February 27, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
135 
hat, there is bo difficulty in its cultiva- 
ion, whether planted in southern, mid- 
and, or northern gardens. When once 
itablished under favourable conditions 
here is no fear of losing it, as it comes 
ip year after year, and blooms at its 
ippointed time in May or June, accord- 
11 g to the district. Just at this time it 
icars a luxuriant aspect, and is a worthy 
iccupant of the border. In large 
ockeries it may, rightly enough, 
ife planted, but where the rockery is small 
he best plan is to delegate it to the 
lerbaceous border, where in a year or two 
t will form a beautiful clump of some 
ize, although it never becomes rampant 
lor’weedy, even if left in the same border 
or many years. The finely divided foli- 
ige recalls Adonis . amurensis, but it 
lowers later, and the leaves are larger. 
Propagation may be effected by division in 
March or April", when The plant com- 
nences to make fresh growth. Our illus- 
ration gives a good idea' of the habit of 
:he plant. '■ - . ■ - 
-- 
Violets 
In Frames. 
Those who grow these in pits or frames 
for winter flowering and depend upon 
division of plants for spring planting 
should now free them of any decaying 
foliage, prick up the surface soil, give a 
good soaking of water, and apply two 
inches of half-decayed leaf soil after 
passing through an inck sieve. This 
mulch should be placed well around the 
plant, so that the offshoots can root into 
it, which they will do towards the middle 
of April, a convenient season for planting, 
by which time a host of nicely-rooted 
plants will be at the cultivator s command. 
When division takes place the centre 
growth should be ignored ; it is the side 
shoots that make the plant for the next 
season's stock. On warm sandy soils a 
southern exposure during summer is in¬ 
advisable, as the Violet is -so susceptible 
to red spider, a west, east, or even north 
aspect being far more preferable. By 
the time these lines get into print the 
grower must set about getting the ground 
prepared by digging in a dressing of 
partly-decayed manure and leaf soil, the 
latter predominating on cold retentive 
soils, while the- reverse should l>e the case 
where sandy or gravellv soils have to be 
contended with. The ground should be 
dug twelve to fifteen inches deep, and be 
allowed to lie rough until planting time 
comes round, when a thin layer of soot 
should be scattered over the surface, and 
the whole moved back with the garden 
fork. In the meantime see that the plants 
in the frames do not suffer from drought, 
j as the month of March is often very dry¬ 
ing with bright sunshine, though with the 
mulch advocated earlier in these notes the 
plants will not be so liable to get dry as 
heretofore. Instructions how to plant will 
be forthcoming in these pages at the pro¬ 
per time. 
Bicton. J. MaynE. 
Thf. Witch Hazels (Hamamclis) are 
somewhat behind their usual time this 
year owing to the protracted cold weather. 
Vallota Culture. 
= Tf?e Scarborough Liilg. = 
Easy as this plant is to grow, cultiva¬ 
tors sometimes fail to grow it satisfac¬ 
torily. Possibly, in some instances, it is 
placed in too warm a house. It comes 
from the Cape, and is so nearly hardy in 
this country that a cool greenhouse, or 
even an unheated one, would meet its 
requirements admirably. In a very cold 
house, or one where the temperature is 
very low,, the plant might lose its leaves 
in winter, but under fairly genial condi¬ 
tions the leaves are evergreen, and the 
flowering period occurs in August. 
Just prior to that it is actively making 
its young growth, and should then be fed 
with weak liquid manure twice a week, 
provided the bulbs have been sufficiently 
long in the-pots to fairlv well fill them. 
The Scarborough Lily flowers best when 
practically potbound. In that condition 
there is no fear of over-watering it dur¬ 
ing the summer, time when making its 
growth, and an abundance of water should 
be given every day with weak liquid 
manure every alternate day. When it 
goes out of flower the water should still 
be continued until the older leaves show 
signs of getting past their best, when onlv 
a moderate amount mav be given until 
growth commences in the following 
spring. 
The accompanying illustration shows 
the bulb at (A) very much reduced. Two 
samples of bad potting are given, namely, 
at (B) where it is too deep in the soil, and 
(C) where the bulb projects too much out 
of the soil. A good dentil Jor nots would 
be when the bulb.is about half buried in 
the soil. The diagram at (O) shows a 
good compost, which should be fairly 
substantial for this class of bulb. The 
(Vallota purpurea.) 
column on the right-hand shows that 
three parts of good fibrous loam should 
be employed to one part of leaf mould, 
one-third part of sand, and one-fifth part 
of charcoal. The soil should be pressed 
quite firm about the bulbs. 
Besides pots and tubs, a greenhouse 
border where well exposed to light is a 
good place or position to grow the Scar¬ 
borough Lily. The soil should be well 
drained, but substantial, and in this the 
bulbs may be planted in clumps 6 in. to 
S in. below the soil, and surrounded with 
sand when being planted. The % bulbs 
should not be disturbed for years. The 
planting may be accomplished in June or 
Julv, just when the bulbs are about to 
make fresh growth. The soil should be 
pressed firmly about them. V hen well 
established, the border should get a good 
watering occasionally, and weak liquid 
manure may be given with advantage 
when the bulbs are making fresh growth 
and preparing to flower. 
-- 
The Franco-British Exhibition and Awards 
for Permanent Horticultural Exhibits. 
In view of certan misleading advertise¬ 
ments, it may be stated that the only three 
horticultural firms who received Gold 
Medal's or higher awards at the hands of 
the International Jurv (confirmed by the 
Governing Council) for permanent exhi¬ 
bits at the Franco-British Exhibition were 
Messrs. Kelway and Son, Langport, 
Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading, and 
Messrs. Carter and Co., London. The 
authorised list issued bv the Council of 
the Franco-British Exhibition was pub¬ 
lished in “The Times.” 
