May 2, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
305 
2808. Primula japonica not Growing. 
About a month ago I sowed some seeds of 
Primula japonica in a greenhouse, but there 
are no 9igns of them coming yet. Do you 
think the seed was bad, or do they take a 
long time to come up? (L. P., Glamorgan.) 
Several of the Primulas itake a long time 
to germinate, and P. japonica is particularly 
troublesome in this respect, if the seeds are 
old. You should always make an endeavour 
to get seeds as soon after they are ripe as 
possible. For instance, the seeds of this 
Primula ripen towards the end of summer, 
and if you gather them then and sow them 
in a box of sandy soil and leaf-mould and 
stand the box in a cold frame they will ger¬ 
minate almost to a seed in the following 
spring. The secret of success, therefore, 
with this Primula is to gather and sow the 
s;eds as soon as they are ripe. Although the 
box has to stand a long time it will not re¬ 
quire much watering in a cold frame, if any 
at all, during the winter. During the re¬ 
mainder of the season, however, you should 
see that the soil is always moist till well 
into autumn after sowing them. You will 
then be rewarded in spring by any number 
of seedlings. 
2809. Planting out Calceolarias. 
How soon would it 'be safe to plant out 
Calceolarias ? I feel sure I have seen them 
planted out before tnis time in former years, 
but the weather has been so cold I have not 
yet started, being afraid they would get 
frosted. Mine are nice bushy plants, as I 
stopped them when advised in The Garden¬ 
ing World. (T. Mallard^ Glos.) 
Calceolarias‘are relatively hardy, but in 
spring they aye more tender than in autumn, 
owing to the fact that the leaves have been 
made under .glass and are not so stout in- 
texture as in autumn. It is just possible that 
the foliage might get injured by frest, but 
the rough winds and the low temperature 
would be sufficient to give them a check and 
prevent their rapid progress for some time. 
You will not lose anything, therefore, if you 
delay the work for a little until the weather 
settles. In the meantime you can harden 
them by keeping them fully exposed during 
the day, either by drawing off the lights or 
standing the 'boxes outside. Select a posi¬ 
tion that would be sheltered from the wind 
yet fully exposed to light and air, and the 
plants will keep on growing. This would 
apply, of course, only to plants in pots or 
plants in boxes. If they are planted out in 
the frame you cannot stand them outside, 
but the sash might well be kept 'open. The 
only other point of importance is whether 
your plants are crowded where the} 7 are, or 
whether they have a little space to grow. 
COLD FRAMES. 
2810. ra sing Edelweiss. 
I have some seeds of the Edelweiss, and 
intend to raise them if possible. Does it 
require any heat ? I have only a cold frame. 
What kind of soil would be best for it? Will 
it bloom this year ? (T. W., Hants.) 
Any light soil such as that used for the 
ra sing of half-hardy annuals would suit the 
Edelweiss in its early stages. This would 
! consrst of loam, leaf-mould and sand, the 
two former being sifted to take out all the 
lumpy portions. If sown thinly the seed- 
! lings may stand in the pots or pans until 
they have formed little tufts x>f leaves or 
until they are sufficiently large for con¬ 
venient handling. You can then prick them 
off into other pots or pans, or pot them up 
singly in thumb p-cts and keep them in the 
cold frame. The latter convenience will 
serve the purpose admirably, as the Edel¬ 
weiss dees not require much heat. When 
potting off the seedlings the soil may be 
rather more lumpy and fibrous than in the 
case of the seed pots. The plants are not 
likely to bloom this year, so that you can 
either keep them in the small pots or have 
pans of them which you can keep in the 
cold frame during winter, if your soil is in 
any way heavy. They could then be planted 
out in spring without breaking the ball of 
soil, and would bloom during the course of 
the summer. If your soil is not too heavy 
you could plant them out some time about 
the middle of summer, planting them rather 
firmly and watering them till they get estab¬ 
lished. They would then have a sufficient 
hold of the soil to stand the winter well. 
2811. Methods of Growing- Auriculas. 
If ycu could give a series of articles on the 
Auricula in your very valuable paper it 
would be much appreciated. (T. H. Hurt, 
Birmingham.) 
In the early days of Auricula culture the 
plants were mostly grown in the open bor¬ 
ders of gardens. Bear’s Ears, or Dusty 
Millers, our forebears called them, and verv 
profuse they were with flowers, their un¬ 
mistakable perfume scenting the garden for 
some distance around. These were, of course, 
tie old unimportant types raised from seeds 
sown very often in the open ground. They 
were afterwards increased by division or 
the removal of offsets, and seemed as hardy 
as any other garden flower. This, of course, 
does not apply to the splendid and refined 
creations of the florist. The plants are still 
as hardy, but the paste or meal on the 
flowers of the show section must not he 
exposed to dashing rain, least of all during 
the flowering season. These require cold 
frames, by which they may be protected 
from the vagaries of our climate. In winter 
also the frame enables the cultivator to keep 
their feet dry and their heads cool, as ex¬ 
pressed by the florist. The alpine section 
net being furnished with meal either on the 
leaves or flowers, may be grown in the open 
border, as well as in pots under the same 
conditions as the show varieties, and for 
exhibition this is the best way to grow them, 
but for garden decoration they require no 
protection and will reward the cultivator 
with a fine display of bright and handsome 
colours. The present is a good time for 
planting them out on rockeries and in suit¬ 
able herders where they will get plenty of 
light without being too much exposed to 
drought and glaring sunshine in summer. 
Those who have surplus offsets, even if 
they are growers for exhibition, can plant 
these offsets out to make growth or perma¬ 
nently for garden decoration. After they 
pass out of bloom the frames should be 
turned round so as to face the north, or 
stood behind a wall or building facing that 
asoect for the remainder of the season. 
Where no such wall is available, the frames 
can be turned round as above directed, and 
if further shelter is necessary or desirable 
it can be furnished by pulling the lights 
only partly off, so that when the head rests 
on the ground the lower portion of the sash 
will rise above the frame in a sloping direc¬ 
tion and thus furnish additional protection 
against sun o.r sudden heavy showers. Under 
these conditions they mav remain till the 
autumn rains make it desirable to close the 
frames at night to keep out the rain. If the 
weather is mild at -the same time it is liable 
to start the plants into a second growth, 
and that is a disadvantage to the plants, as 
they are more' difficult to keep in winter 
and the’crowns are liable to damp owing to 
thair 'being immature. 
FLOWER GARDEN . 
2 812. Plants for a Dry Situation. 
One of my borders at the foot of a wall 
is always very dry in summer, owing, 1 
think, to some trees on the other side of ' f 
Could you recommend anything which would 
flower well? (J. D. M., Hants.) 
The trees may keep off the rain and thus 
interfere with the border, but you might 
manage to improve it by trenching and by 
removing any roots which may happen to 
be i.i it. If the soil is trenched at least 
2 ft. deep and the bottom loosened up, this 
not only allows superfluous water to drain 
away in winter, but it allows the moisture 
at a greater depth to rise by capillary at¬ 
traction in the summer time, when the .plants 
require it. This is not the least important 
advantage of trenching a soil, and explains 
the .reason wlhy plants are more easily kept 
moist in such a soil than in one that is dug 
qu-ite shallowly every year. Nevertheless 
there are some plants that will make a 
satisfactory growth under the conditions you 
name. Annuals that would succeed there are 
Portulaca grandiflora, Mesembryanthemum 
tricolor, dwarf or Tom Thumb Nasturtiums, 
Senecio elsgans and its double varieties, 
Limnanthe; Douglasii and the pot Marigoul 
(Calendula officinalis). Amongst perennial 
plants that would give a satisfactory .return 
on a dry, warm border are Gaillardias, Peri¬ 
winkles, both green and variegated, Hyperi¬ 
cum calyCinum, and quite a number of t>«- 
dums, including S. spectabile, S. rupestre, 
S. reflexum, S. acre, S. spurium splendens 
and various others. The above will, how¬ 
ever, give you a good deal of variety. 
2813. Mountain Lilies. 
I have had some bulbs brought home from 
Table Mountain, Cape Town, and my friend 
told me they call them Mountain Lilies. 
They are about the size of a very large 
Orange. Would you oblige me by telling 
me which would be the best way of growing 
them? I have not got a greenhouse. Please 
also say what kind of soil they would re¬ 
quire. (E. Crowther, Essex.) 
There are various bulbs on Table Moun¬ 
tain to which the name Lily might be given, 
but we suspect it is the Cape Crinum, cor¬ 
rectly named Crinum longifolium. Deep 
and light soil, or at least well drained soil, 
should be selected for them. If it is well 
drained you can always make it sufficiently 
light by adding plenty of sand in the area 
where you plant them. These bulbs prove 
quite hardy in our alimate if planted deeply. 
We-have seen them nearly 3 ft. deep in a bor¬ 
der bv the side of a conservatory, but 18 in. 
would be quite sufficient, so that if the soil 
is trenched 2 ft. deep, mixed with sand and 
the bottom forked up, you should succeed in 
growing the bulbs, if we have rightly 
guessed the one to which this name is given. 
You can also select a sunny and warm place, 
a\oiding cold, wet or undrained soils and 
shady positions. In their native country the 
Cxinums always get an abundance of sun¬ 
shine, and a warm situation would also en¬ 
courage vigorous growth. 
2814. Abnormal Yield of Crocuses. 
In November last I put in the borders of 
my garden about 300 Crocus bulbs, the 
colours being Mammoth Yellow, David 
Rizzio (purple), and Mme. Mina (striped). 
I planted the varieties alternately about 3 in. 
apart in straight rows. About two weeks 
ago -the profusion of yellow blooms induced 
me to count the same, and I was much sur¬ 
prised to find some of the bulbs bearing as 
many as twenty-two blooms ; others had 
twenty blooms. The majority were bearing 
eighteen blooms, and a very few fourteen and 
sixteen, but none less than fourteen. The 
bulbs were not clumped, but all planted 
singlv by myself, and, as I have said, alter¬ 
nately. The ground was turned over at the 
time of planting, but not manured, and the 
only attention the bulbs have received since 
planting them has been to loosen the top of 
the soil around them with a pointed 9tick. 
Has the present been an exceptionally favour¬ 
able season for Crccuses, and am I right in 
assuming this to be an abnormal yield of 
blooms? (Amateur, Forfarshire.) 
