! 3 8 
TUB GARDENING WORLD 
February 23, 1907. 
1551. Eccremocarpus scaber. 
Last? summer we bad a young plant of 
Eccremocarpus scaber, which grew 8 ft. high 
and produced some flowers, but the-sterns 
have all died down. Will they come up 
again in spring, or is the plant an annual? 
(T. A. Marsh, Hampshire.) 
If the soil in which you planted this 
climber was fairly light or friable and well 
drained, the plant will spring up again 
early in summer, and should make even a 
larger specimen than it did last year. The 
tubers are not perfectly hardy, except they 
are planted in soils of a light or sandy 
nature. Clay adheres tco much to them, 
rotting the tubers. For the benefit of the 
plant a special place might be prepared, 
draining it well and using fresh compcst 
if necessary. If the tubers are in well- 
drained soil, you may expect them to be 
safe, and if not, it might be well to raise 
some seedlings in case of the failure of the 
tubers. You could carefully examine the 
old tubers by picking away the soil with the 
fingers. 
1552. Keeping Pentstemons. 
I would like to grow some Pentstemons, 
but have been told they are not quite hardy. 
Would you let me know if I could manage 
to grow them alive through the winter, as 
I have no greenhouse. Are the old plants 
best, or must they be propagated? (T. 
Jenkins, Denbigh.) 
Pentstemons are not quite hardy, and the 
modern varieties are in many cases more 
tender than those that are less improved. 
By taking cuttings early in September and 
rooting them in boxes much about the same 
as other bedding plants, you can keep these 
in cold frames. We should not advise you 
to keep old plants which may be destroyed 
in winter or any time after you find the 
cuttings have rooted. 
ROSES. 
1553. .Manures for Roses. 
What artificial manures should be used 
for Roses (H. Ts.) for exhibition, in the 
event of not being able to procure farmyard 
or stable manure, and how should such be 
used? The beds will receive a dressing of 
Mr. Tonk’s recipe late this month. (Mari¬ 
ner, Kent.) 
1 he artificial manure you mention is a very 
good one, and may be used even although 
you utilised farmyard manure. The latter 
has quite a distinct function in the Rose 
garden in helping to retain the moisture in 
the soil, as well as feeding the Roses. In 
any case, you can use the manure you men¬ 
tion at the rate of 3 lb. to the square yard 
earl} 7 in March. If you keep it about your 
establishment before using it, keep it quite 
dry, so that it may be scattered equally 
over the soil at the rate given. This manure 
consists of superphosphate of lime 12 parts, 
nitrate of potash 10 parts, sulphate of 
magnesia 2 parts, sulphate of iron one part, 
and sulphate of lime 8 parts. This being 
a very complicated all-round manure, you 
should get seme chemist to make it up for 
you, or some one having a knowledge of 
chemistry. 
TREES AND SHRUBS . 
1554. Standard Azalea mollis. 
Would you kindly advise me, through the 
medium of “ The Gardening World,” the 
best course for me to pursue with a standard 
Azalea mollis which has just come into my 
possession. It is well stocked with buds. 
I have no greenhouse, and do not know if 
this specimen has been used to one. Could 
I bring it into bloom with outdoor treat¬ 
ment? I propose placing it in a tub. (W. 
S. M„ Kent.) 
The Azalea in question is hardy even 
much farther north than your district, so 
that being only in the bud stage, you could 
stand it in a sheltered situation out of doors. 
It will bloom at the usual time in May or 
June. The soil must never be allowed to 
get dry, though it will not be necessary to 
make it sodden by frequent waterings. You 
need not disturb the roots until after flower¬ 
ing, when the drainage and loose parts of 
the soil may be removed and the rest placed 
in a tub that has been properly drained. 
Peat should be used ohiefly in the potting 
of the plant. As soon as it; has ceased 
flowering the seed pods should be picked 
off and growth encouraged by keeping the 
plant in a sunny situation and attending 
to it regularly in the matter of watering. 
If the tub is of any size, you will have to 
exercise great caution not to over-water, 
especially during spring, autumn and win¬ 
ter. Indeed, the tub should not be very 
much larger than the pot it is now in. 
1555. Lilac not Flowering. 
Two years ago I bought a Lilac, and it has 
now formed a good sized bush, but has not 
flowered. It seems quite healthy and makes 
good growth, with several shoots from the 
ground besides the old stem. Why is th-is? 
Does it require much manure or some special 
treatment? It gets sunshine during the first 
half of the day, but I could give it a very 
sunny place, if that would make it flower. 
What would you advise me to do? (Lilac, 
Northampton.) 
The Lilac does not object to some manure 
in the soil, but liquid manure, as a rule, 
would prove more suitable. We presume, 
however, that your plant is in too shaded 
a situation, and you have been allowing 
suckers to grow up from the base. Your 
best plan, therefore, would be to select a 
sunny situation for it, where the soil has 
been well dug and manured, or you can give 
it that treatment/though we think you might 
be safer to use liquid manure. Then pro¬ 
ceed to lift the Lilac and carefully remove 
all suckers which you find with a sharp 
knife. The Lilac succeeds and flowers best 
when kept to a single stem, as suckers 
merely run away with the energy of the tree 
and also serve to crowd the head. Plant 
firmly, but not tco deeply. If the head is 
crowded with shoots, cut away the weaker 
ones. Your plant should make sufficient 
growth during this year and flower more or 
less next year. 
1556. Hardy Azalea. 
What are the best hardy Azaleas which 
I would be able to grow here, the soil being 
rather heavy? How could I improve it? 
Would manure be any use, or must I get 
some other soil to make it lighter ? I want 
only the hardiest kinds. (J. C. H., Cam¬ 
bridgeshire.) 
There are several species which are per¬ 
fectly hardy in this country, such as Azalea 
viscosa, A. nudiflora, A. calendulacea, A. 
pontica and A. mollis, all of which are cor¬ 
rectly named Rhododendrons, but for gar¬ 
den purposes are generally spoken of under 
Azalea. While those are the wild types, 
there are many) beautiful hybrids iand 
varieties raised from them and sold under 
the name of Ghent Azaleas. The above wild 
types would give you a variety of colours, 
but the improved sorts haye larger flowers 
and often finer colours. Do not use manure, 
but employ peat or leaf mould, or both to¬ 
gether, on a liberal scale. Indeed, if your 
soil is of a kind that becomes compacted 
during hot weather, it would be well to use 
peat and leaf mould, or to get some friable 
sandy soil from some other source, and to 
mix with the peat. You would have, of 
course, to take out the natural soil to a 
depth of 2 ft. or more, and then make up a 
compost of the ingredients mentioned, using 
some river or pit sand if the loam employed 
is not sandy. 
1557. Fiery Thorn not Fruiting. 
We have a large bush of the Fiery Thorn, 
but only a few berries are produced by it 
occasionally. Does it require pruning or 
feeding? If you can tell me how I can get 
it to fruit like some bushes of it I have seen 
much smaller than mine, I shall be glad. 
(Fiery Thorn, Middlesex.) 
The amount and the nature of the pruning 
that may be given the Fiery Thorn depends 
largely as to whether it is grown as a bush 
or trained against a wall as a climber. In 
the latter case a central stem may be allowed 
to run up and side branches trained laterally 
to cover the wall. Then all growths and 
shoots that grow away from the wall should 
be cut back within an inch of the base. In 
the case of bushes, all that is necessary is 
to out out dead wood and thin out some of 
the weak shoots if too crowded. Occa¬ 
sionally it may be necessary to shorten back 
straggling shoots. The ordinary form of 
the Fiery Thorn may frequently be seen 
fruiting very sparsely. There is, however, 
a more recently introduced variety, which 
fruits profusely, whether grown as a bush 
or as a climber against a wall. This is 
Crataegus Pyracantha Lelandi. It would 
be worth your while getting this. 
FRUIT. 
1558. Ornamental Apples and Pears. 
I shall be obliged if you will tell me 
whether Pear trees are hardier than Apple 
trees. I wish to plant one in my garden 
(100 ft. by 20 ft.), which is fully exposed to 
the north-easterly and easterly gales, which 
are very frequent from January to May. 
Pear trees do well in the garden next door, 
but they are very old ones. I should preier 
an Apple tree, as I want it for beauty and 
not for use. I shall be glad if you will 
tell me the best one, both of Apple and Pear, 
for the purpose. I should like a late red 
Apple. What is the best time to plant them? 
The soil is light, well manured loam, of 
good depth on chalk cliffs. (Bleak, Kent.) 
Both kinds of tree are quite hardy, but 
the Pear tree requires a higher temperature 
to bring it to perfection than the Apple, con¬ 
sequently we find Pears succeeding much 
better in the south than in the north. We 
do not know whether you look to the fruit 
or the flowers as the most interesting and 
beautiful. We, therefore, select some for 
their fruit and some for their flowers, so 
that you can choose for yourself. Bau¬ 
mann’s Red Winter Reinette is a late deep 
red Apple; Gascoigne’s Seedling is a mid- 
season Apple with bright red fruit, but often 
only reddish brown. Fears that might be 
selected for their fruit are Forelle, having 
brilliant red, spotted fruits, but with very 
little flavour ; and Durondeau, having large 
fruits flushed with red, and ripening in 
October and November. The flowers of 
most Pears, if not all, are white, though 
they are ornamental when covered with blos¬ 
som. We also name three varieties of Apple 
that are highly ornamental when in bloom. 
These are Cox’s Orange Pippin, with warm 
rosy red flower buds; Loddington’s Seed¬ 
ling, with flowers 2 in. to 2^ in. across, of 
an intense red in the bud stage and deep 
rose when fully expanded ; and Duchess of 
Oldenburg, with crimson buds fading to a 
deep rosy purple when fully expanded. Of 
course, all Apples are ornamental when in 
bloom, but a large number of them are white 
more or less tinted with rose or purple, of 
that shade which is popularly termed Apple 
blossom. The above three are exceptionally 
conspicuous for their colour, and in the case 
of Loddington’s Seedling for the size of the 
individual bloom. Get the Apple trees 
grafted on the Paradise stock, and Pear trees 
on the Quince stock, and they will be 
dwarfer for your exposed garden. 
