546 THE GARDENING WORLD. August 22, 1908, 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
The Busy Month. 
Taken altogether, this is a busy month for 
the greenhouse lover, and the propagation 
of bedding and other plants, the sowing of 
seeds, and the tending and training of seed¬ 
lings’ and climbing plants, will doubtless 
take up all the time that the average ama¬ 
teur has at his disposal. There are other 
things also to be considered—the bulbs; 
and it is a sure sign-that the end of the sum¬ 
mer is within sight when the seedsmen and 
florists inundate us with catalogues of these 
winter- and spring-blooming indispensables. 
When selecting bulbs, or indeed plants of 
any description, do not be misled by low 
prices, which are not by any means synony¬ 
mous with cheapness, for a bad thing is dear 
at any price. This advice is, of course, only 
for the novice, the experienced gardener will 
doubtless have found this out for himself. 
Sound bulbs and careful culture alone will 
ensure a fine display of bloom. 
Bouvardias. 
Any of these useful plants which flowered 
earlier, and are now standing out of doors 
on a bed of ashes to mature their growths, 
will need tying up against high winds and 
rain storms, or they are likely to get 
damaged. 
Young plants, raised from cuttings or 
points inserted in the spring, will require 
an occasional pinching back of the main 
shoots to encourage a dwarf and bushy 
growth. Treated thus they will make first- 
rate decorative subjects for spring, use. The 
best compost for them is one in which peat 
and silver sand in equal quantities form 
one-lialf, the remaining half being sound 
loam with some finely-broken up manure 
added thereto. 
Potting On. 
Cinerarias, Primulas, Calceolarias, etc., 
will all need constant attention just now, if 
success is to follow, and will be best suited 
by cool treatment in preference to coddling. 
All young plants must be potted on as soon 
as the roots protrude through the ball of 
soil when turned out. Cinerarias especi¬ 
ally, as they are far more liable to the at¬ 
tacks of insect pests if allowed to become 
potbound. Such a state of things also en¬ 
courages the plants to flower prematurely, 
thus preventing them from developing into 
fine specimens. Seeds may be sown of either 
of the above to provide a succession of 
plants for spring blooming, this method 
generally being far preferable to a big dis¬ 
play for a short period. 
Richardia africana. 
Richardias., or to give them their more 
homely name, Arum Lilies, should be lifted 
now from that spare corner of the kitchen 
garden in which they have been quartered 
during the last few weeks. Mix a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of compost as follows : good 
fibrous loam, two parts; coarse sand, one 
part • and finely-pulverised cow manure, one 
part. They may be inserted singly in pots 
known as “ thirty-twos,” or, if larger re¬ 
ceptacles are available, four or five crowns 
may be placed together in pots of eight or 
nine inch dimensions. Keep Arums always 
well supplied with water (for it must be 
remembered that they are a moisture-loving 
race), and transfer them to the greenhouse 
about the end of next month. Plants that 
have been retained in their pets should be 
shaken out now and repotted. 
Cucumbers. 
Do not allow Cucumbers to remain on the 
Vines after they have attained full size, un¬ 
less indeed they are intended for seed, and 
a prolonged crop of fruit will be obtained 
if all non-bearing shoots are removed in 
order to concentrate the energy of the plant, 
which will be assisted by frequent and some¬ 
what liberal applications of liquid manure. 
Free ventilation also is necessary, and if 
a winter crop is desired, seed should be 
sown during the present month, as three 
months may be reckoned from sowing to 
fruiting. Of course, unless the conditions 
be very favourable the ordinary amateur 
cannot expect such great results as from his 
summer crop. Cucumber seeds are best sown 
singly in small pots, and if the soil be well- 
moistened, no further watering should be 
necessary till they germinate. 
Salvias for Winter Flowering. 
One of the most striking and useful sub¬ 
jects for winter use in the cool greenhouse 
is undoubtedly Salvia splendens, its bril¬ 
liant scarlet flowers being particularly 
cheering to the eye during the dull days. 
Young plants may now be obtained from 
any nurseryman, or if already in possession 
of an old plant, cuttings struck now will 
yet have time to develop into good-flowering 
specimens for early spring. Several slips 
may be inserted together in a five- or six- 
inch pot of sandy soil,' and if shaded from 
the sun and kept fairly moist will soon emit 
rootlets and may then be. potted off singly. 
When active growth commences, the extre¬ 
mities should be nipped, off to encourage 
side shoots, and by this means fine bushy 
plants will be obtained. Another good 
variety is S. patens, colour lovely blue, 
which no amateur can really afford to dis¬ 
pense with. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Thunias. 
This section of deciduous Orchids should 
now have completed their growths and may 
be placed under resting conditions. Rest¬ 
ing conditions is a term that may be easily 
misunderstood. The meaning that I find 
many amateurs give to it is that they must 
place their plants under cool, very airy 
and absolutely dry conditions immediately 
they are advised to place the plants under 
resting conditions. This is rather a serious 
matter for the plants, where they have been 
having every encouragement that heat and 
moisture can give for .some months past, 
and I want my readers to understand that 
any sudden change of treatment will not 
be altogetner beneficial to the plants. When 
plants have reached maturity of growth any 
change of treatment must be gradual, and 
they should be given slightly cooler condi¬ 
tions at first, but before this is done they 
should be permitted to become reasonably 
dry at the roots, and in such a state that we 
may be able to transfer them from one tem¬ 
perature to another until the more exposed 
conditions are reached. Care must be taken 
not to dry off too rapidly, and sufficient 
root moisture must be supplied to’keep the 
growths in a normal plump state. It will 
be quite early enough to absolutely dry the 
plants when the leaves have all fallen. 
Sobralias are a useful genus of plants 
that give a good display of flowers during 
the summer season. The period at which 
the plants may be had in flower will depend 
entirely upon the conditions under which 
the plants have been grown In an ama¬ 
teur’s collection where the normal tempera¬ 
ture of an intermediate house will be about 
60 degrees, most of the plants will commence 
flowering.in June and they will give a suc¬ 
cession of blooms right up to the end of 
August. They are most effective when in 
flower and as they are easily grown are 
worthy of ever-y attention. They may be 
successfully cultivated under cooler condi¬ 
tions than the above-mentioned, and I "con¬ 
sider 55 degrees quite ample under normal 
outside conditions in winter. Plants that 
have recently passed out of flower will be 
in most cases in an active state of root action 
and any repotting necessary should be at¬ 
tended to at the present time. 
In repotting Sobralias ample pot room 
should be given, for where the plants do 
well they are vigorous rooting and quickly 
fill the pots with roots. As it is not well to 
repot too often, it is thus advisable to allow 
plenty of rooting space. The pots should 
be about one-third filled with clean drain¬ 
age, for when rooted the plants require a 
copious supply of water, so' that it is well 
to attend to the careful draining of the pots. 
The potting compost should also be of a 
fibrous and durable nature, consisting of 
equal portions of good turfy loam and 
fibrous peat, the latter being broken into 
lumps and not shaken out too much. Suffi¬ 
cient broken crocks and sand should be 
added to rendei the compost porous. The 
compost should be made firm about the roots, 
and when potting is completed a layer of 
chopped sphagnum moss placed on the sur¬ 
face will add to the appearance of the 
plants. 
To increase the stock, divisions may. be 
made at the time of potting by cutting the 
connecting rhizomes between the growths 
and removing them as desired, taking care 
not to damage the living roots in the act of 
separating them, and they may then be 
potted in the usual way. As soon as re¬ 
potting is completed they should be well 
watered with rain water. The atmosphere 
should be kept moist and spraying the plants 
once or twice a day in warm weather will 
be found beneficial. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-— 
Gaultheria procumbens. 
In many gardens there are situations 
where few things will grow, and which re¬ 
quire to be covered. Some evergreens 
are well adapted for flourishing more or 
less under trees and providing the situation 
is not too dry, Gaultheria procumbens, 
or Creeping VVintergreen, will flourish 
and form a carpet about 6 in. high. The 
roundish, evergreen leaves are dark 
green and leathery. The berries are red, 
and show up against the foliage beauti¬ 
fully in the autumn and winter. In the 
case of a large number of beautiful 
berried plants, the berries are apt to dis¬ 
appear early in autumn or in winter, but 
it is remarkable how some kinds seem to 
escape the. eye of birds — possibly they are 
not to their , taste. Sometimes, too, the 
dwarf stems are covered with snow, so 
that in severe weather they escape the 
af’entior of birds. In any case they 
usually hang on the plants till spring. 
Bell Heather. 
-- 
Shropshire H.S. 
The big summer show of the Shropshire 
Horticultural Society takes place at 
Shrewsbury on August igth and 20th. 
Tea Rose Paula. 
The blooms of the above Rose are cup¬ 
shaped with broad petals, and quite full 
in the centre. The colour is a creamy 
white, and the blooms fragrant. The 
young leaves are tinted with red, and the 
flower stalks are also red. Award of Merit 
by the R.H.S. on the 4th inst., when 
shown by Messrs. Paul and Son, Ches- 
hunt. 
