The Gardening World, February 23, 1907. 
CONTENTS 
onnteur’s Letter to Amateurs, An... 125 
ledding, A Novelty in (illus.) . 127 
[.order Plant, A Yellow (illus.) . 133 
ulb, A Winter Flowering (illus.). 131 
Competition Awards . 126 
ompetition, Prize Letter . 128 
urrants, The Culture of (illus.). 135 
idgings for Gardens . 126 
inquire Within . 136 
lower Garden, The. 132 
'ruit Garden, The . 13 2 
ruit Growing for Amateurs (illus.)... 135 
Ireenhouse, The Amateur’s . 132 
leatli, The Winter Flowering (illus.) 127 
iitchen Garden, The .13 2 
.ove-lies-Bleeding (illus.) . 129 
Orchids for Amateurs . 133 
hveet Peas: Work for February . 134 
'ools, The care of Garden . 126 
-- 
dsocus jVnfties. 
The Crocus armies bright and gay, 
Are striving to arise 
From depths of earth, enchained by 
day, 
To greet the springtime skies. 
The world is bare, save here and there, 
Some Snowdrops linger yet; 
The air is chill, the skies are dull, 
The earth is cold and wet. 
But soon the Crocuses will come, 
Their glories will unfold 
A banner blue, a purple robe, 
A field of cloth of gold. 
Then all around us we may see 
These pilgrims reach the light, 
These clad in gold, these decked with 
stripes, 
Whilst some are silvery white. 
Then men and maidens sing for joy, 
As they invest our home; 
The Crocus heralds all proclaim • 
The glorious spring has come. 
Baynton-Taylor. 
LXXIX. 
Seeds that should be Sown Early. 
Among these there are none that benefit 
more greatly by a long period of growth 
than the half-hardy perennials that are 
usually given the treatment of annuals, 
seeing that they flower profusely the first 
season. Petunias, Lantanas, and, first and 
foremost, the Marguerite Carnations, will 
come readily to mind in this useful cate¬ 
gory of plants. Now, I am speaking en¬ 
tirely from the point of view of the novice. 
Experienced gardeners can use very con¬ 
siderable heat with good results; the 
novice cannot; he produces lanky long- 
jointed specimens that never make good 
flowering plants, if he hurries forward his 
summer bedding and other plants in high 
temperatures. 
To sow seed at the present early season 
— the seed of these and other half-hardy 
plants—a slight bottom heat is, of course, 
desirable, and is better than a heated 
greenhouse, though either will suffice. 
Again, I would counsel the novice to make 
use of a hot bed rather than a propagator, 
though this latter contrivance is by no 
means to be overlooked, if, as the little 
plants leave it, there is a heated green¬ 
house to receive them should the weather 
prove severe. Now, it follows that if only 
slight heat is to be used (and I am sure it 
yields far and away the best results for 
the beginner) this long period of growth 
is necessary as the plants do not make the 
rapid growth that they do in really high 
temperatures, but they make harder, more 
robust growth, and the result is plants 
that flower earl}' in the season and con¬ 
tinue until the frost comes to kill them. 
I would mark the Marguerite Carnations 
for the earliest sowing of all. If put off 
until later we greatly curtail the flowering 
period, for winter is upon us long before 
the plants have produced anything like the 
amount of blossom they would otherwise 
give us. Sow in heat if possible, and 
bring the voung plants forward without a 
check. I am a great believer in the free 
use of sand in the soil used for seeds in 
order to make it sufficiently porous. Sharp 
sand, light turfy loam, and a little leaf 
mould I find satisfactory, and, in filling 
the pots and pans it is a good plan to put 
a little extra sand into the toil inch of soil. 
It may be fancy, but I have an idea that 
it goes far to maintain that “ sweetness " 
that is essential. This “sweetness” can 
only be maintained when the water can 
escape freelv. A second hint to remember 
is to keep the pots and pans covered until 
the seed has germinated, and this is also 
•to secure and maintain this “ sweetness” of 
soil. Too much or too frequent watering 
“ sours ” the soil, and if the seed pans are 
kept covered the watering can need not be 
used as often as the moisture does not 
evaporate so rapidly, but the pieces of 
glass that may be used to cover the pans 
should be turned over or wiped every 
morning. 
What shall we Sow? 
As I said last week, this must greatly 
depend upon the position, the soil, and 
the aspects that we are catering for. 1 or 
bedding, if indeed we still practise bed¬ 
ding, the Phlox Drummondi, the Agera- 
tum, Petunias, the new bedding Lan¬ 
tanas, Aster and Stocks are all excel¬ 
lent, because they are showy, and at the 
same time they last in blossom over a long 
period. There has been a great run for 
some years now' on the dwarfest varieties 
of these plants that it is possible to obtain. 
I often wonder why this is so. It seems 
to me, and I speak humbly enough, that 
very much of the beauty, and graceful¬ 
ness, and charm of the plants are lost in 
this artificial dwarfness. Compare for a 
moment a plant of Ageratum of—we will 
call it, its natural height—with a squat, 
dwarfed specimen that scarcely show-s any 
stem at all. Take the contour of the one, 
and then the other—a foot and more as 
against six inches. Neatness and com¬ 
pactness of growth can be carried too far. 
Among the annual Asters we have a 
beautiful variety in the new Hercules. It 
is white, and the flowers are large, and 
nobly upborne on strong stems. I was 
immensely pleased with the single Asters 
last season. There is a refinement and 
grace of beautv about them so that little 
wonder every 'year they are becoming 
greater favourites. Not only are they 
good for bedding purposes, but they are 
never more beautiful than when making 
large clumps in a mixed border. They 
are to be had in mauve, blue, white and 
rose colour. They are among the most 
valuable of all annuals for cutting during 
the autumn. 
. F. Norfolk. 
- +++ -- 
Buddlf.ia ASIATICA. —The long racemes 
of white flowers of this greenhouse shrub 
are sweelly scented, and in form very 
much recall those of a \ eronica, Clethra 
or Lvsimachia clethroides. Plants of it 
varying from 2 ft. to 6 ft. in height were 
shown by Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons at 
the R.H.S. meeting on January 8th. 
Cattleya Maggie Raphael alba.— 
The sepals and petals of this hybrid (C. 
Trianaei x aurea) are white, but the lip is 
lilac-purple with a large orange and crim¬ 
son blotch in the throat. Award of merit 
to Major G. L. Holford, C.I.E., CA . 0 . 
(gardener, Mr. H. G. Alexander). Tetbui}, 
Gloucester, by the R.H.S., on January 
8 th. 
