September i 9) 1908. THE GARDENING WORLD . 
For instance, it is necessary, as a rule, to 
sow hundreds of Dahlias to be able to pick 
out one that is really worth perpetuating, 
or may be better than those already m culti¬ 
vation. If your flowers are entirely single 
we think there is no chance of their improv¬ 
in'* If they have a number of rows of rays 
it “is just possible that they will improve 
»reatly next year, and you can be guided in 
retaining semi-double ones cr throwing them 
all away. Double varieties are obtained 
from double varieties. Usually in the centre 
of the best-blooms may be found a few small 
tubular florets, especially towards the end 
of the season, and these will produce seeo. 
In order to make sure that the plants will 
ripen such seed it is necessary to start the 
Dahlias early in the season and grow them 
in pots, so that you can take them under 
class whenever the weather becomes unsuit¬ 
able. Wet weather causes the blooms to rot 
away, as the big double flowers hold the 
water so long. A small book entitled '‘Select 
Dahlias,” obtainable from this office for ijd. 
post free, 'will tell you how to proceed in 
order to raise good Dahlias. 
3215. Lifting Auriculas. 
I have several Auriculas round the Rose 
bed. Will you kindly tell me if it is too 
late to lift and separate them ? May I leave 
them in the open, or should they be potted 
and kept indoors for the winter? (Lamb, 
Middlesex.) 
This work would have been more success¬ 
ful if it had been done immediately after 
the Auriculas pass out of flower, as they 
would have been nicely established before 
this time. If they are strong growing varie¬ 
ties, we think there would be little or no 
risk in replanting them, even at this late 
period of the year. If the work is accom¬ 
plished at once they will make some root 
growth during the remainder of the month 
and in OctoBer. If they are choice named 
varieties, a better plan would be to pot them 
up and place them in a cold frame, keeping 
them closed for a few days till the roots 
begin to take hold of the fresh soil. A cold 
frame would be valuable to throw off the wet 
during the winter. It is damp rather than 
cold that injures Auriculas in winter. W hile 
pulling them to pieces they should not be cut 
into very small pieces, but left with as much 
soil on the roots as possible. They would not 
then feel the shift very much. 
3216. Late Flowering Plants for the 
Rockery. 
As a regular reader of your paper, will 
you kindly oblige me with the names of a 
dozen or so varieties of suitable rock or 
alpine plants to flower in July and August? 
The wall is built against a hill, running 
east and west, and so faces south, with 
pockets left for the reception of plants. I 
have some early-flowering subjects, but want 
some for late flowering. (D. W. D., 
Sutherlandshire.) 
The best of the true alpine plants bloom in 
.spring and early summer. There are, how¬ 
ever, several rock plants that should succeed 
well in the pockets of a wall, and would be 
suitable for this purpose, although we can¬ 
not describe them as alpine plants proper. 
For instance, several of the Linarias grow 
well upon walls, including L. Cymbalaria, 
L. aequitriloba, L. purpurea, Antirrhinum 
majus, red Valerian (Centranthus ruber), 
Sedum spurium splendens, Hypericum poly- 
phyllum, Silene schafta, Thymus Serpyllum 
cocoineus, Campanula carpatica, C. pumila, 
C. pumila alba, C. portenschlagiana, Ori¬ 
ganum pulchrum. Plants that are adapted 
to grow upon walls usually flower in the 
early part of the season while there is still 
sufficient moisture between the stones. For 
this reason we have hesitated to mention a 
number of the finer late flowering reck 
plants which we fear would not succeed on a 
wall, but in your district the atmosphere is 
meister than it would be in the London dis¬ 
trict, and possibly you would succeed with 
many plants that could not be grown here. 
Some of the encrusted Saxifrages, such as 
S. Aizoon, S. longifolia, S Hostii, and 
others would look well for the sake of their 
foliage only, but they would bloom earlier 
in ,the season, though, of course, only a few 
of the roseittes will throw up flower stems. 
Then there are numerous species of Semper- 
vivum and Sedum which would serve to 
cover the wall and be ornamental for the 
sake of their foliage. The Sedums mostly 
flower in spring, and the Semperthum 
usually flowers only irregularly, being 
prized chiefly for the sake of its foliage. 
3 217. Keeping Begonias in Winter. 
I have some Begonias which are out in the 
open garden now, flowering well. M ould it 
be possible to keep the plants through the 
winter, and how should it be done ? I have 
no conservatory or cold frame. (D. Dodd, 
Hants.) 
It is natural that you should like to keep 
the Begonias in good form as long as pos¬ 
sible, but we cannot hold out much hope for 
its realisation. It would have been done be¬ 
fore now if it had been possible with any 
degree of satisfaction or success. It cannot 
be “done by growing the plants in pots be¬ 
yond a certain time of the year. The only 
way that you can enjoy them would be to 
lift some of them with a ball of soil, pot 
them up and take them into a well-lighted 
window, so that you can keep them flowering 
as long as possible. Another point against 
you is that these Begonias are not perpetual 
flowering. They have a season of growth, 
including the flowering period, and a season 
of rest, when, of course, they die away to 
the tuber. In this country that stage is very 
quickly reached on the advent of a frosty 
night/ Your only hope, therefore, of keep¬ 
ing them longer than you could out of doors 
would be to follow out the plan we have 
described above. Presumably, you will 
leave some of them in the beds until cut 
down by frost, the tubers should then be 
lifted and laid in some shed or placed 
where they will be safe from frost until the 
stems readily break away from the tubers. 
You can then insert the tubers amongst 
cocoanut fibre in boxes and store them in 
some cool, dry place until you require to 
start them afresh in spring. 
ROSES. 
3 218. Propagating Roses by Cuttings. 
I have some Rose trees, all good varieties, 
and would like to try my hand at rooting 
cuttings. A hint or two from you as to the 
time of doing it and the best way to proceed 
would be considered a favour. Would they 
do best in the open border or in a cold 
frame? (W. Ford, Berks.) 
In October you could try both plans, which 
will give you a double chance of success. 
For the open border, select a slightly shad}* 
position, get some leaf-mould and sand and 
scatter it over the ground where you in¬ 
tend to insert the cuttings. The soil should 
be dug over and at intervals of a foot you 
should take out a trench with the spade so 
that you can insert the Rose cuttings about 
5 in. deep in the soil. You could use cut¬ 
tings about B in. or 9 in. in length with a 
heel of old wood if possible, and these will 
be more likely to root than cuttings with a 
soft pith. Tread the soil firmly after the 
cuttings have been inserted. Another plan is 
to prepare some 25 in. pots and fill them with 
a compost consisting of loam, leaf-mould 
and sand in about equal proportions. Cut¬ 
tings about 6 in. in length will be sufficient 
and these should be inserted singly in the 
small pots and plunged in ashes in a cold 
frame. As soon as this has been done give 
them a thorough watering with a rosed 
watering pot h/settle the soil about the cut¬ 
tings. Keep the frame closed in winter. 
When the growing season commences in 
spring you can soon tell which of the cut¬ 
tings have rooted, so that you could plant 
them out when convenient. 
3219. Roses for House Wall. 
I have two spaces on the wall of my house, 
which gets the sun all day, and I would like 
to plant two Rose trees. What varieties 
would be most suitable for this? Any infor¬ 
mation about planting them would be a 
favour. (Novice, Cambs.) 
Two very good Roses for you would be 
Longworth Rambler (crimson) and Bouquet 
d’Or (coppery yellow). The latter is one of 
the Gloire de Dijon type of Tea Rose, and 
indeed if you liked you could use that 
variety instead of Bouquet d’Or (but the 
latter is an improvement upon the original). 
Take out large holes about 3 ft. square if 
possible, and at least 2^ ft. deep. Put some 
brickbats in ihe bottom for drainage and 
cover this with some turves to keep the 
drainage perfect. Then, if the old soil is 
good, add some manure to it and use it 
again, or if the soil is poor get seme better 
material, mix it with some manure, and use 
this for planting the Roses. The first fort¬ 
night in November is the best time. 
3 2 20. Watering Roses. 
How should Roses be watered? This is a 
thing which seems to be neglected in all the 
books on Roses. (H. E. Elvin, Essex.) 
If you refer to Roses in the open ground 
it only becomes necessary to water Roses 
when the ground gets very dry. For in¬ 
stance, in seasons when hot weather sets in 
in June, when the Roses should be advancing 
to the flowering period, it would assist them 
to give them a good drenching with water 
once or twice a week. Then, again, after 
they have finished flowering, it may be ad¬ 
visable in hot, dry weather to start watering 
again to induce Roses to make fresh growth, 
so as to bloom a second time in the autumn. 
The chief points about watering them is to 
give sufficient to soak the ground to some 
considerable depth. The water may be ap¬ 
plied through a rosed watering pot or by 
means of a garden engine or garden hose, 
according to the means at your command. 
The hose would, undoubtedly, be the easiest 
method of applying large quantities of 
water. It saves a deal of watering, how¬ 
ever, by keeping the ground hoed on the 
surface at frequent intervals, as this checks 
evaporation. Liquid manure could be used 
at the same time, and artificial manures 
could be applied with advantage. If you 
have anything else specially in view, let us 
know, and we will help you. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3221. Planting in Light Soil. 
What is the best time for planting and 
transplanting trees and shrubs in cur sandy 
and peaty soil ? Please also give the names 
of half a score of dwarf growing shrubs that 
would do well here. They should be flower¬ 
ing varieties. Any hints you may give will 
be welcomed. (F. E., Surrey.) 
The most suitable time for planting and 
transplanting in light, sandy soils is after 
sufficient rain has fallen to make the ground 
quite moist to some considerable depth. This 
makes sure that the plants will lift well and 
that the soil will be moist about their roots 
when replanted. The moisture is necessary, 
owing to the fact that many of the small 
roots get destroyed in the process of lifting 
and are unable to sustain the plants in a 
dry soil. The following are showy flower¬ 
ing subjects, all of which delight in a peaty 
soil ; —Pieris floribunda, P. japonica, Ber- 
beris Aquifolium (Mahonia), B. stenophylla, 
Genista praecox, Cytisus albus, Kalrnia an- 
gustifolia, Azalea mollis, A. pontica, and 
Zenobia speciosa. It would be well to trench 
your soil before planting, so as to give the 
shrubs a good deep root-run. 
