THE GARDENING WORLD. Ma y 2 3, 1908 
the enthusiast will now have .more leisure 
to enjoy tihe results of his past labours. 
There is always work to be done, however, 
and he who has the welfare of his charges 
at heart need never have an idle moment. 
The tying up and arranging of all climbers 
and trailers will require hiis constant atten¬ 
tion. Diliums and many other things will 
need neatly staking, whilst judicious appli¬ 
cations of weak liquid manure will greatly 
benefit any plants that are showing for 'bloom 
and, it is well to remember that “ little and 
often ” is a good motto in this respect. Then, 
again, those plants that are being reserved 
for autumn and winter decoration will need 
pinching back, and any flower buds that ap¬ 
pear must be nipped off. All this, with the 
occasional sowing of various seeds for suc¬ 
cession, and the increasing by divers methods 
of the many greenhouse favourites, will take 
up all the spare time that the average busi¬ 
ness man, who grows flowers for a hobby, 
has at his disposal. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias. 
The gorgeous bladder-! ike blossoms of 
these showy plants now greet the eye as one 
enters the greenhouse, and splendid speci¬ 
mens may be grown and flowered in seven- 
inch pots,^ A suitable compost consisting of 
two parts loam to one part each of finely 
sifted cow manure and leaf mould will grow 
them to perfection. Any that need support 
should now Ibe neatly staked and tied, the 
sticks or canes being hidden as much as 
possible by the foliage. Carefully avoid 
overcrowding the plants, and keep them 
plentifully supplied with water,, with a feed¬ 
ing now and again with Clay’s or some 
other reliable fertiliser. Fumigate thor¬ 
oughly any upon which green fly make an 
appearance, and should the gTower desire to 
save his own seed, he should cross-fertilise 
with a camel-hair brush, selecting, of course, 
the finest blooms for the operation. 
Mustard and Cress. 
Continue to sow seeds of these useful 
things, which are so much appreciated, 
especially during the spuing and summer 
months, for salads or garnishing, and a 
supply may be had by the fortunate posses¬ 
sor of a greenhouse at a few days’ notice. 
The Cress should be started some time in 
advance of the more rapid'ly-growing Mus¬ 
tard if both are required simultaneously, 
and a novel and clean method of raising 
them without the medium of soil or sand is 
by pressing the seed into damp flannel 
stretched across a wooden frame. 'If placed 
in a gentle heat and kept well moistened 
they germinate rapidly treated thus, and 
may be out as required for the table. 
Amongst the Roses. 
Where Roses are grown (and in most ama- 
tur’s greenhouses we find some, if only the 
ubiquitous and beautiful Marechal Niel 
trained under the roof), ’it is essential to 
allow a free current of air around the plants 
during fine weather, as a moist and stagnant 
atmosphere causes the buds to rot and drop 
off before they are fully developed. Keep 
a look-out for insect pests, and give them but 
short shnift when they are discovered. It is 
a good plan when cutting Roses, especially 
Teas and Hybrid Teas, to shorten the stems 
from which the blossom has been removed, 
they will then continue to throw out flower¬ 
ing shoots if carefully attended to and fed 
up. The Hybrid Perpetuals are not so good 
in this respect, as a considerable time must 
elapse ere they will yield a second crop of 
bloom, for, despite their name, they are not 
nearly such constant bloomers as the other 
varieties. 
Cyclamens After Flowering:. 
Cyclamen persioum that have finished 
flowering may, if it is desired, be retained 
for use a second season, although it is far 
preferable to raise a fresh stock from seed 
each year, as the old plants deteriorate and 
rarely produce full-sized Iblooms the second 
year; whilst beyond that they are absolutely 
useless and should 'be thrown away. Gradu¬ 
ally withhold water from any plants to be 
preserved, and allow them the proper period 
of rest, then shift into smaller pots and 
place in a frame during the summer months 
(treating them, in fact, as young plants), 
before bringing them into the house again in 
the autumn. 
Mignonette in Pots. 
We all fully appreciate this sweet-smelling 
old favourite, which attains perfection in a 
cool greenhouse, and the following is a 
somewhat novel and very effective method 
of growing it in pots._ Select from the pans 
the strongest of the seedlings, being care¬ 
ful not to damage the tender rootlets in 
doing so. Then, having potted singly into 
thumbs or sixties, replace in a little gentle 
heat. As the plants grow pinch off all side 
shoots as they appear, then, when the main 
stem has attained a height of about six or 
eight inches, continue to remove the lateral 
growths, but from the base only, allowing 
the upper ones to remain and by judiciously 
pinching them back induce the plant to form 
a bushy head, which during August and 
September will 'be one mass of fragrant 
blossom. If all the flowers are removed as 
they die off, and the plants prevented from 
running to seed, y they may, with care and 
occasional re-potting, last more than one 
season. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Selenipediums. 
This section of the so-called slipper Or¬ 
chid, the species of which are natives of 
the Western world, are in every way de¬ 
sirable and suitable subjects' for cultivation 
by amateurs, who have the facilities of a 
stove or warm intermediate house, where the 
temperature in winter does not fall below 
55 to 60 degrees. I have fixed these tem¬ 
peratures at the minimum 'because in almost 
all cases these plants are in a more or less 
active state of growth during the whole of 
our winter season, and thus must have the 
necessary encouragement during this season 
to enable them to develop growth in such a 
manner that they may be able to produce 
satisfactory flowering conditions'. 
Some of the species, such as S. caudatum, 
its white variety S. c. Wallisii, S. boisseri- 
anum and S. iSdhlimii, are not so easily 
grown as the S. longifolium section, but as 
they are among the most interesting and de¬ 
sirable it is advisable to secure some of these 
kinds when opportunity of acquiring them 
in an imported state offers. The section of 
S. longiflorum,, such as S. Rozelii and S. 
Hartiwegii, are vigorous growers, and with 
ordinary stove treatment soon make large 
specimens. S. lindleyanum, and its near 
ally, iS. isargentiianum, have gigantic 
growths and foliage, and also do well under 
stove conditions. 
One of the most chaste and beautiful 
among the species of this section is S. cari- 
cinum, perhaps better known in gardens as 
S. Pearcei. It is an easy plant to grow, 
when suitable conditions are provided. It 
is one of the section of plants that needs to 
be known and their characteristics under¬ 
stood. In the first .place there is no plant I 
know that more resents (being disturbed for 
re-DOtting than this species. The massed and 
tufted growths delight in becoming what is 
familiarly termed pot-bound. When in this- 
state little difficulty is experienced in its 
successful cultivation, and as long as the 
process of top dressing may be practiced 1 
would not advise the plants being disturbed. 
I find this species grows well under the same 
conditions as those afforded the winter- 
flowering sections of Cypripediums. 
The hybrids of this section are more popu¬ 
lar and desirable than the species, particu¬ 
larly those that have been derived from the 
influence of S. Schlimii as one of the parents. 
Vigorous in constitution and so free in 
growth, their principal fault lies in their 
soon outgrowing space where room is limited. 
Amateurs would do well to secure suck 
varieties as S. Sedenii, S. cardinalis, S. 
leucorrhodum, S. aibo-purpureum and S. 
calurum. The secondary hybrids, such as 
S. Brysa, are also worthy of attention. The 
hybrids derived from the influence of S. 
caudatum, such as S. domin.ianum, S. 
grande, S. macrochilum and S. nitidissi- 
mum, are all easily cultivated and rarely 
fail to flower satisfactorily. The hybrids 
are all best suited when grown in a warm 
intermediate house. They require liberal 
supplies of both atmospheric and root mois¬ 
ture at practically all seasons of the year. 
Potting is best attended to when the new 
roots are observed, being emitted from the 
base of the recently-developed or develop¬ 
ing growth. The robust nature of most of 
this section of slipper plants renders ; t 
necessary that ample pot room should be 
provided. The pots selected should be clean 
and drained to about one-third their depth 
with clean broken crooks. The compost we 
find suitable consists of equal portions of 
turfy loam, fibrous brown peat and ohopped 
sphagnum moss, with plenty of finel;- 
broken crooks and coarse sand added to keep 
the compost open. Careful shading is neces¬ 
sary where repotting is done in bright 
weather until the new roots become estab¬ 
lished in the new potting compost. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-f+4- 
The Temple Flower Show, 
Most of our readers will doubtless re¬ 
member that the great annual spring 
flower show of the Royal Horticultural 
Society will be held on May 26th and the 
two following days, at the Inner Temple 
Gardens, Thames Embankment, but we 
notify the fact again for the benefit of 
others. The prices of admission will be 
10s. on the first day, 2s. 6d. on the second, 
and is. on the tjiird. 
Preservation of Commons. 
At the last meeting of the Commons 
and Footpaths Preservation Society it was 
stated that assistance was being given with 
regard to the preservation of Eltham 
Common, Kent; Otterbourne Common, 
Hants; Foel Lys, Penmaenmawr; West- 
down, Chilbolton; and Whitemoss Com¬ 
mon, Cumberland; and help was also be¬ 
ing afforded to local authorities or mem¬ 
bers of the public interested in protect¬ 
ing large numbers of rights of way in 
various parts of the country. 
Prizes for Forced Hyacinths. 
The Council of the R.H.S. have accep¬ 
ted the offer of the Dutch Bulb Growers' 
Society, at Haarlem, of prizes for forced 
Hyacinths, to be competed for at the ex¬ 
hibition of the R.H.S. to be held on 
March 9th, 1909. The exhibits will be 
divided into two divisions, viz., one for 
amateurs and gentlemen’s gardeners, and 
one for nurserymen. Fifteen prizes of the 
total value of ^48 6s. are offered in the 
first division, and the prize for nursery 
men will be the gold medal of the Dutch 
Bulb Growers’ Society, valued at £$o. 
Full particulars of the conditions of the 
competition may be obtained of the secre 
tary of the R.H.S., Vincent Square, West¬ 
minster. 
