March 27, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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 he 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. 
Garden 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- 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3729. Easily-Grown Greenhouse Plants. 
Would you please give me the names of 
a few easily-grown plants to grow in an 
unheated greenhouse which has lately come 
into my possession. It is built against the 
end of the house and faces south-east. It 
has shelves round the front and one end, but 
the back wall is bare. 'Could you tell me 
of two climbers that I could grow in tubs 
to cover the back wall? (J. M., Surrey.) 
Zonal Pelargoniums and Fuchsias are 
amongst the easiest of plants to grow and 
you should get several varieties of each. 
Other things would be nionthly Roses, White 
Marguerites, Liliurn speciosum and bulbs, 
such as Hyacinths, Daffodils and Crocuses, 
which you could pot up in the autumn. Fine 
foliage plants easy to grow are Aspidistra, 
green and variegated, and Asparagus plu- 
mcsus nanus. Plants to cover the back wall 
.would be the scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle 
"and the blue or white Passion Flower. The 
white one is known as Constance Elliott. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
3730. Pelargoniums Losing Leaves. 
At the end of last summer I cut down two 
Pelargoniums which had finished flowering. 
After a short time, owing, I suppose, to the 
very warm September which we had, they, 
commenced to throw up small shoots from 
the main stems and then gradually died off 
altogether, leaving the stems in a very dried- 
up condition. I should be glad to know 
through the columns of your paper whether 
this would affect them and prevent them 
from starting fresh growth during the com¬ 
ing summer. I should not like to lose them, 
as one is a large pure white (double) and the 
other a delicate rose-pink (single) with a 
distinct purple blotch on the top petals. I 
shall be repotting them in the course of a 
day or two. Not having a greenhouse T was 
obliged to keep them in the kitchen. (E. H. 
Fullerton, Middlesex.) 
You seem to have cut down v T our plants 
while in full leaf. The plan with show and 
decorative Pelargoniums is to stand them in 
full sun after they have finished flowering 
and give no water whatever till the leaves 
wither up, then cut them back. They will 
afterwards commence to bud out again. That 
is the time to shake away the soil and repot 
them into fresh compost in smaller pots. 
Give a little water at first and graduallv in¬ 
crease it as they come into full leaf. About 
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. V/hen 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. 
the end of September you could then place 
them in the window close tc the glass. The 
reason why the leaves died away was be¬ 
cause the plants had lost vigour by being 
cut down while in full leaf. If they had 
gradually withered awaj r the reserve material 
would have been stored in the stems. When 
you placed them in the window the weak 
light had been much against the enfeebled 
state of the plants. They should really have 
been furnished with some healthy leaves by 
the end of September, and that being the 
case, they should have stood in the window 
safe enough until spring. If they had no 
leaves upon them ail the winter we should 
be afraid they are dead. If not, they may 
break out again when the weather gets warm, 
but we fear that the growths will be feeble. 
On another occasion dr} r them off before you 
cut them down. 
WINDOW BOXES. 
3731. Uses of Clarkia. 
I am again writing to ask through the 
medium of vour valuable paper if Clarkia 
will do as a hanging plant in window boxes 
and garden vases or is it only suitable for 
borders ; also, if it can be sown where it is 
to bloom or must it be sown in seed pans? 
Any further information you can give me 
for the above plant I shall greatly appre¬ 
ciate. (G. Pearson, Derbyshire.) 
Clarkia is not a hanging .or trailing plant, 
if that is what you mean by a hanging plant 
in boxes. It really grows nearly erect, ex¬ 
cept at the tips. It may be grown in the 
middle or at the back of the box, where it 
should stand upright unless the light is 
weak, and in that case it would simply lean 
forward towards the light. It is an annual 
that is best suited for sowing in borders. 
Any time during April you can sow it in 
the often ground where it is to bloom. Thin 
out the seedlings if they come up thickly. 
They should have 3 in. to 4 in. from plant 
to plant. If you reallv want hanging or 
drooping plants you should sow or plant 
such things as tall Nasturtium (Tropaeolum 
majus), Canary Creeper (Tropaeolum adun- 
cum) and Ivy-leaved Geraniums. Plants 
that do not grow so long, but, nevertheless, 
hang downwards, are Convolvulus rnauri- 
tanicus, Campanula isophylla and C. i. alba. 
Another ver3>- pretty plant that would just 
hang over the edge of the box is Gazania 
splendens, which opens onl}' in sunshine. 
It should be propagated by means of cut¬ 
211 
tings at the beginning of September and 
kept in a greenhouse for the winter. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3732. Raising Violets from Seed. 
I shall be glad if you will tell me the best 
way to grow Violets from seed, what soil 
and manure to use and time for sowing ? 
Shall also be glad if you can recommend me 
a book on Violet farming or the culture of 
Violets. (M. Moxon, Kent.) 
You should sow the seeds of Violets at 
once in seed pans or boxes, using a compost 
of loam and leaf soil in equal quantity with 
about one-third part of sand. Place the 
plants or boxes in a cold frame and keep it 
close to encourage germination. When the 
plants have made a leaf or two transplant 
them into other boxes or into cold frames, 
giving them 2 in. or 3 in. from plant to 
plant. When they commence growing give 
plenty of ventilation by-tilting up the top 
of each light. In the meantime prepare a 
piece of ground for them in an open situa¬ 
tion, selecting a rich loamy soil, if pos¬ 
sible. If the soil is fairly good it is not 
advisable to use much manure as that en¬ 
courages a great development of leaves at 
the expense of flowers. If the soil is of a 
light and sandy character you can dig 
in some well-decayed cow manure. When the 
seedlings in the frames have made nice little 
tufts lift them out with a trowel and as 
much soil about the roots as possible, and 
transfer them to the open ground. The 
plants should be 9 in. to 12 in. apart in the 
lines with 12 in. to 13 in. from line to line. 
Keep the hoe going all through the summer 
to keep down rveeds and also cause the plants 
to make good growth. The plants may be 
in a .condition to flower next spring if they 
make good growth during the coming sum¬ 
mer. The flowers should be gathered in the 
morning and placed in water for some hours 
if you intend packing them in boxes after¬ 
wards to be sent away. We do net know of 
a book on Violet farming, but “ Sweet Vio¬ 
lets and Pansies ” is a book that will fur¬ 
nish you with details about their cultivation. 
It is sold by Messrs. George Newnes, Ltd., 
7 to 12, Southampton Street, Covent Gar¬ 
den, London, price 3s. 9d. post free. An¬ 
other book named “ Pansies, Violas and 
Violets,” by Messrs. Dobbie and Co., is 
sold by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
St. Martin’s Street, Leicester Square, Lon¬ 
don, but we do not know the price, probably 
about 2S. 
3733. Flowers for Sandy Soil. 
The soil of my garden is very, light and 
unless I am continually watering the plants 
they stop flowering quite early in the sea¬ 
son if it is a dry summer. What would 
} t ou advise me to grow to get a good display 
for as long as possible? (Beginner, Surrey.) 
You should get some plants that are natur¬ 
ally adapted for sandy soils and dry sea¬ 
sons. You can get no better plants than such 
things as Gaillardias, Petunias, Antir¬ 
rhinums, Gazania splendens, Sedum re- 
flexum, Sedum spectabile and Sedum ablum. 
The Gazania will require to be kept in a 
greenhouse during the winter. Pelargo¬ 
niums should flower well in beds. You 
should also sow 'Wallflowers in May to give 
vou flowers in spring. Dahlias would grow 
well in your soil if 3 T ou give plenty of 
manure. If you raise Gaillardias, Petunias 
and Antirrhinums from seed you will re¬ 
quire to start them in heat and bring them 
ort to be fit for the beds at the end of May. 
3 734. Names of Seeds and Treatment. 
Kindly name the enclosed seeds and give 
cultural treatment. (XL- All, Fifeshire.) 
The fruits vou sent us, or so-called seeds, 
are those of Anemone Pulsatilla or some 
other Anemone belonging to the same group 
