he Gardening World, June 13, 1908. 
An Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“ Flowers never emit so sweet and strong 
fragrance as before a storm .” —Jean Paul. 
CONTENTS. 
.mateur's Letter to Amateurs . 391 
nnuals for Cutting, Long Stemmed 392 
edding, Summer (Editorial) ...... 396 
arnation (Malmaison) Nell Gwynne 
(illus.) . 395 
atchfly, Fortune’s (illus.) . 393 
hrysanthemums : Work for June... 395 
ompetition Awards . 392 
ompetition, Prize Letter . 394 
Inquire Within . 4 QI 
lower Garden, The (illus.) . 399 
lower Show, The Temple . 404 
ruit Garden, The (illus.) . 399 
ireenhouse, The Amateur's . 4 °° 
lydrangeas for the Greenhouse, etc. 393 
ris, A Dwarf Blue (illus.) . 396 
litchen Garden, The (illus.) . 399 
Ianettia bicolor . 394 
irchids for Amateurs . 400 
arracenias . 39 2 
axifraga montavoniensis . 393 
weet Peas, A Note on .— 397 
ulip (Darwin), Pride of Haarlem 
(illus.) . 397 
egetable Marrows, The Culture 
of (illus.) .-. 398 
iork of the Week (illus.) . 399 
-- 
Sto Rosa. 
lather ye Rose buds while ye may; 
Old Time is still a-flying; 
And this same flower that smiles to-day, 
To-morrow will be dying. 
— Robert Herrich. 
Vould Love appoint some flower to reign 
n matchless beauty on the plain, 
The Rose (mankind will all agree), 
'he Rose the Queen of Flowers should be, 
The pride of plants, the grace of bowers, 
The blush of meads, the eye of flowers; 
; ts beauties charm the gods above ; 
ts fragrance is the breath of love ; 
ts foliage wantons in the air 
i-uxuriant, like the flowing hair; 
it shines in blooming splendour gay, 
A'hile zephyrs on its bosom play. 
—Sappho (Fawke’s Translation). 
CXLVII. 
A Note on Asters. 
Some people seem to wish to grow the 
annual or China Aster as a pot plant. 
The best way to do this is, however, to 
plant out the seedlings in some spare 
piece of ground, tend them carefully dur¬ 
ing the coming weeks, and then, when the 
flower-buds show colour, lift them with a 
good ball of earth and pot them up, keep¬ 
ing them rather close for some few days. 
This is a better method of growing thaD 
to attempt pot cultivation throughout. 
Growing Rock Plants. 
When the making of a rock garden is 
contemplated for the autumn work, there 
is no reason why we should not at once 
set to work to prepare a stock of plants 
ready to be established in it. It is often 
very helpful to plant in some positions 
before the making is actually completed; 
and, of course, to rear a batch of seedling 
plants is by far the more economical way 
of stocking it. Not so very long ago I 
sowed a packet of mixed seeds for the rock 
garden, and this answers very well where 
one is fairly familiar with the names and 
appearance of the young plants, and can 
fit the two together, but I can see it 
would present difficulties to the complete 
novice, for even among rock plants it is 
an advantage to know the general char¬ 
acter and habit when placing the plants 
in their flowering quarters. A better plan 
would be to purchase some of the small 
packets that are now so conveniently 
offered to the public, and I would suggest 
Aubrietia, Aethionema saxatile, Iberis 
sempervirens, Campanula carpatica, Li- 
naria alpina, Linum perenne, Veromca 
spicata, Statice latifolia, Saxifraga Cam- 
posii, S. Aizoon, Potentilla pyrenaica, and 
Helianthemums as among the best plants 
for the rock garden situated in a good, 
open aspect. 
Flowers for the End of the Season. 
Now, before the time flies by and it is 
too late, we ought to think out exactly 
what plants tve require to the end of the 
season. At the present time we can pur¬ 
chase quite inexpensively good young 
plants, so decorative and so valuable for 
their long flowering as, let us say, the 
grand red-flowered Salvia splendens, or, 
again, the (Margarita Carnations. Both 
these subjects are grand autumn stand¬ 
bys when they have been reared early- 
enough in the season, but to get them for¬ 
ward enough to flower as early as is de¬ 
sirable, is sometimes a difficult matter to 
those who.cannot count on the aid of glass 
during the early stages. But bought 
nlants are generally fairly forward; and 
if rather weakly and drawn up, must 
o-radually be hardened and made sturdy 
by having plenty of light and air and 
room. I prefer the Salvia as a pot plant, 
at any rate for Midland and Northern 
districts, and the variety S. splendens 
grandiflora is very desirable. A strain 
known as Star of Zurich is among the 
earliest t.o bloom, and therefore shoiiljl 
be chosen for the outside garden. As a 
pot plant these Salvias make ah excel¬ 
lent companion plant in the cold house to 
the Chrysanthemums, and the colour is 
glowing scarlet. 
The Garden Lover and the Flower Lover. 
Not long ago I heard of a very keen 
amateur gardener, and one of long ex¬ 
perience and great knowledge, who, build¬ 
ing himself a new house, had, of course, 
the great pleasure of stocking a new gar¬ 
den. The garden was, comparatively 
speaking, a small one, and stern restraint 
was necessary in the selection of plants. 
A rule was made that only the rarer pe¬ 
rennials and those of the choicest types 
should be grown. So far as I can see 
there are two classes of gardeners—the 
garden lover and the flower lover. The 
first has for main objects to attain bril¬ 
liant masses, and he uses his plants by 
the score, hundred, or thousand of each 
variety, according to the size of his beds. 
The flower lover works from a different 
basis altogether. His object is to find 
room for all the plants that he is inte¬ 
rested in, or with which he wishes to be¬ 
come familiar. Every plant counts, as it 
were. His garden is never the brilliant, 
radiant mass of the former, but it is many 
times more interesting. The whole world 
contributes, in all likelihood, to the 
beauty-of his little plot. Reader, in 
thinking of your own garden, you would 
do well to decide into which class you 
would place yourself. The knowledge 
gives you, as it were, a working basis. 
Staking and Tying. 
Staking will have to be done carefully 
this season, for Delphiniums and other 
tall-growing perennials have made excep¬ 
tionally heavy growth. Often a second 
tie is advisable, and it will be found con¬ 
venient to make the tarred line, or other 
tving material, fast to the stake first, and 
then bring it round the plant stems, as 
this ensures the material keeping in its 
place. F. Norfolk. 
-- 
National Rose Society. 
We have received from the Hon. Sec¬ 
retary of the National Rose Society the 
annual volume containing schedule of 
prizes, list of members, by-laws and regu¬ 
lations, with arrangements for the present 
year, and other matter. The great Rose 
Show of the Society will be held at the 
Roval Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park, 
London, oh Friday, July 3rd, when a 
large number of money' prizes, gold, sil-; 
ver, and silver-gilt medals, pieces of plateq 
and cups will be offered in competition-, = 
for nurserymen, amateurs and in open. - 
classes. Entries close on Monday, June 
29th. The big provincial show of the So- 
cietv will be held on July 21st, in the 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Manchester, and 
the autumn show at the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Hall, Westminster, on September . 
17th. 
