the gardening world. J anuar y 26 > w 
Stocks, Brampton Stocks, or Intermediate 
Stocks in pots, except that the two latter 
would require sheltering in a cold frame 
during winter. You will have to be careful 
during the early stages of the seedlings in 
the matter of watering to avoid damping. 
After the pots get full of roots and the plants 
grow freely you can give more water, but 
provided the soil is just nicely moist, delu¬ 
ging them with water would be unnecessary, 
(x) Seedlings should be reared in small 
pots, pricked off into boxes or else potted 
up singly in small pots after they have made 
a few leaves. The secret of growing them 
in pots would be to shift them from small 
to larger sizes as they grow. The time to 
do this would be when the roots have got 
through the recent addition of soil and just 
commenced to run round inside the pots. 
Several shifts would thus be necessary, the 
final shift being into 6 in. to 8 in. pots 
according to the vigour of your plants. (2) 
A suitable compost for the second and suc¬ 
ceeding pots would be two parts fibrous loam 
and one part of leaf mould and sand. In 
the early stages the compost might consist 
of equal'parts of loam, leaf mould and sand. 
(3) One plant would be sufficient for a 6 in. 
pot and three would be quite sufficient for 
an 8 in. pot. If they grow well with you 
one plant might fill the large pot, but they 
would require to be large and bushy speci¬ 
mens. Other plants that might be grown 
in pots are Mignonette, Night-Scented To¬ 
bacco, Night-Scented Stock and Sweet Alys- 
suim. The Tobacco plants would be trouble- 
some'in the early stages without a green¬ 
house, but neither of them would be any 
easier to grow than the Stocks. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1461. Starting Sweet Peas. 
I have some good Sweet Pea seeds, the 
best of your two dozen list in to-day’s issue, 
and wish to devote a sunny corner of my 
garden to them sheltered from north and 
east winds. I have no greenhouse or hot¬ 
bed in which to start them, but have plenty 
of wood of which deep boxes could be made. 
When is the best time to sow? (C. J. Har¬ 
rison, Middlesex). 
If we were .situated as you are without the 
convenience of a greenhouse or frame we 
should prepare the ground in good time and 
sow the seeds in the open about the begin¬ 
ning of March, selecting a time when the 
soil is dry enough to work without puddling. 
The shelter close to the coal house is all very 
well early in the season, but Sweet Peas 
like the open breeze about them, and we 
should prefer the middle of the same area 
devoted to beds as marked on your plan. 
We should, indeed, sow them in lines right 
across the border from the path to the wall. 
They would therefore run north and south 
and'give you as much satisfaction as in any 
other' part of the garden. If you are very 
much troubled with slugs during March 
and April it might be worth your while to 
sow some of each sort in small pots, which 
you could stand in some corner of your 
garden upon boards until the Peas are 3 in. 
high, after which you could plant them 
out. If your soil is fairly free from slugs 
we should not even trouble about putting 
them in pots. Take out a trench 3 in. deep 
for the Peas, half-filling the trenches after 
sowing the seeds. The remainder may be 
filled in when the Peas get a few - inches 
high. 
1462. What to Plant in a Flower Garden. 
Will you kindly advise me what to plant 
in my garden as per outline below. The 
soil is rather heavy and was lately manured. 
(A. Bunyon, Middlesex). 
As far as the plan indicates we should 
undertake to grow a great variety of sub¬ 
jects in the garden at your command. There 
is no indication that the trees are of any 
size, or whether they shade the garden. 
That is an important point to take into con¬ 
sideration. It seems that too much of the 
garden is occupied with the broad path run¬ 
ning down the middle. The Rose bed in 
the central area could be made larger and 
at least one other bed made nearer the house, 
unless you have a special reason for so 
much space. If the standard Rose in the 
centre bed succeeds well, you might have 
some bushes all round the sides of it, especi¬ 
ally if you widen the bed. Bush Roses for 
this, purpose would be Caroline Testout, La 
France, Liberty, Mrs. John Laing, Capt. 
Hayward, Dupuy Jamain. At 3 ft. from the 
base of the standard, or even slightly less, 
you could put in the Roses at 18 in. apart 
round the sides, provided you prune them as 
for exhibition. The side beds might be 
occupied with a great variety of subjects, 
but as you give no indication of what pleases 
you best, it is rather a wide subject to men¬ 
tion a tithe of the plants that could be 
grown there. For instance, if you refer to 
No. 1431, “ Flowers in Spring and Autumn,” 
and to No. 1434,“What to Grow in Summer,” 
you. will find a large number of annuals and 
perennials mentioned that would grow under 
those conditions if the soil is properly tilled 
from year to year, and the garden not too 
much shaded. If your taste runs into any 
particular class of plants, let us know, and 
we shall advise you. 
1463. Christmas Roses with Black Marks. 
In reference to reply 1412, the Bath 
variety of Christmas Rose has pronounced 
dark marks on the back of the petals (sepals) 
when an inch or so from the ground. They 
are not, however, black, but a deep purple- 
black, something dike ink splashes, and 
are perfectly natural to the variety, coming 
even in a greenhouse. (Sunnyside.) 
1464. Annuals for Bouquets. 
Be good enough to give me a list of the 
very best showy annuals suitable for cutting 
for bouquets for a children’s garden to be 
sown out of doors early in April or end of 
March. (A. J. W., Kent.) 
The following are all suitable, or at least 
employed, for making into bouquets, and 
may be sown at the time you state :—Sca- 
biosa atropurpurea, Pansies, Nigella damas- 
cena, Giant Red Mignonette, double Stock- 
flowered Larkspur, Erysimum perofskianum, 
Chrysanthemum carinatum burridgeanum, C. 
ooronarium (double),Cornflower (mixed), yel¬ 
low Sweet Sultan, white Sweet Sultan, Heli- 
chrysum (mixed), Acroclinium roseum, and 
Rhodanthe Manglesii. The last three are 
everlastings. You can also sow Sweet Peas 
early in March, as they are amongst the 
most popular of flowers for a great variety 
of purposes. 
1465. Pansies and Violas. 
What is the difference between Cassier’s 
Strain and Giant, and which is the best 
variety? Is Trimardeau only a variety of 
Viola tricolor? I saw some growing at 
Avery Hill last' year out of doors with 
flowers larger than a crown piece. Can I 
put in seed of this shortly, and how? Any 
advice concerning Pansies and garden Violas 
you may care to give me will be esteemed. 
(A. J. W., Kent.) 
Cassier’s Pansies is a fancy strain having 
large flowers and large blotches. The Giant 
is simply a large strain which may not have 
the blotches so characteristic of fancy Pan¬ 
sies. You will get a variety of colours from 
seed of either of them, and which you like 
best will settle the matter for garden decora¬ 
tion. It is entirely a matter of taste which 
you would consider the most handsome. The 
Trimardeau Pansies are simply a fancy 
strain of Pansies of which Viola tricolor 
may be considered one of the chief ances¬ 
tors. It is no uncommon thing to get flowers 
of these fancy Pansies 3 in. across. You 
can sow seeds of either or all of the above 
in boxes of light, sandy soil and leaf mould. 
The boxes should be placed in a frame and 
the seedlings pricked off into other boxes 
when they have made a leaf or two, and 
finally planted in the open, after being har- 
dened off, any time after the beginning of 
April. Garden Violas differ from Pansies 
in being perennial, more or less continuous 
blooming, and in sending up numerous 
suckers from the base-all through the sum¬ 
mer. The flowers need not be so circular 
as in a Pansy, although they sometimes are. 
You can raise them from seeds, but if you 
want choice named varieties, you must get 
young plants from the nurseryman and pro¬ 
pagate them annually in autumn from cut¬ 
tings. 
1466. Various Annuals and Biennials. 
I do not know, nor do I recollect ever 
seeing, the undermentioned plants, at least 
under these names :—Alonsoa, Arctotis gran- 
diflora, Browallia, Calandrinia discolor, 
Callirhoe pedata, Linaria maroccana hy- 
brida. Will you describe them, and are the} 
worth cultivation, and how? Also tell me 
how to raise Celosia pyramidalis plumosa. 
and can Coreopsis grandiflora and Gail- 
lardia grandiflora be raised from seed to 
flower the first year? (A. J. W., Kent.) 
Alonsoa, with small red flowers, Browallia, 
with blue flowers, and" Callirhoe pedata, with 
cherry-red flowers, may be treated as half- 
hardy annuals by starting them in heat, then 
transferring them to cold frames, and finally 
planting them out in the garden at the end of 
May. Linaria maroooana may be sown in 
the open at the beginning of April. It has 
blue and purple flowers in. various shades, 
and is a hardy annual. Arctotis grandi¬ 
flora and Calandrinia discolor succeed best 
when grown as cool greenhouse plants. All 
of them are well worth cultivation. Celosia 
should be sown in heat and practical!} 
grown under stove conditions until they arx 
about to flower, after which you can pui 
them in a greenhouse if you like. CoreopsL 
grandiflora and Gaillardia grandiflora woulc 
not be a great success flowered the first 
year, unless they are raised in heat very 
early. By sowing them in spring and plant 
ing them out after they have made stock} 
little plants, they will flower well with yox 
in the following season, if you give then 
plenty of room. Your other question nex 
week. 
1467. Flowers for a Windy Garden. 
Many thanks for your answer to my las 
question. Would you be so good as to tel 
me what flowers you would advise me b 
grow in some exposed beds which are 01 
fairly high ground fully open to all winds 
having no shelter from trees or buildings 
I have a cold greenhouse in. which I couh 
start the seeds, and should like to have a 
much bloom as possible during spring, sum 
mer and autumn. (Ajax, Galway.) 
As your climate is mild and moist, especi 
ally during the growing season, we thin! 
you. might be able to grow a considerabl 
variety of subjects, even although the situa 
tion is rather exposed. For instance, yo 
.should raise such annuals under glass a 
Ten-week Stocks, double Larkspurs, dwar 
Nasturtiums, Godetia Lady Albemarle 
Eschscholtzia Mandarin, Antirrhinums 
Chrysanthemum burridgeanum, C. core 
narium (double) and C. segetum grandiflorun 
Sweet Alyssum lies close to the ground, an 
we think would do well with you. It make 
a useful edging of small white flowers the 
are sweet scented. You could also get 
variety of perennial plants, such as Aquik 
gins., Globe Flowers (Trollius), Veronic. 
longifolia, Geranium armenum, single an 
double Pyrethrums, Campanula persicifoli; 
C.p. grandiflora alba, Chrysanthemum max 
mum, C.m. King Edward VII., Aster Ame 
lus, Chinese Paeonies, Malva moschata, M.n 
alba, Arabis albida, A.a. flore pleno, Aut 
rietias in variety, and Snow in Summer. Th 
last four are dwarf plants suitable fo 
rockwork, and you might increase those _b 
getting different species of Saxifraga, h 
