THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 5, 1907. 
l6 
Gfevillea 
Fobusta 
Or Silky Oak. 
In this country the above subject is 
treated as a greenhouse evergreen foliage 
plant, but I think we should not fail to 
see it in most of our gardens. 
Suitable and shapely plants for decora¬ 
tive purposes can be grown in the course 
of six months. The plant has dark green 
foliage, which extends down to the rims 
of the pots ; it is about iS inches in height, 
and has a light and graceful appearance. 
The majority of plants are raised from 
seeds, but whether from seeds or cuttings, 
they are rather troublesome at the start, 
although when once well going, they are 
robust enough, as their description indi¬ 
cates. 
To obtain the best results from seeds, 
fill a si'x-inch pot three-parts full with an 
open mixture of loam, flaky leafmould, 
and a little broken charcoal. Make this 
firm and moist, after which fill the pot 
to within a quarter of an inch with fine, 
moist silver sand. In this sow the seed, 
and then plunge the pot or pots in a slight 
hot bed. Enough moisture should be re¬ 
tained in the soil to start germination, and 
surface watering should be avoided, lest 
the seeds rot. 
To propagate by means of cuttings, take 
young ripened shoots about three inches 
long from the old stem, with a heel, and 
plant in thumb pots filled with fine, moist 
sand, one cutting in each pot. Place the 
pots on slight bottom heat under a bell- 
glass. After they are rooted, transfer them 
to 5 or 534 inch pots, using a compost of 
fibrous loam, leafmould with a little peat, 
charcoal and sand. They will develop 
into more evenly-shaped plants if grown 
on a shelf in the greenhouse by them¬ 
selves. 
When the pots are full of roots, an ap¬ 
plication of soot water will prove excellent 
to keep the foliage a good colour. Use 
the syringe freely about twice a week and 
dip the plants occasionally in a weak solu¬ 
tion of soapy water, for if once thrips gain 
a footing, a nice plant will be quickly dis¬ 
figured and ruined. 
Pteris. 
The Laced Pink. 
A Beautiful Hardy Border Flower. 
Chastely beautiful, fragrant with a deli¬ 
cate clove scent possessed by no other 
flower, laced with beauteous shades of 
colour, flowering most profusely, yet, 
withal, hardy as any garden flower ; surely 
no further praise is necessary in favour of 
this, the most valuable of all our hardy 
border flowers. 
It is pre-eminently an amateur's flower, 
moderate in its requirements, and within 
the reach of many who have not the means 
or the time to devote to its second cousins, 
the Carnation and Picotee. 
The present is the best time of the year 
to form its acquaintance and commence 
cultural operations by obtaining plants of 
named varieties. They are not at all 
partial as to soil, but it should be well 
manured with decayed cow manure, oi 
that from a spent mushroom bed or 
cucumber frame. 
If this is well incorporated with the soil 
and a top dressing given of two or three 
inches of maiden loam, a most satisfac¬ 
tory start will be made, and one which 
the plants will in due time appreciate. 
They should be planted in rows a foot 
apart and 9 or 10 inches from plant to 
plant. Their after requirements will be 
few. In case of a severe frost and subse¬ 
quent thaw, they must be examined, and 
any which may have been ejected from 
their places, pressed into position again. 
Keep the bed free from weeds, treat them 
to an occasional dusting of soot (which 
the leather coated grub abhors), and tie 
the flower shoots to neat stakes. This is 
practically all the attention they require 
until June, when they will be at the zenith 
of their beauty; but should e'xtra fine 
flowers be required, they ought to be dis¬ 
budded in May by removing the centre 
bud or the side buds. If the latter are 
removed, of course one flower only will 
be produced; if the former, the side buds 
only will bloom. 
Before the plants have finished bloom- 
ing, pipings should be taken from those 
varieties it is intended to propagate. Thin 
grass-like growths strike readily, and are 
preferable to thick, succulent growths. 
These should be inserted ifirmly, three 
inches apart, in a shady place, in rows 
six inches apart, choosing, if possible, a 
wet day for the purpose. Plant them in 
their permanent quarters in October or 
as soon after as possible, as on the time 
of planting depends in a great measure 
the well-defined lacing which adds so 
much to their beauty. 
The following list comprises some of 
the best varieties:—Bertram, Boiard, De¬ 
vice, Dr. Masters, Dr. McLean, Freedom, 
John Ball, Godfrey, Harry Hooper, Lady 
Craven, Mildred, President, Princess of 
Wales, The Rector, Rev. G. Jeans, Sarah, 
Shirlev Hibberd, Victory. 
W. H. Morton. 
-f+4- 
Saintpaulia ionantha. 
This interesting plant is not so widely 
grown as it deserves to be. When well 
established it is astonishing what a lot 
of knocking about it will put up with. I 
have seen them do their turn in the house, 
and a w*eek or two knocking about on the 
potting bench besides, and still coming 
away with the best. The flowers are violet 
and resemble a Ramondia. It forms a ros¬ 
ette of dark green downy leaves, from the 
centre of which the flowers spring. Seeds 
should be sown in March in pans of light 
soil well watered an hour before. Cover 
the seeds lightly with sand, and on the 
top of the pan place a piece of glass, over 
the whole lay a sheet of brown paper, and 
place in a temperature of 60 to 65 deg. 
Prick off into pans when large enough to 
handle, and place back in the same tem¬ 
perature. All watering should be done 
by dipping the pans into a tank holding 
them there, with the water on a level with 
the soil in the pan, until the soil is seen 
to He getting damp. Pot off singly into 
a compost of loam, peat, and leaf soil with 
plenty of sand. After the final potting into 
5-inch pots greenhouse treatment will 
suffice. 
Stirlingshire. H. ARNOLD. 
the 
Ragwort Family 
(Compositae). 
The large number of plants in bloom ifl 
the herbaceous borders in the autumn be¬ 
longing to this order prove to a great ex¬ 
tent how much we are indebted to it for 
material for cut flower and garden decora¬ 
tion. The glorious yellow of the Rud- 
beckias, Heiianthus, Helenium and 
Coreopsis, with the white flowers of Chry¬ 
santhemum maximum and C. uliginosum, 
are presented in contrast to purple, rose, 
blue, mauve, and intermediate shades of 
the perennial Asters in all their various 
habits of growth. The Dahlias with their 
extensive colour range are plants which 
have probably had more cultural notes in 
the gardening press than any other half- 
hardy plant. Popular they have always 
been, but it is only since the introduction 
of the Cactus type that their cultivation 
has become general. 
It is interesting to note that D. Juarezii, 
the first Cactus Dahlia, was not found as a 
wild plant, but originated under cultiva¬ 
tion in Mexico. According to THE GAR¬ 
DENING WORLD handbook on Dahlias, the 
Cactus type has practically been created 
within the last 26 5-ears, so that would 
bring it on a par with the herbaceous 
perennials it is s© often associated with in 
gardens, as it was about that time that 
they' were once again receiving recogni¬ 
tion. 
The early flowering Chrysanthemums 
are plants that cannot be dispensed with, 
as they can be used anywhere that flower¬ 
ing plants are required. Moreover, they 
are grand material for cutting. The 
beautiful Gerbera Jamesonii, Arctotis 
grandis, and the best of all the Senecios, 
S. pulcher (which is a good plant amongst 
a selection of bog plants), are members of 
this family; Pyrethrums for June flower¬ 
ing, Doronicums for April, Centaureas for 
the whole season, Erigerons and Achillea, 
with annuals such as Marigolds are only 
some of the man5' plants that are really 
commonly cultivated. The everlastings 
such as Helichrysum, Helipterum Man- 
glesii (Rhodanthe) and Acroclinium are 
well known plants. Two beautiful shrubs 
are Olearia Haastii, which is hard}', and 
Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius which re¬ 
quires wall protection, must not be for¬ 
gotten. Both are profuse blooming 
plants, which are not at all fastidious as 
to soil. . 
The Eupatoriums and Cineraria are the 
only two plants that need be mentioned 
that are grown as greenhouse plants, but 
the order supplies us with a few whole¬ 
some vegetables. The Cardoon, the Globe 
Artichoke, the Jerusalem Artichoke, Let¬ 
tuce, Endive, Chicory, Salsify and Scor- 
zonera, while Tarrago-n is much sought 
after as a culinary herb, and is used in the 
manufacture of Tarragon vinegar, which 
is the most expensive article of the kind. 
The order is medicinally valuable for 
tonics, and some of the plants such as 
Camomile are used for fomentation for 
colic and neuralgia. The national flower 
of Scotland belongs to this family; this 
should give it first place in the hearts of 
her sons, so man}' of whom are profes¬ 
sional gardeners. 
Stirlingshire. H. ARNOLD. 
