February 22, 1908. 
Address : The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only ; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan-of their gardens, indieating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
2613. Violets. , 
I should like to know if you could tell 
me how to deal with Violets. I got some 
plants three years ago and they have never 
flowered very much, as I think they have 
run too much. They were planted on a bor¬ 
der facing north, and the border is very 
wet and clayey. They were planted and 
got leave to grow as they liked. Should the 
runners have been kept off them ? What 
could I do to restore them to what they 
should be? If I lifted some of the young 
runners and planted them in a box or frame> 
would they come all right next season? I 
would be very pleased if you could supply 
me with the information how they ought to 
be treated? (Violets, Haddingtonshire.) 
In the first place the situation facing the 
north is very much against the plants. Its 
wet and clayey character also tells against 
it, but we have seen Violets do very well in 
heavy soils like that. Apairt from the ab¬ 
sence of sunshine your failure has been due 
chiefly to the let-alone policy which you 
adopted. We should advise you to se¬ 
lect a more sunny situation, if possible, and 
have the soil well dug and manured. Then, 
about the end of May dig up young runners 
only with a trowel and plant them in lines 
15 in. apart and 1 ft. between the plants. 
If they get in any way dry after this opera¬ 
tion you should give them water till they 
get established. During summer hoe the 
ground frequently to keep it well aerated 
and to keep down weeds. Runners should 
also be kept off, except, perhaps, a few se¬ 
lected ones intended for making a planta¬ 
tion next year. Violets really do best if 
young plants are thus reared every year. 
By giving them this treatment and space they 
will make nice bushy plants and produce an 
abundance of flowers as soon as the weather 
becomes sufficiently mild in spring. On the 
north aspect of a wall they would, however, 
be very late, and this might be advantageous 
in getting a late supply of flowers, but you 
will get more of them and earlier if they are 
planted in a warm situation, so that they 
can get the benefit of the sun early in the 
year. We do not see any object in putting 
them in a box or frame unless you want to 
get flowers even earlier than you would out 
of doors. For this puroose the plants should 
be grown as above described and then planted 
in a frame facing the south in September. 
If you can pla’ce 1 ft. or 2 ft. of fermenting 
manure beneath them, so much the better, as 
that will induce them to come on early. 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
ROSES. 
2614. Crimson Rambler in a Pot. 
I have a small Crimson Rambler. I 
bought it in a pot last July and put it, pot 
and all, in the ground. It is trained a little 
way up the wall, and seems to be healthy 
and putting out little buds and shoots. 
Shall I let it alone or dig round and break 
away the pot from it? I like The Garden¬ 
ing World more and more every year. 
(N. E. C*, Kent.) 
Roses received in pots can be planted out 
in the ground practically at any time of the 
year if the weather is suitable. You should 
not have hesitated to turn the plant out of 
the pot because if the soil in the pot was 
sufficiently wet the roots would have felt no 
change nor check whatever. It will restrict 
its growl h if the pot is left until it gets 
some strong roots outside the same. We 
.should advise you to remove the soil with 
a hand fork till you get all round the pot. 
Then break it and leave the plant undis¬ 
turbed. There may be some roots outside it, 
but by using a hand fork you can avoid cut¬ 
ting them. Then make the soil quite firm, 
and if in any way poor, mellow or well- 
rooted manure, not exceeding 2 in. or 3 in. 
in depth, would be a great help, enabling 
the plant to make vigorous growth during the 
following summer. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
2 615. How to Get a Pyracantha. 
Will you kindly inform me how I can get 
a plant of Pyracantha? Is it by cuttings or 
seed, and at what time of the year is it best 
to set it? (N. E. C., Kent.) 
The proper name of the Pyracantha is 
Crataegus Pyracantha or Fiery Thorn. It 
could be propagated by grafting on the 
roots of some other kind or by layering, but 
the best plants would be obtained from seeds. 
As it takes some time to germinate from 
seed, the best plan is to get it from your 
nurseryman. Most nurserymen who grow 
shrubs at all would have this common and 
popular tree, and even if he has not got it 
in stock he could get it for you. It could 
be planted in autumn or spring, but we 
should say that March is as good a month 
as any in which to plant it. Take out a 
hole about a yard square and 2 ft. deep, 
then fill it up with soil, and if of a poor 
nature some fresh material might be added'. 
This will give the plant a good start. 
2616. Stout-Stemmed Lonicera. 
Is there any stout-stemmed Lonicera 
closely allied to the Honeysuckle, or are any 
of the Caprifoliaceae sufficiently allied to 
experiment with for a graft or budding on 
them with a Honeysuckle? (West, Berks.) 
There are various species of Honeysuckle, 
and we do not think that any other plants 
would be more suitable. A number of them 
aie of upright growth not requiring any 
support, and we have selected three. The T 
strongest growing or stoutest-stemmed one 
is Lonicera fragrantissima, which we think 
would be most suitable if you intend to 
make a standard. If the head is a large one 
it will be necessary all the same to use a 
stout stake as soon as the head gets of any » 
size. The stems of Ivonicera are too flexible 
to stand upright without support in the form 
of a standard. The two other upright grow¬ 
ing ones are L. tatarica and L. Xylosteum. 
The last named is the weakest-stemmed 
species of the three. We do not think you 
would have any difficulty in securing either 
of them. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
2617. Chrysanthemums Damaged by 
Frost. 
I grew some Chrysanthemums last year, 
and after they had done flowering I put 
them outside, on the advice of a friend, 
to harden off, and they stood outside for a 
day in the recent hard frost, and what few 
shoots there were were completely frozen up, 
so that they were no good. I have taken them 
inside again and with the exception of one 
or two there .are no more shoots showing, 
and if they do come, will they be in time for 
the November shows, and will it be possible 
to strike cuttings without the aid of a pro¬ 
pagator, as I have only got one, and I want 
that for my seeds? (In Doubt, Essex.) 
It will be a much safer plan to stand 
Chrysanthemums in pots in cold frames in¬ 
stead of placing them out of doors exposed 
to the weather and its uncertainties during 
winter. In pots the roots are exposed to a 
very severe strain, because the pots and the 
roots next to them art the first to get frozen, 
and seeing that the constitution of the plants 
must have been made delicate while under 
glass the result is quite clear. Next year 
after they have done blooming you should 
stand them in a cold frame, which should 
be closed in -the case of frost, although 
it may be tilted up with advantage previous 
to the frost. If there are no shoots upon 
them now, it would be rather late for get 
ting cuttings in March, and unless you get 
them then you could scarcely expect to have 
plants ready in time for the November shows. 
The possibilities are, however, that some of 
the plants are killed. If you could not 
spare them frame room, the next best plan 
would be to turn the plants out of pots and 
to plant'dhem close against a wall, where 
they would be sheltered and rather dry dur¬ 
ing winter. Chrysanthemums can some¬ 
times be kept well under such conditions. In 
order to strike cuttings in March without 
any regular means of supplying heat, we 
should fill a large box with fermenting 
manure, put some soil over the top of this 
and plunge the pots containing the cuttings 
in the soil. The box should, of course, be 
inside a frame. The cuttings will readily 
root under those conditions. 
VEGETABLES. 
2 618. Planting Stachys tuberifera. 
When shall I plant Stachys tuberifera and 
how? What is tfhe time of harvest and will 
the cron consist of tiny tubers as for plant¬ 
ing? (West, Berks.) 
You can make the plantation about the 
middle of March if the weather is mild, 
putting the tubers about 5 in. below the sur¬ 
face. The lines_ should have at least 18 in. 
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