May 9, 1908. 
THE QARDEH1NQ WORLD 
3 21 
September, after which the plants should be 
taken indoors again. Putting them out of 
doors .in this -way enables the plants to ripen 
their wood and plump up their flower buds. 
After the completion of growth in this way 
you can tell whether they are likely to flower 
during the following winter or spring. In 
fine weather frequent syringing will do 
much to keep the foliage clean and keep 
down insect pests, such as red spider and 
thrips. 
2829. Re-potting Zonal Pelargoniums. 
I have rooted some cuttings of zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums singly in small ipots. Kindly say 
when they require re-potting and a suitable 
compost to use. (W. J. S., Essex.) 
You can always tell when Pelargoniums 
require re-potting by turning one out of the 
pot to see what roots it has made. If these 
are getting well round the soil just inside 
the pot, it will be safe to give it a shift into 
a larger size if the plants are making 
growth. There is another operation, how¬ 
ever, that must be attended to. If you in¬ 
tend to flower the plants in pots, then it 
would be advantageous to get them into a 
bushy condition by pinching them before 
they get in any way .leggy. By merely tak¬ 
ing out the growing tip you can get a number 
of sheets from the leaves below it, and when 
these shoots have attained a length of 2 in. 
or 3 in. you can again take out the tips, by 
which time the plants should have a good 
bushy foundation. This pinching can often 
be done before it ris time for re-potting, and 
if you pinch before potting, leave the plants 
until the buds are just commencing to” push 
out afresh. You can then re-pot, and they 
will grow away without check. Pelargoniums 
like a fairly substantial soil, and the greater 
part of it should, therefore, consist of good 
fibrous loam, using about three-parts of this 
to one part of leaf soil and well-rotted cow 
dung. The leaves may be used roughly, but 
manure should always be rubbed through a 
sieve, so as to properly distribute it through 
the compost. A good dash of sand is always 
necessary to keep the compost open. Avoid 
using very fine sand—that is, sand that feels 
soft to the fingers, as that usually consists of 
too small grains, very often with a percent¬ 
age of clay in it. Pot firmly, as this is con¬ 
ducive to short-jointed and stubby growth. 
It is .needless to say that Pelargoniums must 
be exposed to all the light and air possible 
during the summer time, to keep them of 
dwarf and stocky habit. Indeed, you can 
stand them out of doors on a bed of ashes 
during the summer time to advantage, un¬ 
less you actually want them for flowering 
in the windows. 
WINDOW PLANTS. 
2830. Retinospora in Pots. 
I intend to get some plants of Retino- 
sporas, which I am told are Conifers, and 
want to grow them in pots to stand on the 
window- sills, etc. What comoost am I to 
use, and do you think thev will be difficult 
to keep in good condition ? (T. R., Somer¬ 
set.) 
T.he Retinosporas are not difficult to culti¬ 
vate in pots if you sive them proper atten¬ 
tion in the matter of space and exposure to 
light and air. As they are evergreen plants, 
they must not be stood so close together as 
to shade anv Dart, otherwise thev will grow 
only on the sides that are properly exposed. 
Jn window sills, therefore, vou cannot use 
manv oT them if they are of any size, and 
uring the course of the summer, while mak¬ 
ing the if growth,, you should turn- them 
round about once a week or a fortnight, to 
encourage an equal development of the shoots 
Dn all sides. Under ordinary conditions 
only one side of the plants would be pro¬ 
per y exposed to light, the other three sides 
ein,g shaded by neighbouring plants and by 
the window behind. Their -behaviour in this 
respect is not 'different from that of Pelar¬ 
goniums in a window, which also grow one¬ 
sided by being left too long in that position. 
As the Retinosporas make their growth in 
the early part of the season they would only 
require turning round during May, June, 
and possibly a part of July. When growth 
is completed they will retain their condition 
throughout tthe remaining portion of the 
year. Conifers do not require rich soils and, 
indeed, should have -no manure at all ex¬ 
cept, perhaps, about half part of leaf mould 
to four parts of fibrous or yellow loam, with 
sufficient sand to make the soil porous. In¬ 
deed, good loam and sand would answer the 
purpose for Conifers admirably. Pot rather 
firmly and attend to watering regularly. A 
windowsill is rather a dry situation, as the 
stones are liable to get hot when the sun is 
shinin-g. Frequent watering will, therefore, 
be -necessary, and during June, July and 
August watering will he necessary every 
day. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
2831. Evergreen Edging. 
I would like some edging of hardy plants 
to the garden 'borders, and would like them 
to be evergreen. Please let me know what 
would succeed and answer for this purpose. 
(R. C., Somerset.) 
There iare several plants with evergreen 
foliage that would answer the purpose of an 
edging, provided care is taken not to knock 
up against them with the feet while using 
the walks. There is nothing neater than 
Box, especially the dwarf Buxus semper- 
virens suffrutioosa. There are, however, 
plants which grow more freely than Box and 
are just as easy to manage, though they re¬ 
quire lifting and relaying more often. For 
this trouble, however, you can get rewarded 
with the flowers they produce, and during 
their season it is a great change from the 
simple, bare edge. For instance, there is the 
double white- Pink, Mrs. Sinkins, also the 
Thrift with pink flowers, and Saxifraga um- 
brosa or London Pride, and S. Geum, both 
with white spotted flowers which are very 
handsome during the month of June. Any 
of these will answer the purpose admirably 
and are evergreen. The sea-green colour of 
the leaves of the Pink are pleasing and dis¬ 
tinctive at every period of the year. 
283 2. Plants for Garden Borders. 
Many thanks for answer to my last ques¬ 
tion re substitute for Ferns. I herewith for¬ 
ward jou rough sketch of warden, also.iohoto 
of house and herders, which I hope will give 
you an -idea of hew it is laid out. I have 
had all the borders dug up and manured, 
and should like advice re the best method 
of filling them through the medium of your 
“ Enquire Within,” which I consider a great 
boon to amateurs. I have the usual bedding 
stuff, such as, Lobelia Crystal Palace, 
Alvssum procumbens, Asters, Ten-week and 
Brompton Stocks. Petunias, Japanese Pinks, 
white garden Pinks, -border Carnations, 
Pentstemcins, Calceolarias. Geraniums, Be¬ 
gonias, Echeverias, Aquilegias, Gladiolus, 
Nasturtium mains, earlv-flowering Chrysan¬ 
themums, Dahlias, Sweet Peas, and Lilium 
auratum in pots, also clumps of Iris and 
Madonna Lilies at the hack of border No. r. 
At present there are Due van Thol Tnlios, 
Spanish Irises and Crocuses in borders Nos. 
3 and 4, which I shall take up later. Last 
vear I had Begonias in these same borders, 
but they do not do very well, as it is rather 
dry in summer. I should like a new position 
for them. Can vou suggest a place in bor¬ 
ders Nos. 1 or 2? I expect I am somewhat 
behind m the matter of F=<d, J in r T, but your 
suggestions would be highly esteemed. 
(Burgh Parva. Norfolk.) 
We should have thought that borders Nos. 
3 and 4 would have been very suitable for 
tuberous Begonias if they had been trenched 
and manured some time previous to planting. 
The trenching is a great help to dry soils. 
Begonias are shallow rooting subjects and 
enjoy large quantities c,f water during July 
and August especially, but at any time in 
dry weather. The Aquilegias you mention 
could be put along witn the irises and Lilies 
at the back of border No. 1, or a better plan 
would be to put them in a clump extending 
right across the 'border so as to keep them by 
themselves. The Begonias could then 
occupy a portion of that same border which 
faces the south-west and should prove very 
suitable if you give them water during dry 
times, or if you take the trouble to mulch 
them with cocoanut fibre to retain the mois¬ 
ture. They could he spread out as far as 
they will go in that border, and if in the 
middle of it so much the better. They could 
then' have an edging of Lobelia Crystal 
Palace. The two ends of this border might 
be planted with four lines of flowers, mak¬ 
ing what is termed a ribbon border. About 
g in. from the fence you could plant a line 
of early-flowering Chrysanthemums, then 
12 in. from that a line of Pentstemons, 9 in. 
further from that a line of Calceolarias, and 
then 6 in. from the edge put in a line of 
Alyssum or the white garden Pink, which 
makes a fine edging and usually stands two 
or three years before it requires lifting and 
relaying. While one end of the 'border might 
be planted as stated, the other could be 
planted with early-flowering Chrysanthe¬ 
mums ait the back, followed by Petunias, 
Asters and Alyssum. This will give you a 
little variety. If you have anything planted 
against that fence you would have to leave 
out the back line of plants. Border No. 2 
might -be filled on an entirely different plan, 
namely, by making a mixed border of it, be¬ 
cause you can plant a large number of dif¬ 
ferent kinds of- subjects whether you have 
only h-alf a dozen or fifty of .them. The 
clumps should be of irregular size and shape 
for the -sake of variety and entirely cover 
the ground when fully developed. For in¬ 
stance, along the centre of it and between 
those standard Roses you could plant Dah¬ 
lias and Sweet Peas at intervals of 5 ft. 
Then on the side next to the grass you co-uld 
have irregular clumps of Ten-week and 
Brompton Stocks, Petunias, Pentstemons, 
Asters, Lilium auratum, etc. On the other 
side oi the 'border next the Ramblers you- 
could have clumps of the same sorts of 
plants, but do not put the same kinds oppo¬ 
site one another. The Gladioli could be dis¬ 
posed of by planting one here and there 
along that border in places where the foliage 
would get plenty of light, or you could plant 
them in clumps for effect. You will now- 
have two borders arranged on different plans 
and you can then judge which style you 
like best and act accordingly in the follow¬ 
ing sea-son. Borders Nos. 3 and 4 might be 
planted with Pelargoniums, forming a bed 
on either side of that arch formed bv the 
shrub. You could get two lines of Pelar¬ 
goniums in the centre if the plants are not 
too large, leaving room for an edging of 
Lobelia on either side. The far ends of 
borders Nos. 3 and 4 could be filled with 
Japanese Pinks edged with Echeveria. This 
would again give you some variety. Judg¬ 
ing from your plan there is a narrow border 
betweeni’border No. 2 and -the grass-path with 
a few Crimson Ramblers at wide intervals. 
This might be used for a line of Carnations, 
and their sea-green foliage would show up 
well against the grass. Border No. 5 could 
be planted with clumps of Nasturtium majus 
between the Tea Roses. If the place we men¬ 
tion for the border Carnations does not af¬ 
ford sufficient room tfiev might be trans¬ 
ferred to border No. c;, but in that case we 
should have the Nasturtiums placed some¬ 
where else, as they would keep the ground 
