1 7 2 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
IMarch 7, jgo8. 
more inclined to die out in winter because 
they retain the character of the wild original 
in being annual. All good strains of Pan¬ 
sies should have circular flowers, but, of 
course, a very large number of so-called 
Violas have now circular flowers. 
2 6 83. Sweet Peas. 
What varieties of Sweet Peas are slow at 
germinating? What colours of Sweet Peas 
burn in the sun? (Reader, Lancs.) 
We have grown a large number of Sweet 
Peas, but have not noticed that any of them 
were slow in germinating, provided the seed 
was good. Sometimes the seed gets injured 
during the period it is ripening by the crack¬ 
ing of the skin when such seeds may not 
germinate at all. The skin seems to be neces¬ 
sary for the protection of the embryo and 
to keep the latter safe in cold, damp soil 
until after germination has taken place. 
This, of course, would be merely accidental. 
In the case of colours those that are most 
liable to burn in our experience are salmon, 
orange and scarlet. Any of the colours may, 
however, burn under bright sunshine in dry 
weather, but there are certain varieties which 
are peculiarly liable to burn, and they occur 
in the colours above named. 
2664. Perennial Sweet Peas. 
Must I treat perennial Sweet Pea seeds 
like annual Sweet Peas? (Reader, Lancs.) 
There are really no perennial Sweet Peas, 
as the last name is more correctly given to 
Lathyrus odoratus, which is strictly an an¬ 
nual, although you may grow it over part 
of two years by sowing in the autumn. Pro¬ 
bably you refer to Everlasting Peas, of which 
the most common is Lathyrus Qatifolius. This 
is strictly a perennial, and you' can either 
sow it in position at once or sow the seeds 
in a box and let them grow in that for a 
twelvemonth. Keep them in a cold frame 
and plant them out in March when the 
weather is fine or early in April. If you 
have given them plenty of room during the 
first year they should bloom the second and 
succeeding years. You could, of course, sow 
the seed at first in pots and. then transplant 
them into boxes about 3 in. apart, and that 
will enable them to flower during the second 
year. 
2665. Annuals for Borders. 
Will you please advise me as regards the 
two borders marked on the accompanying 
plan “ X.” The soil is clay. I want an¬ 
nuals that would thrive both on this and 
the border facing north-west. The latter is 
at present clear with the exception of a tree 
in each corner. These do not shade the 
border to any extent. The morning sun just 
touches* the north-east border at the part 
where the Roses are now, and the afternoon 
sun finishes at the “ X ” on the north-west 
border. (Northernia. Middlesex.) 
The north-west border is not a very suit¬ 
able one for annuals. It should be a cool 
border and capable, therefore, of growing 
various perennial plants. For instance, we 
should grow such as Pansies, Violas, Prim¬ 
roses, Polyanthuses, Christmas Roses, etc. 
The north-east border where you have got 
Roses is not very suitable for annuals. You 
can, however, grow very good Mimulus on 
such a border, treating it as an annual. 
You could get a good strain of spotted and 
other Miimulus if you liked that class of 
flower. We would, however, recommend 
perennials for preference, planting such 
things as Aquilegias Doronicums, Cam¬ 
panulas, Saxifragas, Woodruff, Solomon’s 
Seal, Hesperis matronalis, or Dame’s Violet 
in single and double forms, Primroses, Poly¬ 
anthuses, and such bulbs as Daffodils, Snow¬ 
drops, Crocuses,-Scillas and others. From 
what we can see of it you do not get very 
much sunshine on that border, so that the 
perennials would be preferable to annuals. 
Turning now to the south-west aspect border 
we should advise you to transplant your 
Roses on to that side as they will get much 
more sunshine from the south and west. See 
under Roses for directions about these. An¬ 
nuals would succeed in this border, and we 
should recommend Ten-week Stocks, China 
Asters, Annual Chrysanthemums, double 
Larkspurs, Lavatera trimestris, Sweet Peas, 
Candy-tuft, Blue Cornflowers, Sweet Sultan, 
Clarkia pulchella, Coreopsis tinctoria, C. t. 
nana, Godetias, dwarf Nasturtiums, Shirley 
Pop-pies and Scabiosa atrog urp-urea. We 
have given a sufficient number, so that you 
may -select the annuals. It is not necessary 
to get so many packets of seeds, but dit se¬ 
cures you plenty of variety if you can use 
just a pinch, of seed, so as to give you plenty 
of room for getting in a number of kinds. 
ROSES. 
2666. Positions for Roses. 
In the’border facing north-east on the ac¬ 
companying plan I have a Caroline Testout, 
Maiden’s Blush, Capt. Christy and Frau 
Karl Druschki. The latter does not flower 
well here. Can you -recommend any alter¬ 
ations as -regards positions of these, and 
give me names of free-flowering Roses. 
(Northernia, Middlesex.) 
The Roses you have would do better on 
the border facing the south-west aspect, that 
is, on the opposite side of the garden from 
where they are at present. Frau Karl 
Druschki is a very strong-growing Rose and 
requires time to get established. In all pro¬ 
bability, however, it will, do better on -the 
other border. Roses, in all cases, delight in 
plenty of sunshine. Free-flowering varie¬ 
ties we would recommend for that south-west 
aspect border are La France, Mrs. John 
Laing, Mme. Abel Chatenay, Liberty, Rich¬ 
mond and White Maman Codhet. These may 
be sufficient, together with what you already 
have for filling that border with the south¬ 
west aspect, as we think they will do better 
in that situation than in any other part of 
your garden. You will -note that under 
Flower Garden we have allso named annuals 
that would succeed in -that border. 
2667. Marechal Niel Roses in Pots. 
I bought two Marechal Niel Roses in pots 
with canes about 14 ft. long, good strong 
ones. I planted them in my greenhouse 
(20 ft. by g ft.) last week (roots inside.) I 
dug holes about 2 ft. square and 2 ft. to 3 ft 
deep. I put some rotten manure at the 
bottom and a good layer of turfy mould on 
the top of it, and then planted. How should 
I prune them and when ? Should I wash the 
canes with a solution of sulphur and water 
before I get much foliage? They are clean 
now. (J. P. Whalebone, Kent.) 
Yo-u can prune your Roses at present, but 
as they were established -in pots very little 
pruning will be necessary. . They should 
not be cut down at planting time like Roses 
which have been dug from the ground. 
Merely take off the tips of those stems that 
are 14 ft. long, cutting away just the thin 
and poo-rly-ripened wood. This should be 
done at once and should have -been done 
when you planted them. You must not out 
back Marechal Niel or other climbers, as 
you would Hybrid Perpetuals in the open 
ground. You can wash the canes with sul¬ 
phur and water if you feel so inclined, but 
if they are clean at present it will not make 
any material difference. The principal point 
from now onward will be the regular and 
proper ventilation of the house, so that the 
Roses will make steady firm growth and not 
get injured or Infested with green fly. You 
should avoid causing a draught in the house 
at any time, otherwise the leaves may get 
attacked by mildew. All this, of course, is 
merely good cultural points that you have to 
attend to. If mildew were making its ap¬ 
pearance the affected leaves should be dustei 
with sulphur immediately, and if you lighth 
sy-ringe the foliage before damping it wil 
make the sulphur hang on better. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
2688. Seeds of the Purple Beech. 
I have some seeds of the Purple Beech am 
would like to know when is -the best time t< 
sow them. Will they come true to tb 
variety, or wi-ll they be likely to come greei 
like the common Beech? Any informatio: 
will be much appreciated. Will a col< 
frame be sufficient to rear them for the firs 
year or will I have to put them in a warx 
house? (L. G. Law, Lancs.) 
Seeds of the Beech should either have bee: 
sown in the autumn or else kept in mois 
sand till spring. The best plan really i 
to sow them out of doors if there is n 
danger of mice or other animals, but w 
presume you only have a few of them. Yo 
could, therefore, sow them in a seed pa 
or a box and stand this in a cold frame 
No heat at all will be necessary beyond wha 
they get naturally from the sun. If the 
fai-1 to germinate it means that there wa 
nothing in the seeds or they have been kille 
by being allowed to get dry. If you hav 
any next autumn sow them in boxes an 
place the boxes in a cold frame. It 
scarcely likely that they will come true t 
the purple Beech. Some of them may 1 
purple, others like the copper Beech, an 
others merely green. The best ones can, c 
course, be marked in the summer time an 
labelled if necessary. If you have them i 
boxes they could grow for one season i 
them, planting them out in the spring < 
the following year. 
2669. Dwarf Evergreen Shrubs. 
Please oblige by naming half a doze 
dwarf-growing evergreen shrubs suitable f< 
a border where I do not wish them to gro 
taller than 2 ft. or 2^ ft. high. (A. Fe: 
guson, Fifeshire.) 
Perfectly hardy and dwarf evergrei 
flowering shrubs are Pie-ris floribunda (90m 
times named Andromeda), Kalmia angusi 
foli-a rubra and Rhododendron hi-rsutum. 
little Jess hardy, but still sufficient to wit. 
stand most wm-ters in your district, a 
Olearia Haastii, Veronica Traversii ar 
Golden Privet (Ligustrum ovalifoliu 
foliis aureis.) 
VEGETABLES. 
2670. Parsnips and Shade. 
I have a piece of land which I shou 
like to sow with Parsnip seed next mont 
but it is overshadowed by the house, 
gets no sun till mid-day. Do you think 
should meet with success? (Collier Be 
Cannock, Staffs.) 
We have no doubt you would meet with 
certain degree of success, provided you ta 
care to till the ground well and place sci 
manure weill down into the bottom of t 
trench. If you desire very long roots t 
ground should be trenched 3 ft. deep. J 
your case, however, 2 ft. would probabj 
prove ample. We presume that the Pi 
snips would be fairly open to the wind, 
well as to sunshine," as they do best wh 
not too much confined. If the sun shines 
your garden from mid-day till sunset the 
is no reason why you should not get ve’ 
good Parsnips indeed. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
2671. Complete Book on Gardening. 
Do you publish a complete book upon -• 
tistic gardening, such as how to lay < l 
carpet beds, water gardens. Japanese g- 
dens, etc.? (H. S. Bayley, Worcestershu) 
We. do not publish a complete book 1 
