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cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
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Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans . — Gardeners who would make 
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prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
34 26. Treatment of Stephanotis. 
Thanking you for your information some 
time ago regarding Stephanotis floribunda, 
I would like to ask you a few more ques¬ 
tions. I have the same plant in a 32-size 
pot, and it has been potted about eight 
months in loam and sand, standing on a 
stage four feet from the ground. I kept 
it syringed twice a day and it got on very 
well and had some buds on it, but when 
I withheld water in October the buds 
dropped off. Would you advise me to put 
it in a large pot, standing on the ground 
and bringing it through the staging up to 
the roof? It would be about 6 in. in front 
of the hot water pipes Would it want 
syringing through the winter months? 
(Constant Reader. Middlesex). 
Withholding water when the plant was on 
the point of flowering was a mistake, es¬ 
pecially in such a small pot. It would 
grow in a large pot, and we have seen it 
so treated, but a good deal of attention 
was required in watering and supplying it 
with manure. The Stephanotis usually 
grows and flowers best if planted in a bed 
ct prepared soil 3 ft. square and 2 ft. 
deep. No doubt, a plant of moderate size 
should find accommodation in less space 
than that—say 2 ft. square. If you can 
take out a hole of this dimension in the 
border beneath the staging where you in¬ 
tend to place the pot, you could build a 
brick pit, so as to confine the roots within 
that 2 ft. or 3 ft. square. The temperature 
would be much more steady under these 
conditions, and the roots would not be so 
suddenly affected with drought. Indeed, 
it would require very little water in win¬ 
ter, especially if not flowering. You can 
use a similar compost to that you have 
already been using, with the addition of a 
good sprinkling of lumps of charcoal about 
the size of marbles up to that of a walnut. 
This would serve to keep the compost open. 
It would, however, be necessary to drain 
the bottom of the hole. If the soil is clay 
it would be necessary to have a drain away 
from it to take off the superfluous moisture, 
but if the bottom is gravel then all that 
would be necessary would be to loosen it up 
and then lay some brickbats over the bot¬ 
tom, covering these with turf placed green 
side downwards. A bed like this would 
last a long time in. good condition. The 
Stephanotis could then be family planted a 
short distance from the wall and the top 
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. 
taken up through the staging, so that you 
could train the shoots along the rafters or 
over the roof as you like. On mild, bright 
days the plant will enjoy syringing, as it 
serves to keep the foliage clean during the 
.winter. The syringing can, of course, be 
increased as the weather gets fine in 
spring. 
3427. Name of Climber and Treat¬ 
ment. 
Please to state in The Gardening World 
the name of the plant enclosed, and the 
treatment it requires. No. 1 I think is a -* 
Clematis, which I believe has been grown 
in a stove. I should like to try one in my 
greenhouse, which is well heated and faces 
south ; also the price of a well struck plant. 
No. 2 is a shrub in the shrubbery which f 
vk u,ld also like you to name. (D. E. C., 
Lines.) 
No. 1 is not a Clematis, but Jasminum Sam- 
bac, a sweetly scented stove shrub, although 
we think it would succeed in a fairly warm 
greenhouse. There is also a double variety 
of it having more effective white flowers, 
and named J. S. flore pleno. Plants 
wc uld be obtained at 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. each, 
according to size. It is sometimes grown 
in large pots, and occasionally planted out 
in the border of the stove, taken up be¬ 
hind the benches and trained to the rafters 
of the house. The plant you would obtain 
would be of moderate size so that you 
could grow it in pots for a time, gradually 
shifting it from the smaller sizes info 
larger ones as the plant grows and fills the 
soil with roots. Keep it always in a sunny 
and well lighted position, so as to induce 
short jointed wood that will flower while 
still in a small state. It is not particular 
as to soil provided it is good and well 
diained. You could make up a compost of 
two parts fibrous loam and one part of leaf- 
mould or peat, and sand. Pot firmly each 
shift that you give it. Do not neglect it 
while it is making growth in the matter of 
watering. In winter it will require less, 
especially when it gets to some size, as the 
leaves are evergreen. If it were kept in a 
house where the temperature at might is not 
allowed to fall below 55 or 60 degrees it 
will flower more or less all the year round 
if kept growing by re-potting as it attains 
size. No. 2 was the Jerusalem Sage 
(Phl.omis fruticosa), which is fairly hardy 
when planted in well drained soil, but it 
is. liable to get killed in very severe 
winters. 
December 5, 190S 
3428. Raising Tuberous Begonias 
from Seed. 
Is it possible to raise Tuberous Begonias 
irom seed in a frame, as I have no green¬ 
house. I want to bed them out if I could 
raise a sufficient number for that purpose. 
Any information would be thankfully re¬ 
ceived. (Learner, Surrey.) 
If ) r ou have a cold frame it would be 
fairly easy to rear Tuberous Begonias by 
sowing the seeds in light sandy soil and 
.leaf-mould in April. They would, of 
course, grow slowly, and would not be 
likely to give you flowers the first season 
unless you were unusually successful-. When 
the seedlings get sufficiently large to handle 
you should prick them off into shallow 
pans or small seed boxes about an inch 
apart each way. When they get to a fair 
size you could either plant them in deep 
bexes in the frame itself, or better still, 
plant them out in the garden where they 
could make growth more rapidly, and form 
roots that would be able to flower in the 
following year. Whichever plan you adopt 
you could lift the tubers in the autumn when 
the leaves get crippled with frost and lav 
them in boxes in a dry situation until the 
soil dries and the tubers can be cleaned. 
You could then put them in boxes of cocoa- 
nut fibre, and stand those boxes in some dry 
cool place out of the reach of frost for the 
winter 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3429. Increasing Bleeding Heart. 
What is the best method of increasing 
Bleeding Heart, and does it require a sunny 
01 a shady position ? (A. Harrison, 
Somerset, j 
The best method of increasing this plant 
is by divisions in spring when the plant 
commences to grow. Your best plan would 
be to lift the whole piece with a fork, care¬ 
fully work the roots clear of soil and then 
pull the various pieces apart, each having 
a crown or bud and some roots. An open 
situation is the best, provided it is not ex¬ 
posed to gales of wind The soil should be 
rich and light, so that if it is heavy a 
good dressing of leaf-mould before you dig 
the ground would be of great service to 
it. 
3430. Hardiness of Francoas. 
Believing that the Bridal Wreath was 
hardy I planted it out in the border in the 
spring before last, but it got killed last 
winter. 1 have read sc me where that 
Francoas are hardy, but this does not agree 
with my experience. 'Can you tell me if it 
requires any particular treatment, or a 
particular kind of soil ? (F. Matthews, 
Northumberland.) 
Francoas are not all of the same degree of 
hardiness. By Bridal Wreath we under¬ 
stand you to mean Francoa ramosa, but 
that is not by any means hardy, except, 
perhaps, in the most favoured parts of the 
country. The hardiest of the three culti- 
\ated species is F. appendiculata. This 
has existed in the open border when the 
temperature sometimes falls below zero in 
winter. Possibl}^ it would be hardier in 
some soils than others, but you should make 
a point of seeing that the soil is well 
diained. The situation should be open and 
sunny, so that the crowns can get well ma¬ 
tured in summer. Near the sea coast in 
probably any part of this country that 
species would live out of doors and we 
think it would live with you. 
HEDGES. 
3431. Planting a Yew HeJge. 
I wish to make a Yew Hedge. My plants 
are about 18 in. high. What distance ought 
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