30 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 12, 1907. 
many amateurs and beginners who never 
think of planting until they see the plants 
growing. This .is quite a mistake, and cer¬ 
tainly no advantage to Hyacinths, Tulips 
and Daffodils, all of which should be 
planted not later than the middle of No¬ 
vember, speaking generally, though some 
of the Daffodils will succeed well if planted 
at Christmas. There are several bulbs and 
bulbous plants, however, which are planted 
some time after the turn of the year, say 
during February, for such things as Ranun¬ 
culus, Anemones and Lilies. Gladioli are 
seldom planted before the beginning of 
March, but you will note that these things 
flower some time in summer, and Gladioli 
may keep on till October. That is the 
reason why they can be planted later than 
the Dutch bulbs. Gladioli, however, are 
not quite hardy, and' that is a reason for 
planting them in spring. 
1415. Plants for Tubs. 
What plants other than the African 
Lily would you recommend for standing 
on the walks and in prominent places near 
the front door, as I want to get them ready 
before spring? (W. D., Sussex.) 
A large number of plants may be used 
for such a purpose, and the determination 
is usually regulated by' the taste or fancy 
of the owner or cultivator of the garden. 
Very useful subjects, however, are the Hy¬ 
drangeas, but chiefly varieties of the com¬ 
mon one, Hydrangea hortensis, and the 
white variety, Dr. Hogg. Free flowering 
Fuchsias are very suitable for such .places, 
and include such varieties as Guiding Star, 
Rose of Castile, Mrs. Marshall, Lord 
Beaconsfield, or even the hardy F. macro- 
stemma gracilis or F. Riccartoni. Helio¬ 
tropes, dwarf Pomegranates, Myrtles and 
shrubby Veronicas are also suitable for 
standing about in exposed positions. 
During hot and dry- weather they will re¬ 
quire an abundance of water every- day 7 , and 
sometimes twice a day in the case of large 
plants. Sedum spectabile is very suitable 
for particularlv warm and dry situations. 
Pelargoniums, both bushes and standards, 
are highly 7 suitable for this purpose, and 
old plants usually maintain a brighter dis¬ 
play than the small vigorous young ones. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
i416. Propagating Holly. 
I should feel obliged if you could tell me 
if I could succeed in striking Hoily, and 
what is the best time to strike it, or would 
it be best to try the berries? I have got a 
variegated Holly, and it has had a lot of 
bloom on, but no berries. Could you tell 
me the reason why? The Holly is in a 
tub. (H. Cotts, Norfolk.) 
Holly is seldom, if ever, rooted from 
cuttings. The usual methods are sowing 
seeds and budding and grafting for the 
varieties. Seeds may be collected now and 
laid in a heap amongst sand or soil to rot 
for a year, after which they may be sown 
in nursery lines, and most of them will 
come up in the following spring or sum¬ 
mer. Stocks of the common one are used 
for budding in May with a pushing bud, or 
in August with a dormant bud. This is 
merely 7 to secure increase of those having 
variegation or some other peculiarity that 
would not come true from seed. To do 
this, of course, it is necessary to sow seeds 
to get stocks. Some Hollies are not capa¬ 
ble of bearing berries, and others which 
have seed vessels require the presence of 
another tree having stamens during the 
period of flowering. In order to make sure 
that Hollies are capable of bearing berries 
you should purchase them or select them 
while in berry. Even then the presence of 
another plant is almost certain to be neces¬ 
sary, as the- stamens are often borne by one 
plant and seed vessels by 7 another. You 
should examine the flowers of your varie¬ 
gated Holly when in bloom to see if there 
are young seed vessels present in the 
flower, otherwise it is- never likely to bear 
berries. 
1417. Shrubs for Side of Path. 
In the front garden there is a path down 
the centre, with a narrow border on each 
side, but some of the youngsters have a 
habit of jumping across it and sometimes 
stepping on it. I want to -discourage this 
by planting some dwarf bushes in the cen¬ 
tre. Could you oblige by 7 naming half-a- 
dozen dwarf flowering kinds? (Thomas 
Radley, Cheshire.) 
For a narrow border bushes of rather 
dwarf habit are most suitable, but in many 
cases you can keep them dwarf by cutting 
them down annually in March.. Shrubs 
that would respond to this treatment 3re 
Spiraea japonica Watered and Hydrangea 
paniculata grandiflora. Others which may 
receive partial pruning from time to time in 
order to keep them low are Veronica Tra- 
ve-rsii, Olearia Haastii, Viburnum, plicatum 
and Azalea mollis Anthony Kost-er. The 
Spiraea, when cut down in this way, 
blooms very late in the season from the 
ends of the young shoots. In cutting out 
branches from the other subjects which 
grow too tall, it should be done judiciously 
so as not to make the bushes unshapely, 
and old branches or straggling branches 
may be cut out, leaving the younger shoots 
which will furnish the best flowers. 
1418. Lifting a Large F.uonymus. 
I have a very large bush of variegated 
Euonymus japo-nicus, but it is too near the 
window and shades it too much, especially 
in winter. What is the best time to trans¬ 
plant it, and c-an I make certain it will not 
die? I want to put it in the centre of the 
lawn and make a bed round it. (J. C. W., 
Essex.) 
Although evergreen, the Japanese Spindle 
tree is not difficult to transplant as a rule. 
It can therefore be lifted with safety either 
in October or in April. By leaving it till 
the latter period the plant may be lifted 
with a larger ball of soil, owing to the 
greater amount of moisture in the soil than 
in the autumn. By transplanting it in 
April it will just be commencing to grow 
and will soon get established. The diffi¬ 
culty with most evergreens when trans¬ 
planted at an unsuitable season is that they 
lose moisture by the leaves while the muti¬ 
lated roots are unable to supply 7 the loss. 
If the weather is showery at the time the 
plant will be quite safe, but should the 
weather prove dry, it will be an advantage 
to syringe the bush twice a day until 
growth has fairly started. Tread the soil 
quite firmly about the roots. 
VEGETABLES. 
1419. Peas and Potatos. 
I would like to know how soon I ought 
to sow Peas in the open ground, and also 
what sort you would suggest for a very 
early 7 crop. Also, give me the same infor¬ 
mation as regards early Potatos. (B. 
Freehan, Cork.) 
In Great Britain some of the more dili¬ 
gent get their first crop of Peas into the 
ground during November, but there is a 
great risk owing to the danger of the seeds 
being eaten by mice and * 1 other enemies. 
For this reason some people delay the 
operation' till January, but in either case 
th-ev select a warm sheltered border near 
a wall where the Peas can be protected, if 
necessary, iri winter, by loose straw or 
bracken in severe weather. In this coun¬ 
try 7 , however, February is a much better 
month for sowing the first crop out r,f 
doors than earlier. A great many people, 
however, raise Peas under glass either in 
pots or specially-made boxes, from which 
they can plant out the-Peas as soon as the 
weather is in any way favourable to the 
plants in spring. In your case we presume 
you are seldom troubled with snow, and 
get very little frost. Your chief difficulties, 
therefore, would be in contending with 
slugs and similar enemies, but we presume 
you would be liable 10 strong breezes of 
wind even in the absence of severe weather,- 
an-d for that reason you should sow the 
earliest crops of Peas in sheltered posi¬ 
tions. You thus see 1 that you really 7 com¬ 
mence sowing in November and continue 
with successive sowings in January and 
February. During March you can make 
larger sowings^ and from this onwards at 
intervals of a fortnight in order to keep up 
a succession as long as possible. The last 
sowing might be made about the middle of 
June, or a little later. One of the best 
varieties for the first crop is English Won¬ 
der,. which seldom exceeds 1 ft. in height, 
and need not be staked except to prevent 
the wind from blowing the stems about 
during rough times. This same Pea may 
also be bad under the name of Select Eng¬ 
lish Wonder and Improved English Won¬ 
der, which are varieties selected true to the 
type or sbght improvements. For the 
second crop you could scarcely 7 get a bet¬ 
ter flavoured variety than Gradus, which 
grows taller. The instructions concerning 
Peas would also apply to Potatos, but 
there is less advantage- to be gained by 
planting Potatos during November and 
January than in the case of Peas. Indeed, 
we do not think that very much is gained 
by putting early varieties of Potatos in the 
ground while it is yet cold and wet. A 
better plan is to place the tubers in boxes 
and stand them in a warm place until they 
have well sprouted. They can then be 
planted out in March in sheltered posi¬ 
tions where it would not be difficult to 
cover them with a layer of loose straw or 
bracken, when you are likely to get a frostv 
night. To do this it is most convenient to 
plant on a border facing south having a 
wall behind for shelter and a walk in front 
from which you can cover or uncover the 
Potatos without treading on the ground. 
One of the earliest Potatos for outdoor cul¬ 
ture is Ringleader. Sharp's Victor is 
equally early, but the tubers are smaller 
and more suitable for frame culture. The 
old Ash Leaf is still a splendid early 7 
Potato. Newer ones producing larger 
crops, perhaps, are Sir John Llewellyn, 
Midlothian Early, and Harbinger. 
1420. Potatos in Garden. 
Last Spring I planted some Northern 
Star Potato in the back garden, but al¬ 
though the stems grew long enough, hardly 
any Potatos were^found at the roots when 
dug up. The soil is fairly deep and the 
garden surrounded by a close wooden 
fence. Can you explain why this well- 
known Potato did so badly? (T. M. C., 
London, N.) 
Small gardens are not very suitable 
places in which to grow Potatos, but more 
especially tall growing varieties. Usually 
the soil contains a great deal of decaying 
vegetable matter, and this causes the - stems 
to -grow rankly and fall down over one 
another. Such Potatos bear very few 
tubers, no matter what their capabilities 
when under more favourable conditions. 
Potatos like plenty of light and air, with 
the wind practically blowing about them 
from all quarters. In small gardens, there¬ 
fore, it is best to plant only dwarf-growing 
early varieties, which will give more satis¬ 
faction than the strong growing field Pota¬ 
tos. 
