59 ° 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 12, 1908. 
added and the compost well mixed together. 
If the soil is suitably moist at the time of 
potting no water will be required for a time 
until the plant commences growing. In the 
meantime, should the soil get very dry it 
would be necessary to water it, but in the 
early stages the roots should not be kept too 
soddened, because there will be so much 
fresh soil for the young roots to penetrate. 
Pot fairly firmly and if realty grown in 
the house stand it in a sunny window. 
When in full growth it would do well 
enough in an east or west aspect window. 
Unless you specialty desire to grow it in 
the window you might succeed better with 
it by standing it out of doors af the be¬ 
ginning of June in a position where it will 
be shaded from the sun during the middle 
of the day. 
FERNS. 
3190. Hardy Ferns for Border. 
I have an east and -west border on which 
I would like to grow hardy Ferns. If 
likely to give satisfactory results, please 
name a few of the most vigorous kinds and 
sav which border I should plant them in. 
(William .Riley, Cumberland.) 
We have no doubt that Ferns would 
succeed in either of the borders you men¬ 
tion, provided you see that the drainage is 
good and the borders propeily tilled. If 
you mix a good quantity of leaf soil with 
that of the border when digging or trench¬ 
ing, it will give the Ferns a good impetus 
by helping to retain moisture in summer. 
We should advise you to trench the border 
when about it. The stronger growing ones 
should include Lastrea Filix-mas, F.-m. 
cristata, L. dilatata, Polystichum angulare, 
P. aculeatum, some Lady Ferns and the 
Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3191. Plants for Shady Garden. 
I enclose you herewith rough sketch of 
my garden, from which you will observe 
that on the south side there is a wall which 
stands about 20 ft. high. There is also 
another one at the west side about 12 ft. 
high. You will see by the sketch that I 
propose to fill the centre with grass, leaving 
a border round the same for flowers. Will 
you kindly inform me the names of some 
flowers you would advise being planted in 
the border, having regard to the sheltered 
position and also give me some information 
as to the position of the respective flowers. 
Any other information likely to increase 
the beauty of the garden will be thoroughly 
appreciated. (Eyeball, Middlesex.) 
We do not like that high wall which 
shuts out so much of the sunshine at the 
south side. We have, therefore, selected 
plants that are more likely to succeed than 
others which we would have preferred if 
the garden had enjoyed more sunshine. 
The border at the foot of that wall 20 ft. 
high faces the north. iFor that reason we 
suggest a good bed of hardy British Ferns 
if you like them. Indeed, we should plant 
a line of them next the wall, leaving the 
front of the border for other plants. For 
producing greenery of this sort only the 
more common kinds are necessary to begin 
with, at least until you see how they are 
likely to succeed. The stronger-growing 
ones are Lastrea Filix-mas or any of its 
varieties, L. dilatata, L. spinulosa, L. mon- 
tana, the Lady Fern or any of its varieties, 
aiso Polystichum angulare, P. aculeatum 
or any of their varieties, and the Poly¬ 
podies, Polypodium vulgare and P. Phe- 
gopteris. If these succeed well with you, 
it is just possible that you would like to 
grow some of the fine-crested varieties which 
exist, and in that case you should gradually 
do away with the commoner kinds to make 
room for the finer ones. In front of that 
line of Ferns you might grow such plants 
as Primroses, Polyanthuses, Solomon’s Seal, 
double purple and double white Dame’s 
Violet (Hesperis matronalis purpurea plena 
and H. m. alba plena). Splendid shade 
plants are the common 'London Pride (Saxi- 
fraga umbrosa)., also S. Geum, S. rotundi- 
folia. Musk and Woodruff. The 12 ft. wall 
faces the east and along that border you 
could grow such things as Foxgloves, Can¬ 
terbury Bells, Sweet Williams, Wallflowers, 
Pansies and Violas. All of these could be 
reared from seed. Annuals like more sun¬ 
shine, and in any case they would get much 
better light in that border alongside the 
4 ft. fence. The kinds we should recom¬ 
mend are double Larkspurs, Ten Week 
.Stocks, Chinese Pink$, Malope trifida, 
Chrysanthemum carinatum, C. coronarium, 
annual Candytufts in variety, Mignonette, 
Lavatera trimestris and 'Coreopsis tinctoria. 
This border could be lined off 'into beds or 
panels by means of Sweet Pea hedges run¬ 
ning across the border. If you would like 
Roses they must either be planted in this 
border or in those small beds against the 
rockery or in the bed on the middle of the 
lawn. We do not like the presence of a 
tree there because if of any size its roots 
must run into the bed. If you decide to 
try a few Roses we should recommend Mrs. 
J. Laing, La France, Mrs. R. G. Sharman 
Crawford, Caroline Testout, Ulrich Brun¬ 
ner and Frau Karl Druschki. 
3192. Dahlia Blooms Buried in Foliage. 
Would you kindly tell me the reason my 
Dahlia blooms are buried in the foliage and 
are not so large as last year. 1 have very 
little ground and have to put them in the 
same position each year. (Heathen, Bir¬ 
mingham.) 
Without knowing the conditions it would 
be difficult to say why your Dahlias have 
behaved differently from what they did last 
year. We can, however, suggest reasons. 
Your garden may be more shaded than it 
was last year. The greater amount of sun¬ 
shine this year may have caused your 
Dahlias to grow more strongly, while you 
may not have pruned or disbudded them 
as they ought to have been. We are in¬ 
clined to think that you have overlooked the 
necessity for pruning away much of the 
side shoots of a Dahlia. In a sheltered posi¬ 
tion the Dahlias may grow rather tall with 
numerous side shoots. The bush should be 
staked out early in the season, having a 
central stem with three or four side 
branches. These side branches should have 
separate stakes, which need not be so tall 
as the one in the centre. Even when tied in 
this fashion they may be inclined to pro¬ 
duce such a number of side shoots as to make 
them crowded. The younger of these shoots 
should be cut away to encourage the older 
ones to~ develop their flowers. Just how 
much you may cut away depends upon the 
size of the plants and the amount of space 
they have between every two. Another rea¬ 
son we should suggest is that the main 
stems were checked in their growth by so 
much dry, hot weather, while the recent 
rains have caused the side branches to de¬ 
velop rapidly and overgrow the first flowers 
formed, hiding them. This, however, is a 
matter that can be rectified in the manner 
we have stated. The same soil is good 
enough for growing Dahlias year after year, 
but you should trench it and manure it 
every autumn after the Dahlias have been 
lifted. You do. not tell us what varieties 
you have, as some throw their flowers much 
better up than others. The under-men¬ 
tioned varieties are show Dahlias that are 
well adapted for garden decoration, because 
free flowering, and show up their flowers 
well above the foliage. They are Crimson 
King, John Walker, Mrs. Langtry, Per¬ 
fection, Queen of the Belgians, Spitfire, R. 
T. Rawlings and David Johnson. These 
will give you great variety of colour if you 
care to invest in them. 
3193. Points of a Single Dahlia. 
I should be pleased if you would mention 
the points to be looked for in a single 
Dahlia for exhibition. (H. Staddon, Es¬ 
sex.) 
As single Dahlias are moderate in size 
they must be shown in bunches of six to 
ten according to the requirement of the 
schedule and set up so as to face one way 
and be as effective as possible. Each bunch 
should consist of one variety of single 
Dahlia only. Overgrown single Dahlias are 
not desirable unless they have good sub¬ 
stance, so as to stand up firmly. They 
should be perfectly circular and the petals 
overlapping, not starry. On the other hand, 
they should be flat and well-rounded at the 
outer end and of good texture. The colours 
should be clear and attractive, not clouded 
nor dull. When two colours are present 
they should be sharply defined—that is, the 
outer from the inner zone. The points, 
therefore, to be looked for are (1) effective 
arrangement, which implies taste and skill 
or experience on the part of exhibitor ; (2) 
colour and in prime condition; (3) the form 
of the flower should be according to the 
’-ules of the florist as above defined; (4) the 
bloom should be of medium size and all se¬ 
lected so as to be of uniform size in each 
bunch. 
3194. Planting Hyacinths. 
I have got some Hyacinths. Please tell 
me the time to plant them and "The best soil. 
(G. Isaac, Middlesex.) 
If you mean to plant them out of doors 
you can do that at once or any time up to the 
end of October. Select a part of your gar¬ 
den where the soil is well drained, rather 
rich, but light and well-tilled. Plant the 
bulbs about 5 in. deep and 8 in. or 9 in. 
apart each way. If you intend to pot the 
bulbs that can be done at once, using a ;; in. 
pot for each bulb or an 8 in. pot for three 
bulbs. Use a compost consisting of two 
parts of loam, one part of leaf mould with 
a good dash of sand. You can enrich the 
soil by adding a 5 in. potful of well-de¬ 
cayed cow manure to each peck of the com¬ 
post. Mix this thoroughly. Get some clean 
pots, drain theni well and cover the drainage 
with some of the rougher pieces of soil. 
Then fill the pots with soil, lay the bulb or 
bulbs on the top of the soil and press* them 
right* into it until the top of the bulb is 
just looking through the soil. The soil 
round the sides of the bulbs should, of 
course, also be pushed down immediately 
you have pushed the bulb into it. Do not 
partly fill the pots with soil and then press 
it down, but follow the plan we have de¬ 
scribed, otherwise the numerous young roots 
will push the bulbs out of the soil. The 
pots may be stood out of doors plunged in 
ashes until they have made about an inch 
of growth, when they should be uncovered 
and brought into the light. 
3195. Comet Asters Failing. 
I have a fine bed of Comet Asters which I 
raised from seed in a frame. They are 
gradually dying from the root upwards like 
the enclosed specimens. Can }mu tell me 
the cause, or if there is any cure? (I., 
Somerset.) 
Various causes have been blamed for the 
failure of Asters from time to time, but 
there is a great deal of doubt as to what 
the cause realty is. Some have put it down 
to fungi, others to aphides and worms, but 
still the doubt remains. There have been 
numerous instances of the same failure this 
year, just as there were last year. In some 
instances coming under our notice the Asters 
have never appeared happy from the time 
