March 14, 1908. 
189 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
better, because you can leave them there un¬ 
til you want to place them under warmer 
conditions in the house. The pots should, 
of course, be plunged in cocoanut fibre, and 
have a covering of that over the top of them. 
As soon as roots are formed the flower stem 
will then begin and push up into this fibre. 
If the flower stems are r in. to 15 in. above 
the soil in the pot that will give them the 
advantage of the leaves, and they will al¬ 
ways keep ahead provided you stand the 
pots where they will get plenty of light 
close to the glass of a window or a green¬ 
house. If you have not the convenience of 
a cold frame and must grow the Hyacinths 
indoors from the first then you could place a 
bowl over the top of the larger pots contain¬ 
ing several bulbs, or you can place a cup 
over the crown of the bulbs where there is 
only one in each pot. This keeps them in 
darkness, and while the flower stems will 
push up, the leaves do not make so much 
headway. We have seen instances of what 
you. name, but in most cases it was due to 
the weak light at the time the bulbs were 
making their growth, and they had not been 
plunged in cocoanut fibre to keep them dark 
in their early stages. The room may also 
have been rather warm, thus causing the 
leaves to go ahead much faster than the 
flower stems, but even in such a case if the 
plants had been stood against the window, 
we think there would have been no difficulty. 
2677. Palm Injured. 
Could you, or any of your staff, tell me 
what is the cause of the spots on the Palm 
leaves. It has only been in my possession 
for about six weeks. I shall be glad to know 
the disease and how to treat the Palm. (G. 
Cropwell.) 
We have examined your Palm, but fail to 
find any resemblance to any of the Palm 
diseases met with in this country. We are 
inclined to think that you have had it out of 
some warm house, and that when placed in 
your room it has been exposed to too low 
a temperature and the leaves have got 
frosted. This might have happened be¬ 
tween the time it left the grower and your 
house. The tissues about the middle of the 
leaves have got frosted and killed, then the 
tips of the leaves dried through lack of mois¬ 
ture. In examining the fronds we found 
some red spider and scale. You could make 
up a strong solution of soapsuds and wash 
the leaves with a sponge, making sure that 
you get rid of the scale in places. A small 
blunt piece of wcod would serve to move the 
scale without injuring the leaf. Then the 
withered tips of the leaves could be clipped 
off to make the plant look as respectable as 
possible until it makes fresh leaves, which 
it should do during the summer if you have 
it in a sunny window. The two leaves you 
sent us were very badly punished, but pos¬ 
sibly some of the other leaves on the plant 
were still in good condition. 
2678. Azalea Dropping its Leaves. 
I shall be obliged if you can inform me 
of the reason why an Azalea recently pur¬ 
chased by me is dropping all its leaves 
whilst in full bloom and apparently health}'. 
I have it in a sunny window in a room where 
very little gas is used. Can you also inform 
me whether it can be propagated by cuttings, 
and if so, what treatment? (Lawyer, Beds.) 
There are several reasons why your Azalea 
might have behaved in this way. Some 
varieties are liable to lose many of their 
leaves during the winter months. Possibly 
the plant was taken from a warm house with 
a moist atmosphere, on which it was placed 
to bring it into bloom early. Then the sud¬ 
den change from those genial conditions to 
the dry and cool atmosphere of your house 
might have caused the result you name. The 
plant may at some time or other have been 
allowed to get dry at the root for a time, 
and this would cause the dropping of the 
leaves. We presume it is an Indian Azalea, 
and if so the leaves should be evergreen. 
That being so, the soil must never be al¬ 
lowed to become dry. You should see to the 
condition of the soil at once, and have it 
thoroughly moistened by plunging it in a 
pail of tepid water if the soil is too dry 
to absorb the water given it. If any of these 
suggestions put you on the track of the true 
cause of the dropping of the leaves the plant 
will recover itself during the summer, pro¬ 
vided the dryness at the root was not al¬ 
lowed to continue too long. Azaleas, like 
Heaths, must not be neglected in the matter 
of watering, otherwise the very fine roots 
may get killed. Azaleas are propagated by 
cuttings, which may be taken off some time 
in spring and inserted in pots of sand and 
peat-pressed firmly. The pots may be stood 
in a stove or an intermediate house, watered 
with a rose to settle the soil, and then occa¬ 
sionally syringed on the mornings of fine 
days afterwards. If you have no propa¬ 
gating case, it would be necessary to.place 
bell-glasses over the pots of cuttings. It will 
take some time to- root, as growth is very 
slow in Azaleas. 
FERNS. 
2679. increasing Maidenhair Ferns. 
Kindly inform me, if possible, in next 
week’s Gardening World the best way to 
increase Maidenhair Ferns. I have about 
one dozen plants, four are in about 6in. to 
8in. potSj the remainder in smaller pots. I 
have cut down the fronds to about 1 in. of 
the base, and placed them in a box, as re¬ 
commended in your last issue. Should I 
repot now and divide the larger roots ? I 
have no peat, but some good fibrous loam 
and sand. With regard to enquiry re my 
Tomato seed not germinating about a fort¬ 
night ago, I followed your instructions, and 
the seedlings are now about iin. high and 
look healthy. I have made a second sowing, 
as advised by you. (G., Blackpool.) 
You can repot your Maidenhair Ferns 
when they show signs of commencing to 
grow, but it may be done before the fronds 
have made much advance, otherwise you will 
be’liable to break some of them. They can 
be increased by breaking them up into 
pieces of convenient size to go into 60 size 
pots. After the roots have filled these and 
the plants have increased in size you can 
then shift them into 48 size pots, and from 
those into 32’s. Of course, if you do not 
want very small pieces, you could use 48 
size pots to commence with. Feeding is not 
necessary fox the proper cultivation of 
Maidenhair Ferns if you thoroughly under¬ 
stand the watering. In mixing the fibrous 
loam and sand it would be an advantage to 
use a small proportion of burned earth or 
clay, as it serves to give porosity to the soil. 
If your plants have been under fairly warm 
conditions during the winter, they should 
by this time be showing signs of activity. 
Any time during this month will be suitable 
when you see them commencing to grow. 
FLOWER GARDEN . 
2680. Sweet Peas. 
I have some Sweet Peas in pots in a cold 
frame. How much water do they require? 
(G. F. Barton, Essex.) 
It is not a question of giving so many 
pots so many gallons of water within a cer¬ 
tain period of time. The conditions vary so 
much as to make it impossible to say when 
Sweet Peas or any other plants should be 
watered. If you would make a few' careful 
observations with regard to the dry or wet 
condition of the- soil that would be a guide. 
When the soil is wet or suitably damp it is 
very dark brown in colour, almost black you 
might say, but as it becomes dry it becomes 
light brown or grey, and before that has pro¬ 
ceeded too far or too long you should give 
a fresh supply of water, giving sufficient 
to wet the whole ball of soil. In other words 
you could fill the space at the top of the 
pots with water provided always that the 
superfluous water can drain away at the 
bottom of the pots. If the pots were stand¬ 
ing on damp ashes they might not require 
any water for weeks, but if s-tood on bare 
stone or wood the soil would get dry in a 
much shorter period of time, especially if 
the pots are well filled with roots. You 
should study, therefore, just to keep the soil 
properly moist. 
2681. Annuals for Foliage. 
I shall be glad to know what hardy or 
half-hardy annuals I can grow for their 
foliage for cutting to mix with cut flowers, 
such as Sweet Peas, Stocks, Asters, etc. I 
sowed some Gypsophila paniculata last July, 
but I understand that I cannot cut this much 
for another year. I am sowing G. elegans, 
but should like something in addition. 
(B. Y., Sheffield.) 
The Gypsophilas are really flowering 
plants, although you speak of them as being 
suitable for mixing with other subjects to 
lighten their effect. Just how much you can 
cut G. paniculata next summer will depend 
upon the size of the plants, but the tops of 
the stems with the flowers might be cut with¬ 
out injuring the plants to any great extent, 
provided always you do not cut much of the 
foliage. We name a number of hardv an¬ 
nuals that should prove suitable for mixflng 
with flowers on account of their finely 
divided foliage, but the flowers in most cases 
if allowed to develop are sufficiently con¬ 
spicuous to be classed as flowering plants. 
The plants we mean are Nigella damascena, 
N. Miss Jekyll, Adonis aestivalis, Larkspur, 
Gilia tricolor, and G. androsacea. Instead 
of these, however, we think you could have 
much more appropriate plants for foliage by 
growing such perennials as Thalictrum 
adiantifolium, Old Man (Artemisia Abrota- 
num), Balm (Melissa officinalis), Balm of 
Gilead (Cedronella triphylla), Common 
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), Lemon Thyme 
(T. Serpyllum citriodorus), Statice latifolia, 
and S. Limonum. With the exception of the 
first and the two last-named the plants of 
this list are scented. The Statices are 
flowering plants, but their flowers are small 
and almost as gracefully light as those of 
Gypsophila paniculata. The Statices may 
also be dried like everlastings and used like 
the Gypsophila. Some of the Grasses' are 
very elegant and graceful, and are much 
used in mixing with cut flowers for the sake 
of foliage. Some of the best of them are 
Lagurus ovatus, Briza maxima, B. gracilis, 
Agrostis nebulosa, and Eragrostis elegans, 
2682. Double Gypsophila paniculata. 
I saw a fine bushy plant of Gypsopbi’a 
■paniculata, double white, last year. Can 
you say where I could get seeds of it and 
say whether it is difficult to get a stock of 
it, as it is useful for drying to mix with 
flowers in winter. Any information would 
be valued. (G. C, M., Cheshire.) 
The double variety of Gypsophila panicu¬ 
lata does not produce seeds. It has to be 
increased by cuttings, and it is not very 
easy to multiply in this way, except by those 
who understand the habit of it. It has to 
be increased by cuttings taken from the base 
of the plant when starting into growth in 
spring. Possibly also it could be increased 
by taking pieces of the rcot and inserting 
them in sand or very sandy soil. Some of 
the dealers in hardy plants have got it and 
are able to increase it in this way. so that 
if you desire to propagate it you must get 
a plant and then try your skill - * -r-:ra- 
