May 16, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
335 
rS^D. 
Sr] cfaire C iU)itfjiq 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
Vorld, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, whicji may 
over any branch of gardening. Questions 
hould be as brief as -possible and written on 
ne side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
/ paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans. —Gardeners -who -would make 
he best use of this column are invited to 
repare and forward to us a rough outline 
rawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
he position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
wrrrrrrrrrrrrr * 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
841. Treatment of Wax Flower. 
For some two years I have been growing 
plant of the Wax Flower in the green- 
ouse, but it has not yet flowered, and I do 
at think I have been giving it the right 
eatment. What soil should I use? How 
:ten must I give it water, and what quan- 
ty? (A. Powell, Cheshire.) 
We suspect it is chiefly a matter of sun- 
une to ripen the wood. If the plant is in 
o shady a situation the stems would not 
iquire that firmness of wood which would 
} favourable to freedom of flowering, 
hen, again, it should be kept rather dry 
the roots during the winter months. In 
e summer time while making growth a 
ir amount of water will be advantageous, 
i-t you should never get the soil into a 
dden condition. The best plan is to 
amine the state of the soil as to dryness ; 
hen it is getting brown and readily 
umbles water should be given in sufficient 
lantity to wet the whole of the soil in the 
t in which you are growing it. If the 
ainage is good, so that no superfluous 
rter stands in the pot you cannot go far 
( :ong with the watering during the summer 
)nfhs. In November, however, you should 
adually withhold water and keep the plant 
the dry side till the middle of March 
the^ following year. You may grow the 
int in a compost of three parts of fibrous 
im, one part of leaf soil,, and half part 
sand.. Some people like to grow it in 
ity soil, and in that case if you care to 
that method you could use that instead 
leaf mould. A few lumps of charcoal in 
' soil would also help to keep the soil 
rous in winter. 
4-2. Gladiolus Started in Conserva¬ 
tory. 
- should be much obliged if you could 
< >wer the following question in vour 
, .How soon may I stand out of doors 
, idioli that have started in pots, are now 
8 in - high, and at present in a cold 
( l tservartory ? (Mystery, Soms.) 
r Phrnts have made a fair amount of 
’, could plant them out of doors 
tne first favourable occasion that you can 
the ground sufficiently dry for the opera- 
; „Gladiolus is so nearly hardy that 
ni^ 11 f ^ ave , b f en Panted about the be- 
xntwr P r °b^bly you have not 
anything by keeping them to the present 
ln the conservatory. We presume yon 
started them in the conservatory with the 
object of getting them somewhat advanced 
by means of the warmth afforded. 
2843. Leaf to Name. 
Could you tell me what the enclosed leaf 
is? It is presumably a Tagetes seedling, but 
.looks so like a common Plantain that I won¬ 
dered if it was right. (Mystery, Soms.) 
The specimen you sent us was not like any 
of the more common species of Tagetes in 
cultivation. It is what you presume it to be, 
a leaf of Plantago major in its voung 
state. It is also, of course, disguised by 
■being sown under glass, and is thin and not 
like what it should be in the-open. No 
doubt it has come amongst the soil. Weeds 
of all sorts come up in this way, but you 
can first make yourself acquainted with the 
plant you sowed and which should come up 
in sufficient numbers to show the prevailing 
plant in each pot and which .should pre¬ 
sumably be what you sowed. Then all other 
seedlings that are unlike them would be 
weeds. 
2844. Treatment of Stephanotis. 
Can any of your readers advise me as to 
the. proper treatment of Stephanotis? I have 
it in a span-roofed greenhouse, and it is 
trained along the roof on a strand of wire. 
I also have zonal Pelargoniums in the same 
house. I keep the temperature up to 60 degs. 
through the winter, but the house does not 
get much sun after one o’clock in the day in 
summer. The greenhouse is a little shaded 
with trees and runs from east to west. I 
have had the plant about four years, and it 
has never bloomed. (Constant Reader, 
Middlesex.) 
The temperature you mention is sufficiently 
high for +he SteD.bancf 1 s in winter and pre¬ 
sumably in summer it gets higher still. It 
delights in plenty of heat while making its 
growth, and the atmosphere should also be 
kept in a moist and steamy condition for cer¬ 
tain parts of the. day, as in the case of stove 
plants generally. The foliage should get 
dry in the warmer part of the day by ven¬ 
tilating the house. Unless there is anything 
wrong at the roots we presume that the 
want of sun is the chief ailment. No doubt, 
also, your form of the plant is the common 
one. There is a compact growing varietv 
which flowers in. quite a small state and is 
known as the Elvaston varietv of Stephano¬ 
tis. You do not tell us anything about the 
compost, or whether you use pots or tubs, or 
if it is planted in the border. The Stephano¬ 
tis really does best when planted out in the 
border of a house, but in a space specially 
prepared for it. The method of doing it 
would be to take out 18 in. or 2 ft. of soil, 
making the hole 2 ft. to 3 ft. square. Plenty 
of brickbats should be put in the bottom 
to form drainage, so that the moisture will 
run away from the roots. This hole should 
have a brick wall built round it, and then be 
filled up with a compost consisting of turfy 
loam, a good proportion of silver sand to 
make it porous, as well as a few nodules of 
charcoal about the size of a Gooseberry or 
Mai nut. I his will keep the soil open and 
ensure the superfluous moisture running 
away. If your treatment conforms to this 
fairly nearly, then we presume that sun¬ 
light is the other factor to be taken into con¬ 
sideration, as you state the house to be 
shaded with trees. The afternoon is the 
longer part of the day, and during all that 
time sunshine is insufficient to ripen the 
wood properly, which is soft with a milky 
juice. During October you could en¬ 
courage ripening by withholding water, al¬ 
lowing the soil to get fairly dry, as that 
will conduce to the ripening of the wood. 
M ill you tell me how to grow Cyclamen, 
what soil they require, whether much or 
little water, and whether they should be 
stood near the glass in a greenhouse or in 
the shade? I have two or three plants 
raised from seed, but they seem to be at a 
standstill. Also, after flowering, should 
they be put on one side to rest? (R. S T 
Essex.) 
To get Cyclamen to flower during the win¬ 
ter } r ou should sow the seeds some time in 
autumn, and if jxm cannot command a tem¬ 
perature .of 50 degs. by night in winter it 
would be well to sow at the beginning of 
September, as the plants would be getting 
more advanced by winter than if you sowed 
them in November. Seed pans or pots may 
be employed and filled with a compost con¬ 
sisting of equal proportions of loam and 
leaf mould, with a good dash of sand. Do 
not sow them thickly. Leave an inch of 
space between every two seeds. You can 
then allow the seedlings to grow without dis¬ 
turbance until they have made three or four 
leaves. In the first place put the pans 
where they will get a temperature of 55 degs. 
to 60 degs, to germinate them. After the 
first leaf gets above the soil you can put 
them on a shelf near the glass, where they 
wilLget the benefit of light. Here they may 
stand until they have produced three or four 
leaves, after which they can be potted off 
singly in thumb pots and placed close to¬ 
gether on a shelf or as near the glass as 
possible. Transfer them to frames in May 
and keep them steadily moist, but not sodden 
to encourage steady growth. When roots 
are getting round the sides of the pots, re¬ 
pot them from the thumb pots into small 
6o’s, and this should be the case before you 
put them in the frames in May, provided vou 
have _ sufficient temperature-" to keep them 
growing right through the winter. Presum¬ 
ing that you have been successful with them 
thev should be ready for another shift into 
48 size pots, that is, 5 in. pots, in July. At 
this potting keep the crown of the corms well 
above the soil to prevent the damping of 
the buds when they commence to bloom. 
During the summer vou can encourage them 
to ^ grow and also keep down thrips, red 
spider and other insects by syringing them 
twice a day in bright weather. During the 
summer it is well to keep a close watch upon 
these things, as they are very liable to be 
infested with insects, and if syringing fails 
to keep them in check you should fumigate 
wPh “XL All,” or else use the waslT of 
this same insecticide and dip the plants into 
it. The plants should commence flowering 
m November, and will continue for some 
months provided the temperature of vour 
greenhouse is kept up to degs. to 50 degs. 
