THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 15, 1908. 
528 
Border Carnations. 
As advised in my July notes, I presume 
that readers have commenced layering 
their Carnations before this time. The 
work should now be completed as quickly 
as possible in all cases, while the ground 
is quite warm, to enable the layers to be 
well rooted by the beginning of October, 
when they should be severed from the 
parent plant and potted or planted out ac¬ 
cording to circumstances. Near smoky 
towns and where the soil is heavy the 
layers keep best in pots wintered in a cold 
frame. Watering should be continued 
regularly for a fortnight after layering if 
the weather continues dry. This will en¬ 
courage rooting while they are fresh. 
Where the intention is to plant them out 
to stand the winter the ground should be 
prepared about the middle of September 
to allow time for setting before planting. 
Show Carnations and Picotees. 
No time should be lost in completing 
any necessary layering still unfinished, 
as the layers require time to get properly 
rooted before winter. I presume, how¬ 
ever, that every enthusiastic grower has 
completed the work before this time, be¬ 
cause the shoots soon get so hard in pots 
that rooting becomes a slow process. The 
work of layering Carnations in pots is 
much more agreeable than where they are 
in the ground. The pots can be stood on 
an improvised bench or otherwise while 
the operator sits on a stool. This enables 
the worker to avoid bending or kneeling. 
Shoots situated too high upon the stems 
for layering may be pulled out at the 
Joints as ’dngs and inserted in pots of 
very sandy soil and leaf mould. If stood 
on a spent hotbed they would soon root. 
Cuttings like this, however, should be 
avoided in all cases where it is possible 
to get shoots from near the base. There 
are some varieties that are inclined to get 
lanky or tall like a tree Carnation, but 
they are to be avoided where possible, as 
there are plenty of good varieties now 
without them. 
Tree Carnations. 
The early varieties of the first batches 
to be rooted should commence flowering 
some time this month if they have not 
been stopped late. Before the flowers 
open they should be fumigated with 
“ XL-ALL” or some other form of nicotine 
if there is any evidence of green fly or 
thrips upon them. Regular syringing 
will do much, however, to keep plants 
clean till the flowers commence opening. 
Malmaison Carnations. 
Shift on young plants from layers be¬ 
fore the roots get matted, as this en¬ 
courages them to keep growing. Look 
well after them so as to keep aphides 
strictly in check, because the sappy leaves 
of this race get liable to disease in win¬ 
ter, more especially when punctured by 
green fly. Late plants can still Be placed 
out of doors and even planted there with 
the object of layering the shoots in the 
soil. 
Marguerite Carnations. 
Keep staking the stems whenever this 
becomes necessary. The earliest batches 
sown in January or February should be 
flowering at their best some time this 
month. 
American Carnations. 
Even late-struck varieties should by 
this time have formed bushy plants or 
laid a good foundation for the same. 
Where this is the case the plants should 
be allowed to grow naturally without 
stopping except in the case of very early 
varieties which can be stopped up till 
September. Early-flowering varieties now 
standing in the open air should be housed 
at once, and if any stems are showing for 
flower or running away from the rest they 
may still be stopped, unless flowers are 
wanted as early as possible. Stake and 
tie whenever any shoots require it. The 
plants should be put into an airy house, 
freely ventilated night and day. Let them 
have full exposure to sunshine at all 
times, as Carnations delight in this. 
They should be stood in groups or batches 
by themselves, and any crowding, by 
means of broad-leaved plants especially, 
avoided, as this interferes with the direct 
sunshine which should fall upon them. 
J. D. F. W. 
-f+4- 
“THE PERFECT GARDEN.” 
A book on the above subject has been 
written by Mr. Walter P. Wright, run¬ 
ning to 406 pages. It is illustrated by 
means of diagrams, photographs and six 
coloured illustrations. In his prologue, 
“Dream Gardens,” the author takes his 
reader away to the Highlands of Perth¬ 
shire. He contrasts the rocky features of 
that mountainous country and its misty 
atmosphere with his own garden in Kent. 
This was on a June morning, but it may 
rain or snow in that northern latitude, 
and especially at high elevations, in that 
month, where the old snow may still be 
lying heavily in places. 
He then proceeds to deal with the de¬ 
sign, the home-made garden, the cost of 
gardening, specialism in gardens, how 
to learn it, the conquest of the wild, etc. 
In this latter chapter he describes The 
making of a garden from a piece of 
meadow land, applying the gardener’s art 
to it in shaping into an ideal garden after 
carefullv surrounding it with walls, fences 
or hedges. The making of paths, 
hedging, rockwork, and so on, are dealt 
with. Colour for all seasons is the first 
chapter of Part II. of the book. In adapt¬ 
ing flowers to our climate, it is necessary 
to single out those which can thrive and 
bloom with a certain amount of satisfac¬ 
tion under the variable conditions of our 
fickle climate in the early months of the 
year. When the temperature rises, the 
garden can then be filled with subjects 
that will bloom through the summer and 
in autumn. The plants that will flower 
under these conditions, or at the particu¬ 
lar times are singled out. In like man¬ 
ner, lists are made out of the plants that 
will bloom during the four seasons of 
our year. 
In the chapter dealing with rockeries, 
there is a coloured illustration showing 
a background of trees in front of which 
is a rockery having a winding path 
through the centre. Trees and shrubs, 
climbers, Water Lilies, and so forth, are 
all passed under review in different parts 
of the book. It is published by Mr. Grant 
Richards, London, at 6s., and is worth 
the money. 
-- 
- Summer Cypress - 
(Kochia trichophila). 
This highly attractive annual when )t 
appeared a few years ago wa§ often con¬ 
founded with K. scoparia, an older, but 
inferior species; but the seedsmen and 
their customers seem now to have come 
to an understanding on the point. The 
Summer Cypress, when fully developed, 
attains a height of 3 ft., but by potting 
in small pots its height can be reduced 
by nearly one-half. The plant grows in 
a pyramidal form like a Cypress, hence 
the common name. 
It has long narrow leaves borne on 
slender branches giving the plant a dis¬ 
tinctly graceful appearance; but its chief 
value lies in the fact that stem branches 
and leaves colour up in the autumn into 
what has been described by some as a 
russet-crimson; each plant becomes a 
■veritable “burning bush.” 
It can be employed with equally good 
effect either in the flower garden or the 
conservatory. Although generally de¬ 
scribed as a hardy annual in the seed 
lists it will be well to treat it as a half- 
hardy annual, not so much on account 
of comnarative tenderness, but because 
it takes a pretty long period to develop 
prior to colouring up, and our seasons— 
short at the best—are very uncertain, as 
witness that of 1907. Seeds should be 
sown in a pan in gentle heat during 
March, and in due course the seedlings 
should be potted off singly into pots 2^ in, 
in diameter, and the smaller seedlings 
into small “thumbs.” When these small 
pots become filled with roots, pot on into 
pots 4 in. and 3 in. in diameter respec¬ 
tively. 
If intended for planting out in the 
flower garden, no further shifts will be 
required, but when the plants have be¬ 
come established in their pots, they may 
be transferred to a cold frame and duly 
hardened off. They make excellent dot 
plants, say in a bed of Calceolaria, 
Lemon Gem or of Fuchsia Wave of Life. 
For conservatory decoration the plants 
should be potted on into pots from 5 in¬ 
to 7 in. in diameter, according to cir¬ 
cumstances, grown on in an airy frame, 
and latterly exposed to full sunshine. A 
light, not too rich, soil suits them best. 
