THE GARDENING WORLD 
and in that case their beauty is largely de¬ 
stroyed. Just what plants will be benefited 
and what will not you will gradually find 
out by experiment and observation. A few 
plants, although they are not injured by it^ 
do not seem to derive much benefit by turn¬ 
ing them round. For instance, the India 
Rubber just mentioned will derive a little 
benefit by it, but the Aspidistra and its 
varieties do not seem to derive any benefit 
whatever. The leaves grow up and assume 
a certain position according to their direc¬ 
tion in the pot, and this being so, they do 
not alter their direction if turned round. 
Plants of that class may, therefore, be left 
to grow at their own sweet will without in¬ 
terference. 
WINDOW BOXES. 
3 7 93. Flowers for Pots. 
I have fifty 4 in, and 6 in. pots, and 
should be glad of suggestions as to the best 
plants to grow in them to place in sunny 
windows. I should like bright colours and 
flowers that will last a good while. (H. E. 
S., Surrey.) 
The small-sized pots can only be used in 
a limited way for windows, because they are 
so liable to get dry during the warmer 
periods of summer. ' Some of the Lobelias 
grown for edgings would thrive and flower 
well enough if watered regularly once a 
day. They could, of course, be stood along 
the edge of the window sill so as to form an 
edging to the taller plants. For the larger 
sized pots you can grow Zonal Pelargo¬ 
niums, single Petunias and Fuchsias. Good 
varieties of Pelargoniums for the purpose 
are Paul Crampel, scarlet; Raspail Im¬ 
proved, scarlet and semi-double; King of 
Denmark, salmon ; Henry Jacoby Improved, 
crimson; and Goodwood or Snowdrop, 
white. You will soon find out whether your 
plants require water more than once a day 
by observing the condition of the pots when 
well filled with Toots and after a fine day. 
Those pots that are liable to get too dry 
when watered only once a day may also be 
attended to in the morning. Unless the win¬ 
dows are very numerous it would not take 
many minutes to give what watering is ne¬ 
cessary just before starting off to business in 
the morning and then when you return all 
of them could have a thorough watering. 
If the situation is windy it will be neces¬ 
sary to take some precautions to prevent the 
pots from being blown down, especially after 
they get top heavy. Unless the situation is 
very windy the Lobelia pots will keep the 
others in situation, but it is always necessary 
to keep a watch upon their behaviour if the 
pots are likely to injure anybody or any¬ 
thing if they get blown down. A piece of 
galvanised wire netting fixed up will pre¬ 
vent this. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3794. Calands-inia umbellata. 
I have a pot of seedlings of Calandrinia 
umbellata. Gan you tell me if it is hardy, 
or how I could treat the seedlings? (R. S. 
Surrey.) 
Galandrinia umbellata is fairly hardy, 
but it is not every garden in which it can 
be grown (successfully It belongs to an 
order in which there are many succulent 
plants, and you will, therefore, have to se¬ 
lect a light and sandy situation for it or 
take out the natural soil and fill up the 
space with material containing plenty _of 
sand or grit. You should have no difficulty 
in getting a well-drained situation in your 
district, and if so the' plants ought to live 
■ utside and flower, well with you. An or¬ 
dinary border will answer the purpose in a 
sunny situation, if the conditions above men¬ 
tioned can be given. Tn the meantime you 
should get the plants of some size before 
planting them out of doors. With that ob¬ 
ject in view you can make up some pans of 
light, sandy soil, and transplant the seed¬ 
lings info this it i n . apart each way as soon 
as they are large enough to handle con¬ 
veniently. Keep growing the seedlings in 
a _ cold frame until they are 1 in. to 2 in. 
high, when you can plant them out of doors 
at 6 in. apart each way in clumps or in a 
bed, whichever you find most convenient. 
3 795. Sweet Peas in Pots. 
I should like to grow some Sweet Peas in 
pots, but fear the bulk of soil would be in¬ 
sufficient. If it is possible to grow these 
flowers in this way, what is the size of pots 
to use and should manure be employed? 
(M.R., Kent.) 
You can grow and flower Sweet Peas in 
10 in. pots if you can attend to them regu¬ 
larly in the matter of watering. In the early 
stages this would not be difficult, but later in 
the season when the pots get filled with 
roots, the stems taller, and the weather warm, 
it might happen that most or all of the pots 
would require watering twice a. day to keep 
the Peas growing steadily. It depends 
largely, therefore, upon your ability to at¬ 
tend to them and watch their requirements. 
If your occupation prevents you from at¬ 
tending to them regularly whenever they re¬ 
quire watering it would be easier to grow 
Sweet Peas in boxes or in tubs of moderate 
size, as they would not get dry so quickly 
as pots which have so much surface exposed 
to the drying influence of sun and air. It 
will help them greatly 'if you use t part 
of the compost of well-decayed cow manure. 
This, of course, should be broken up finely 
by passing it throhgh a t i n . s i 6Ve an( 3 ^en 
mixing it thoroughly with the compost. The 
value of the manure lies in its capability of 
retaining moisture rather than in the food 
which it would supply the plants. It would, 
of course, help growth if you give them weak 
liquid manure at least twice a week. 
3796. Lifting or Not Lifting Lily Bulbs. 
Will you please inform me if it is neces¬ 
sary to lift Lily bulbs from the open ground 
when they have done flowering? If not, do 
they require any protection from the frost 
in winter? (C. Knott, Middlesex.) 
There is no necessity for lifting Lily bulbs 
after the foliage dies away, unless you have 
some special reason for it. Many Lilies do 
best when left undisturbed for many years. 
The chief difficulty with them is to get them 
established. Some species take kindly to dif¬ 
ferent soils and can readily be established. 
There are many others, however, includ¬ 
ing L. auratum and L. longiflorum, which 
may flower well the first year after being 
planted, though in a' great many instances 
they give a poor return the second year. In 
a few cases they take kindly to the soil, and 
if their growers allow them to remain they 
increase in number and strength fox many 
years afterwards without having been dis¬ 
turbed. A few of the Lilies are, of course, 
not hardy, but you do not tell us what par¬ 
ticular Lilies you have, so that we cannot 
give special instructions. Those that are 
perfectly hardy do not require any protec¬ 
tion in winter, even although they might 
be benefited by a mulch of something. We 
should not advise you to employ manure for 
any of them. A much better and safer mulch 
would consist of rough or only partly de¬ 
cayed leafmould. Two or three inches of 
this could be spread on the ground in the 
autumn after you cut down the stems. This 
will keep the ground sweet by preventing it 
from being battered by rain, by preventing 
weeds from growing and the substance of 
them washed down by rain would supply 
plant food. Then, again, some Lilies, like 
L. tigrinum and its varieties, L. bulbiferum 
and- others, produce little bulbs upon the 
stems, and these falling to the ground find a 
suitable medium in which to grow when the 
ground is covered with decaying leaves. 
The only necessity for lifting’ the Lilies 
April 17, 1909. ! 
would be when they get too crowded to pr 
duce good growth. In such cases the bul 
could be lifted immediately after the stem 
have thoroughly died down, when you c£ 
replant the bulbs at wider distances apart. 
3797. Tall Flowering Plants Unde 
• Trees. 
What tall flowering plants (annuals < 
perennials) will thrive under the shade < 
tall trees? The position gets a little of tl j 
afternoon sun. I tried Sweet Peas here la 
season, but the)"- did not do much. Tl 
soil is rich and light. (Constant Reade: 
Lancs.) 
Under the circumstances you name v : 
should not advise you to sow annuals. Pe 
ennials would be the most satisfactory if yc j 
can guarantee that- the roots of the plan , 
wtill find a fair amount of nourishment ar 
that the soil is fairly moist in summer. Whe i 
ground is overhung by tall spreading tret 
they usually have the effect of keeping tl 
ground beneath them very dry. In sue 
cases it would be an advantage to cover tl 
ground with some mulching material aft< 
loosening up the surface with a fork. . \ 
good watering now and again with a ho 
would be highly beneficial under those coi 
ditions. If you have a tap in connectic - 
with a water main to which you can attac : 
a hose it would be an easy matter to watt 
any length of border after treating it z 
above described. There are various hard I 
herbaceous perennials which give a goc , 
deal of satisfaction when grown under tret 
if you can assist them in the way alread - 
mentioned. Some of these are Campanul 
laitifolia, C. 1. alba, C. 1. macrantha, ( 
persicifolia grandiflora, C. p. alba grand, 
flora, Aconitum Napellus, Aquilegia vul 
garis or any of its varieties, A. hybrids 
Doronicum plantagineum excelsum, D. Pat 
dalianches, D. austriacum, Trollius eurc 
paeus, Foxgloves, Chrysanthemum maximur 
King Edward VII., C. uliginosum, Iris gei 
manica, I. Pseudacorus, I. pallida, Liliur 
Martagon, Aster Amellus and others. Som 
of the above are naturally found growing ill 
places that are more or less shaded by trees 
having sown themselves there, and others 
possibly at one time planted, look as if the; 
were really wild, so that if they fail will 
3 r ou there must be some other reason for i 
rather than the presence of trees. 
3798. Best Eighteen Cactus Dahlias. 
Which do you consider the best eighteei 
Cactus Dahlias, excluding novelties of 19b 
and 1909? (Constant Reader, Lancs.) 
Two selections of Dahlias may be mad- 
according to the purpose for which you in 
tend to use them. You do not say whethe 
you intend to exhibit them or merely' intent 
them for garden deao-ration. The bes 
eighteen Cactus Dahlias for exhibition, bear 
ing in mind your restrictions, are Mrs. F 
Grinstead, deep crimson; Alight, fiery 
orange; William Marshall, orange and yel 
low in the centre; The Pilot, terracotta 
Star, bronze and yellowy Pearl, pink tippet 
with white; Daisy Easton, deep yellow 
J. W. Wilkinson, reddish plum; Harbon 
Light, orange-red; Fairy, white; Florence 
M. Stredwick, pure white; H. Shoesm'th 
brilliant scarlet-crimson; H. F. Robinson 
deep yellow; Oscar, deep orange tippet 
crimson ; Mrs. H. L. Brousson, y'ellov 
shaded salmon; Crepuscle, yellow tintec 
amber ; J. B. Riding, yellow tinted apricot 
and Nelson, crimson tinted with magenta 
If you require varieties that flower freely 
and throw their flowers conspicuously abovt 
the foliage, then you should make specia 
choice of such varieties as Mrs. H. L. Brous 
son; Mrs. J. S. Brunton, deep yellow; Amot, 
Perry, crimson ; Dainty, lemon-yellow 
Glow, yellow tipped apricot; Eva, pure; 
white; Effective, amber with rose centre : 
Floradora, wine coloured; Pearl; Primrose- * 1 
I 
