January 12, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
29 
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 be 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¬ 
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. When 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. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
1409. Treatment ol Carpet Bedding Plant. 
I enclose the name of a small red learved 
plant of very dwarf habit, which we use 
for a carpet bed. Will you kindly say what 
I must do to keep it over winter, and the 
best way to propagate it? (E. Kleinjung, 
Cheshire.) 
The plant of which you sent us the 
name, Alternanthera amoena, is rather 
tender, but may be wintered in a house 
with a night temperature of 45 degs. to 
50 degs., though the process of rooting will 
be much more rapid by using a much 
higher temperature in spring. If you have 
a stove you can make up a bed, covering 
it with sand, in which the cuttings may 
be rooted. If you have not this conveni¬ 
ence, you could make up a hot bed of fer¬ 
menting dung at the end of March, and by 
this means you will "be easily able to 
maintain a bottom heat of 65 degs. to 
70 degs. At first the manure will be much 
hotter than this, but it will be- safer to wait 
until the heat has somewhat dteclined, then 
the manure should be levelled and covered 
with 4in. to 6in. of very sandy soil or pure 
sand, if you have a ready means of getting 
it. Clean pit sand or river sand would 
answer this purpose. Some people, in¬ 
deed, use cocoanuit fibre for making a bed 
for the cuttings. The end of April is early 
enough to commence propagation, as the 
plants should not be put out ini the open 
air till the middle of June. The tempera¬ 
ture we mention is not absolutely neces¬ 
sary, but the lower the temperature the 
longer time would be necessary for the 
cuttings to root. In the meantime keep 
your plants on a shelf close to the glass, 
so that they may get all the advantages of 
light with a temperature hot lower than 
45 degs. to 50 degs. About the beginning 
of March place the plants in a warmer 
house or place to start them into fresh 
growth, and they will supply you with any 
number of cuttings. 
COLD FRAMES. 
1410. Protection of Auriculas. 
Last spring I raised some Auriculas and 
grew them in boxes for some time, and 
then potted them up. They have always 
been kept in a cold frame. Do you think 
the frost and snow will injure them? I 
have placed mats on the glass. (Auricula, 
Suffolk.) 
The plants themselves are quite hardy, 
but in our winter it is necessary to keep 
the foliage quite dry. You should see, 
therefore, that there are no defects in the 
glass or framewprk, allowing drip to fall 
on the plants, which is likely to happen 
when the snow commences thawing. In¬ 
deed, after the frost goes the snow, if any, 
on the frame should be brushed 1 off, thereby 
preventing drip from falling on the crowns 
of the Auriculas. Some people do use 
mats to keep out frost, and if the pots 
happen to get frozen, a good plan is to 
leave the mats cm the frames should the sun 
happen to shine brightly during the day. 
This is really of more importance than 
keeping out the frost, as it prevents sud¬ 
den thawing, which does more damage 
than the actual frost itself. 
1411. Echcveria secunda glauca. 
I have a quantity of plants of Echeveria 
secunda glauca in an unheated frame, and 
I was told I could keep them without fire 
heat in winter, but I see some of them have 
damped off, and am afraid this storm will 
settle them. What do you think I had bet¬ 
ter do with them? (J. Marsh, Wilts.) 
The injured plants you mention may 
have been subjected to drip during the wet 
weather which prevailed during some weeks 
previous to the storm. It is possible also 
that the leaves or crowns may have been 
bruised or damaged in lifting or storing. 
If you succeed in keeping the foliage dry 
you will find an unhealed frame perfectly 
suitable to this class of plants, as this one 
is very nearly hardy and requires only to 
be kept dry. We presume they are planted 
in the soil of the frame, and that being 
the case, no -water will be necessary during 
winter if the soil was suitably damp at 
the time of planting. Take advantage of 
the first favourable opportunity of giving 
ventilation at the top and bottom of the 
lights so as to dry the foliage. Indeed,-air 
should be given at all times when not 
freezing, and this will do much to keep 
the plants in health. 
FLOWER GARDEN . 
1412. Christmas Roses with Black Marks. 
Can you tell me why my Christmas Roses 
have black marks on the flowers? They 
come up out of the ground with these 
black marks on them and I cannot wash 
them off. During last year I used a lot of 
white sand on them, and they have fewer 
marks than in previous years, but they do 
not satisfy me yet. They grow well and 
stem very healthy otherwise. I have won¬ 
dered if the marks can be caused by wire- 
V'orms, as there are no holes in the petals, 
only black marks. (H. E. Kleinjung, 
Cheshire.) 
Our experience has been that the black 
marks on the flowers of Christmas Roses 
are due to splashing by rain and the effects 
of the weather generally. There are vari¬ 
ous fungoid diseases which attack Christ¬ 
mas Roses, both in this country and on the 
Continent, but in our experience these 
are not very common and 1 they usually 
attack the leaves during the growing season. 
Like most fungi that affect herbaceous 
plants, they rest in winter and can hardly 
be the cause of the marks on your flowers. 
Without specimens, however, we cannot for 
certain be sure of tho actual cause, though 
we think it is most likely due to the mud 
being splashed on the flowers even when 
emerging from the soil. Those who desire 
to have their flowers perfectly clean and 
■white tako the trouble to cover the plants 
with handlights or bellglasses. This effec¬ 
tually checks damage by rain and main¬ 
tains the flowers m a fresh and clean con¬ 
dition. In future it would be worth your 
wlILle to try this plan. We do not think 
that wireworms would have much to do 
with it, and white sand could only be effec¬ 
tive in proportion to the quantity used and 
the area over which it is spread. 
1413. Renovating Old Garden. 
About a year ago we came into this house 
and die front garden was filled 1 with bushes 
and some tall growing flowers, but they 
never presented a very tidy appearance nor 
made much of a display. I think the soil 
is poor and had got very dry in summer. 
I want to grow flowers mostly, and would 
be pleased to know how I can improve the 
soil to get a good display from the flowers. 
The garden gets sun all day. Would Sweet 
Peas grow where shrubs have been? (N. 
Davis, Oxon.) 
We presume you mean to root out the 
ojd bushes entirely, so as to give you space 
to grow flowers. Take this opportunity of 
trenching the whole garden at least 2ft. 
deep. At the same time you should incor¬ 
porate plenty of farmyard or stable manure 
with the soil if you can get it. In any 
case the trenching should not be omitted. 
It very often happens that soils are greatly 
improved merely by being loosened up in 
this way. When they get compacted and 
filled with the roots of bushes, it is then 
certain that it will get very dry during 
summer. If you cannot secure plenty of 
manure, possibly you could get some fresh 
soil between this and spring. The materials 
swept or scraped off the roads often con¬ 
tain a large amount of manure, and the 
grit in it also improves soils that are in¬ 
clined to be heavy. Garden soil dealt with 
in the above manner should be admirable 
for the cultivation of Sweet Peas, being 
practically new as far as they are con¬ 
cerned. If the trenching is done as soon as 
you can get upon the ground, any top-dres¬ 
sing you may give should be applied about 
the beginning of March and dug into the 
top spit before sowing Sweet Peas or plant¬ 
ing flowers. 
1414. Planting Bulbs. 
Is it any use planting bulbs at this 
season of the year? My neighbour has got 
some which are sprouting, but he surelv 
cannot plant them for some time, and they 
will be very late. 1 mean Hyacinths, 
Tulips and Daffodils. Should all bulbs be 
planted in autumn? (R. S. O., Durham.) 
It is certainly late for planting such bulbs 
as you mention, nevertheless there are still 
