604 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 19, 1908. 
Amateurs. 
The Silver Challenge Cup for fifteen 
show or fancy Dahlias was secured by 
Mr. Thomas ' Jones, Ruabon, who had 
massive and well-built blooms. Mr. Sid¬ 
ney Cooper, The Hamlet, Chippenham, 
was second and Mr. Thomas Hobbs came 
in third. 
Mr. A. Ironside, 43, Oak Lane, Chip¬ 
penham, took the lead for twelve fancy 
Dahlias, showing a very good lot. 
Cactus Dahlias were also well shown 
bv amateurs, and the Silver Challenge 
Cup for nine varieties in bunches, three 
blooms in each, was taken by Mr. W. E. 
Peters, Baldslow, Hastings. The Silver 
Medal of the Society was given for a 
unch of J. B. Riding in this stand. The 
emaining prizes were taken by Mr. J. 
jhoebridge, East Grinstead; the Rev. A. 
Bridge, The Rectory, Worth, Crawley; 
and by Mr. A. H. Burgess, Wimbledon, 
in this order. 
The best six bunches of Cactus Dah¬ 
lias were showrn by Mr. W . Lockyer (gar¬ 
dener to the Rev. G. Twentyman), Green 
Hill Park, New Barnet, followed by Mr. 
H. Jackson, Woburn Sands. 
Pompon Dahlias were also well shown, 
especially the first prize lot of twelve 
bunches shown by Mr. H. Brown, Dah¬ 
lia Dene, Luton, the blooms being small 
and exceedingly neat. He was followed 
by Mr. W. C. Pagram, the Whim Gar¬ 
dens, Weybridge, and Mr. Sidney 
Cooper. 
The Rev. A. Bridge had the best six 
single Dahlias, which were large for this 
type and exceedingly neat, both the 
flowers and their arrangement. 
The Gold Badge for twenty-four Cac¬ 
tus Dahlias on boards was secured by Mr. 
James Bryant, Salisbury, who was fol¬ 
lowed by Mr: A. H. Farmer. 
Miscellaneous. 
Several large exhibits of Dahlias not 
for competition were staged round the 
sides of the building, thus making an in¬ 
teresting background to the show. The 
finest group of Dahlias was shown by 
Messrs. Dobbie and Co., Rothesay, who 
received a Gold Medal for their exhibit. 
The flowers consisted largely of Cactus 
Dahlias set up on stands, also in vases 
and on boards. At one end was a bank 
of Pompons, and decorative Dahlias oc¬ 
cupied the other end of the exhibit. 
Mr. John E. Knight, Wolverhampton, 
set up Cactus Dahlias on stands and 
boards. 
Messrs. H. Cannell and Sons, Swan- 
ley, had an exhibit of Cactus Dahlias, 
including a big bank of the new and large 
types, to which a variety of names has 
been given. 
Mr. J. Emberson, Hoe Street, 
Walthamstow, had Cactus Dahlias and 
Pompons on stands. 
Messrs. T. S. Ware, Ltd., Feltham, 
Middlesex, staged Cactus Dahlias, a 
greater number of Pompons and some 
of the Paeonv-flowered type. 
Mr. J. T. West, Brentwood, Essex, 
also had a group of Cactus and Pom¬ 
pon Dahlias. 
Hobbies, Ltd., Dereham, Norfolk, had 
a large bank of the new Paeony-flowered 
Dahlias in every shade of colour. Cac¬ 
tus Dahlias were also present, but they 
were overshadowed by the bulk of this 
new large-flowered type. Most of the ex¬ 
hibitors used summer Cypress for mixing 
with the Dahlias, while others used Gyp- 
sophila, Michaelmas Daisies, etc. 
Address : The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
tiarden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
8TOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3211. Treatment of Hydrangeas. 
I have three kinds of Hydrangeas, the 
common one, a white variety of it, and 
another one with a long spike of white 
flowers. This last is now in bloom. What _ 
I want to know is how I should treat each 
kind after they have done blooming. They- 
are in the greenhouse. (F. Roberts, Wilts.) 
The white variety of the common Hydran¬ 
gea would be Thomas Hogg and should be 
treated the same as the common one. After 
these first two pass out of bloom, all that 
is necessary is to cut back the shoots which 
have flowered to good wood buds. If they 
are getting too bulky for you, you can take 
this opportunity to cut these shoots well 
back, but particularly those on the outside 
of the plant. The shoots that have not flow¬ 
ered should not be cut at all, otherwise you 
may not be able to get any flowers next year. 
The flowering buds are produced at the ends 
of the shoots of the previous year. Having 
reduced them to the desired extent you 
should then keep on watering them while 
they are green, giving manure water till the 
end of this month at least, to encourage the 
plumping up of the flower buds. The Hy¬ 
drangea with the long spike is, no doubt, 
H. paniculata grandiflora. The flower 
spikes may be cut away when they cease to 
be ornamental and some time during the 
winter, up to the beginning of March, you 
may cut back all the shoots to within a bud- 
or two at the base, unless you want more 
bulky plants. In that case you can only 
cut the shoots made this year back to half 
their length. You will get the largest 
spikes of bloom, however, if you cut them 
all back to one or two buds at the base. As 
the flowers are produced on the current 
year’s shoots, you can, therefore, cut them 
away by pruning in winter or spring 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3212. Complementary Plants in Beds. 
I have three beds, of Ten Week Stocks 
which are now quite over and I intend 
planting one with Wallflowers. What 
variety of Daffodil would you recommend 
to mix with them. Another bed I will fill 
with early flowering Tulips. What is the 
best plant to cover the ground between them ? 
For blue and red Hyacinths, what is most 
suitable for carpeting the ground? (J.L., 
Middlesex.) 
A bed of Wallflowers would contrast well 
with some such Daffodil as Empress or 
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. 
Stella Superha. The former is a Trumpet 
Daffodil, while the latter is one with a cup 
or chalice. The bed of Tulips may be 
carpeted with Myosotis sylvatica, or any of 
the improved varieties of it, provided they 
are blue. The bed of Hyacinths would look 
very well carpeted with single or double 
Arabis, both of which have white flowers. 
All of. them may be planted at the present 
time. 
3 213. Points of a Pentstemon. 
I should be pleased if you would give me 
the points to be looked for in a Pentstemon 
for exhibition. (H. Staddon, Essex.) 
Good varieties and good cultivation are 
necessary for winning prizes with Pent- 
stemons where competition is keen. The 
spikes should be stout, of good length, and 
well furnished with flowers facing in one 
direction. Tihe flowers will be prized all the 
more if they drop a little below the hori¬ 
zontal. The florist does not yet appreciate, 
erect flowers in this class of plants, lhe 
flowers should be large and widely ex¬ 
panded, not narrow and tubular. The five 
lobes forming the limb of the flower should 
be as broad as possible and rounded, making: 
a symmetrical flower. To stand well in the 
open it is necessary that such flowers should 
be of good texture. A third point is colour, 
and that should be clear and bright whatever 
the hue may be. For instance, .the flower 
may be without markings in the throat, either 
seifs or shaded, but this shading should be; 
clear and not tend to a confusion of colours. 
On the other hand, they may be pencilled or; 
blotched in different varieties, these mark 
ings usually being in the throat of the 
flower. The markings should be rich ana 
well defined. Dull and undecided colcuo 
should be avoided. This does not exclude 
pale varieties, but they should be decider 
and clear. 
3214. Double Dahlias. 
Will you please let me know if it is prac 
ticable to raise double Dahlias from seed, 01 
how they manage to get various colour 
double. I purchased some seed at the be 
ginning of this year for first-class doubt 
Dahlias, and now the flowers are single: 
Are they likely to continue single in futur 
seasons if I save them? (Suburbs, Yorks. )j 
If the seed you had was from double varie¬ 
ties of any sort, they should certainly gb 
rise to some double ones, at least in your 
soil. The better the strain, the larger pe^ 
centage of double ones would appear, bu 
the quality of such flowers may not be great 
