths will 
then push up again from the bottom, and 
flower grandly the next season. This, to 
my mind, is preferable. 
The plant may be easily lifted in the 
late autumn, and should be potted up in 
some good soil, and placed in a cool 
house, and watered very carefully. It 
can then be planted out on the return of 
spring. I have never seen it in large 
masses, but should say this would be the 
best method, especially if on a raised bed 
or sloping bank, so that the flowers could 
be seen all at once. It is a plant quite 
out of the usual run, and should be in 
every garden. The foliage is most orna¬ 
mental, and would attract attention even 
if there were no bloom. 
R. Thatcher. 
An Encomium on Gardening, by Sir Walter 
Besant. 
“ Of all human occupations, gardening 
is by far the most interesting. The gar¬ 
dener not only cultivates the soil, making 
it produce delicious Peaches, Straw¬ 
berries, Plums and Pears, Apples and 
Quinces, Radishes and Cabbages, Roses 
and Lilies, Corn and Barley, but he also 
cultivates many most useful human facul¬ 
ties, such as patience, self-sacrifice, ob¬ 
servation, perseverance, memory, fore¬ 
thought, and many other things. It is 
not without meaning that Adam is said to 
have been a gardener. For my own part 
I have never been able to understand why 
kings and the great ones of the earth, who 
have often become watchmakers, carpen¬ 
ters, cabinetmakers, chemists, poets, and 
painters, have never become gardeners. 
They always have a garden of their own, 
yea, a back garden and a front garden; 
they have every opportunity of self-im¬ 
provement by means of the garden ; yet so 
far as we have got in history, the kings 
and the great ones of the earth have 
neglected that opportunity.” 
From “ The City of Refuge 
- Q. W. - 
Prize Competitions, 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.— Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORtiD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any wayjl any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
- » 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, .eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making <-Le award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
folk wing date of issue.^Entries received later 
thrn Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “W. B. 0.” for the article on 
“Growing Peaches,” page 104. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “ Geo. A. Fisher ” for the 
article on “ How to Plant Horseradish ” : and 
another to “ Isabel Cherry ” for the article 
on “ Wallflowers,” page 106. 
IHerbaceous 
Calceolaria. 
Cultural Notes. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias can be pro¬ 
pagated by division of the plants after 
flowering or by cuttings of the sucker 
growths, but these methods are rarely at¬ 
tempted now. When it is desired to in¬ 
crease any particular variety, the flower 
stems should be cut as soon as the blooms 
fade and the plants grown either in pots 
or planted in a cool, moist, shaded posi¬ 
tion outside, when strong suckers will 
soon be produced. The present method 
of providing gorgeous displays of Calceo¬ 
larias is to treat the plants as biennials, 
that is, raising them from seed one year 
for flowering the next, and then throwing 
the plants aw'ay. 
To grow specimen plants, a start should 
be made the last week in April or the 
first week in May. Sowing the seed is a 
very important matter, and should be 
done with great care, as the seed is very 
minute. In the first place mix together 
equal portions of good fibrous loam and 
leaf mould and add plenty of coarse sand, 
passing the whole through a quarter-inch 
mesh sieve. Next half fill a six-inch pot 
or pan with clean crocks, placing over 
these some moss or rougher material, then 
filling up with the. fine soil and pressing 
all down firmly and making a perfectly . 
level surface. It is by far the best plan 
to water before sowing, as the seed being 
so small is soon disturbed, and if boiling 
water is used, all insect life which might 
disturb the soil is thus destroyed. Stand 
the pots or pans aside for an hour or so 
to become cool, after which sow the seed 
thinly and evenly over the surface, plac¬ 
ing a square of glass over the pots or 
pans so as to induce the seed to germinate 
more readily. They should then be stood 
in a shady, moist place on ash pots which 
have been previously dusted with lime 
or soot to keep slugs at bay, which are 
very fond of the young seedlings, and 
would soon play havoc amongst them. 
As soon as the seedlings are large 
enough to handle, prick them out into 
other pans or boxes, using a compost of 
two parts fibrous loam, one part leaf 
mould, and a small proportion of decayed 
cow manure, charcoal, and sand. Give 
a gentle watering and return them to 
a cold frame near the glass. When the 
plants nearly touch each other, place 
them singly into three-inch pots-, using a 
compost slightly rougher than before, and 
return them to the same quarters, admit¬ 
ting air freely night and day, to promote 
a sturdy growth. When the roots reach 
the sides of the pots, they should be potted 
on at once; neglecting to do this at the 
proper time before the roots become firmly 
matted is the cause of many failures. By 
the middle of August they will be ready 
for 5-j and 6 inch pots, using a compost 
as before, but slightly rougher for larger 
pots. Keep them still in cold frames with 
a free circulation of air, and spray during 
bright weather. When again the"se plants 
require potting, pot them into a size 
larger, which should carry them through 
