206 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 21, 1908. 
We think your friend is entirely mistaken 
with regard to his observations on Prim¬ 
roses and Polyanthuses. There is no like¬ 
lihood of the plants altering one another in 
any way. A Polyanthus is really a Prim¬ 
rose with the common stalk elongated. Now, 
as a rule, the common stalk of the Primrose 
remains very short, but in a Polyanthus, as 
you know, it attains a length of several 
inches. For some years past a strain has 
been grown in gardens that is practically 
1 a termed'late between these two states, except 
w 1 rh regard to their behaviour. In the early 
spring, while the weather is cold, the first 
or common stalk remains short and the plants 
appear to be Primroses. As the weathei 
gets warmer other trusses have their com¬ 
mon stalks elongated and are then for all 
practical purposes Polyanthuses. Some 
people call these Polyanthus-Primroses. 
This particular strain is raised from seeds, 
and tnere need not be any intercrossing be¬ 
tween them to give rise to this peculiar 
habit. It is the strain rather than any inter¬ 
ference with one another, and the change 
that the weather undergoes, that produces 
the phenomenon. These things cam be found 
out if you take the trouble to examine the 
flower stems of Primroses and Polyanthuses, 
as they exist low down amongst the leaves 
in the former. 
2706. Astilbe japonica. 
1 have some old plants of Spiraea (Astilbe 
japonica) in pots which are just commen¬ 
cing to grow. Will they require dividing? 
If so, when is this to be done and what 
compost shall I use ? The pots are now 
filled with roots. (W. J. S., Essex.) 
We should not divide Astilbe japonica after 
it has just filled the pots with roots, otherwise 
you seriously interfere with growth. If you 
wanted to divide them, this should have 
been done while they were still dormant. 
As you say they are old plants, we presume 
that you flowered them last year. In that 
case we should have planted them out in a 
piece of well-trenched and manured ground 
iu a sunny position and allowed them to 
make good growth for a year at least before 
again blooming them in pots. If you did not 
force them very severely, and treated them 
well after they went out of flower, it is just 
possible they may flower well another time. 
In that case we should advise you to re-pot 
them ipto a size larger pot in a compost 
consisting of two parts fibrous loam, half 
-part each of leaf-soil and cow manure, with 
a dash of sand. Do not break down the ball 
of soil more than is necessary to get rid of 
any loose material, and give them a slight 
shift, with the object of getting some fresh 
soil about them. By that means you may get 
a satisfactory display of flowers in late 
spring. After that you could carefully pull 
the plants to pieces and plant them out of 
doers. It would be better if this could be 
done late in September, rather than in July 
or August, which are usually very dry 
months. Keep them well supplied with 
water while the foliage is green. 
2707. Chionodoxa Seed. 
1 have some seeds of Chionodoxa sarden- 
sis and C. gigantea from last spring. Will 
they be any good now? If so, when is the 
best time to sow them, and what treatment 
shall I give them? (W. J. S., Essex.) 
_ We should have sown the seeds last autumn 
in boxes filled with a compost of two parts 
loam, one part leaf-mould, and half part of 
sand. They would have been advancing 
towards the stagei of germination at an 
earlier period than they can now. You are 
not too late, however. The boxes should be 
stood in a cold frame and kept -rather close 
till the seeds have germinated. If. the 
frames are otherwise unoccupied the lights 
could be left off during the .remaining por¬ 
tion of summer. While the leaves remain 
green keep them moist to encourage growth. 
The bulbs dannot be 'very large in fthe 
autumn, so a good plan would be to keep 
them in the boxes until spring arid. plant 
them out in a somewhat similar compost, 
and they will make more rapid growth under 
these conditions than in boxes. We recom¬ 
mend sowing in boxes, as it would save 
the seeds and seedlings from getting so 
much destroyed by slugs and other vermin- 
during their early stages'. As the plants 
are hardy, they should really .be sown out 
of doors, if you can accommodate them with¬ 
out danger of digging them down, and if 
your garden is fairly clear of slugs. If 
out of doors, some leaves could be laid over 
the surface of the bed for protection in 
autumn. 
2 7 08. Flowers for Front Garden. 
We propose planting the spaces marked 
in the accompanying plan with flowers, and 
would thank you for suggestions as to what 
these should be. (1) Kindly suggest a Rose 
tree at “ A ” ; (2) flowers fox 2 ft. border all 
round; (3) to surround A ” ; (4) climbing 
Roses at “ B,” “ C,” and “D.” (Nature 
Lover, Mod.) 
We are not particularly in love with that 
Laurel hedge on two sides of the garden. 
No doubt it serves its purpose, but you 
should keep it well trimmed in, even during 
summer, if necessary, to prevent the branches 
from encroaching upon the narrow borders. 
This could be done with the knife, so as net 
to cut any of the leaves in half, and the 
pruning will scarcely be noticeable. (1) 
Dorothy Perkins is an admirable Rose to 
plant in the bed marked “A.” (2) For the 
border at the farthest eqd from the house we 
should recommend Violas, as they will give 
a long succession of bloom on that western 
aspect. The border where the wall is on a 
level with the garden is the best for plants 
that like plenty of sunshine. We should 
recommend a line of Pelargonium Paul 
Crampel next the wall, with a line of some 
white variety in front of it, such as Snow¬ 
drop or Mine. Voucher, with an edging of 
blue Lobelia next the grass. On the oppo¬ 
site side of the garden we have two sets 
to recommend, namely, a line of white Mar¬ 
guerites next the hedge, with yellow Calceo¬ 
larias in front of that, and an edging of 
blue Lobelias. The other would be a double 
lire of Antirrhinums, either white and yel¬ 
low or white and crimson, with an edging of 
blue Lobelia. If you care to, you could 
even have a mixture of Antirrhinums for 
filling thaf border, as they are easily grown 
and are very effective in summer. If that 
border is rather dry, which we fear it 
is, the Antirrhinums would do better than 
Calceolarias. Petunias would also do well 
if the border is kept dry by those flowering 
trees. (3) Ten-week Stocks or Pelargoniums 
would be very suitable for planting in the 
bed marked “A” around the Rose. (4) 
Excellent Roses for the wall of the house 
would be Bouquet d’O.r (yellow) ; Long- 
worth Rambler (crimson); and William 
Allen Richardson (apricot-yellow). 
ROSES. 
2709. Pruning' Lady Gay when Planvt- 
rng. 
Last month I planted a Wichuraiana Lady 
Gay. This tree has one good strong main 
stem about 5 ft. long and several others of 
very weak growth of similar length. I 
have not pruned it as yet, but before doing 
s.o I should feel obliged if you would inform 
me to what extent this should be done, and 
when. I planted several other H.T. bushes 
at tihe same time. These I am also leaving 
unpruned for a week or two Am I correct 
■in adopting this course? (Derbei, Derby¬ 
shire.) 
If you are not particularly anxious to get 
a few flowers during the forthcoming sum¬ 
mer, the strong stem should be cut down 
to 2 ft. and the weak ones to 18 in. in length. 
They really get established quicker if they 
are cut down -in that fashion the first year 
after planting. If you are particularly 
anxious to get flowers, the longer stem might 
be left at - 4 ft., though this will not be 
much in favour of a plant that has had its 
roots so recently disturbed. It can either be 
done now or any time betweeaj this and the 
end of March. The H.T. bushes could, with 
safety, be pruned at the end of March. They 
snou-ld, of course, be pruned rather severely 
the first season, but you will still be able to 
secure some flowers -if the varieties are natu¬ 
rally free flowering. Some cultivators 
would not have hesitated to prune all-of 
those Roses when planted. 
2710. Lady Gay and Hiawatha Blind. 
Last year I bought six Roses in pots-for 
forcing, namely, Lady Gay and Hiawatha. 
I kept them outdoors exposed to the weather 
until the end of January, when I brought 
them under glass. I twined them round 
bamboos, thinking, of course, I was going 
to have a fine show. They broke very well, 
but, alas, nearly every shoot is blind. Is 
it owing to the sunless season last year and 
badly ripened wood ? I have them in a tem¬ 
perature of 40 -degs. at night, running up 
on bright days to about 55 degs. I should 
be glad if you can enlighten me as to the 
cause. (Recular Reader of the “ G.W.,” 
Essex.) 
We do not know -the conditions underi 
which yo-ur plants were grown last year. 
They might have been struck late and 1 
brought along rather rapidly to get the 
best results. In the case of Hiawatha par¬ 
ticularly, we should think that the stock 
has been multiplied rather rapidly to be 
quite fair to it. No -doubt last season was 
rather unfavourable to the ripening of the 
wood of Roses, especially those brought on 
under glas-s and having only a short ripen¬ 
ing period in the open. After they have 
flowered, if you think the pots are too small, 
you can give them a slightly larger shift, 
using good loam and making it quite firm. 
These, then, you can treat in the manner 
that will ensure the proper growth and 
ripening of the younrg shoots. Next year 
they should be -in a better condition to bloom 
well. \Ye do not know that -the plants you 
had were unduly hurried, but such things do 
happen, especially where varieties are new 
and have to be increased rapidly. Rose 
plants, however, even in pots, continue to | 
improve year after year. 
FRUIT. 
2711. Pear Shoots Thickened. 
Enclosed please find a couple of shoots- 
taken from a two-year-oild pyramid Pea: 
Doyenne -du Comice, which I obtained fron 
the nurseryman and planted since Christ 
mas. I am at a loss to understand what ha.- 
caused the g-rowth to thicken so at the end- 
of the twigs. The whole of the tree is ex 
actly the same. Is it d-ue to bug ? I shal 
be glad if you can enlighten me on the 
point and -instruct me through the column 
of your paper as to what I can do to remed' 
the same. I should have rejected it as be 
ing unhealthy, but no-t being sufficient^ 
expert iu such matters to express an opir/icu 
definitely, do not care, to do so, as I wa 
not sure but that the growth was induce 
probably by the pruning to establish th- 
tree in pyramid form. (Derbei, Derbyshire. 
We examined the shoots you sent us, am 
fail to see that they are unclean or un 
healthy. . They are fru't spurs which fre 
quently th-icxen, both -in the case of Apple 
and Pears. The specimens you sent hav 
already' borne, fruits, as indicated by tb 
scar of the stalk. The larger buds shoub 
produce flowers- duriag the forthcomini 
