m THE GARDENING WORLD . March g, i 9 o r 
it. This might be suitable for certain 
plants, such as Auriculas in summer, but 
it is altogether wrong for Marrows. You 
must remember that the inside of the fence 
on the north side of your garden is facing 
the south, thus, though the wall may be the 
north one, the inner face of it would be a 
southern aspect. \Ye shall, therefore, indi¬ 
cate what we mean by reference to the 
plants.as marked in the border. If we are 
right in presuming that the hotbed and 
Vegetable Marrow beds look towards the 
north-west, then we should advise you to 
have it in the opposite corner where it would 
look towards the south-east, as it would get 
more sun at all times, but would reap the 
greatest advantage m winter and spring 
when the temperature is naturally low. We 
should prefer a sunny position for the 
Vegetable Marrows and give them plenty 
of water in summer. There is a chance of 
the corner next the fence being very dry 
if it really faces the south-east; that is a 
point on which you should make sure. The 
aspects are always reckoned from the in¬ 
side of the garden, and that part on which 
the sun strikes straight during midday is 
the south aspect, and therefore the warmest. 
You can always shade a frame in summer 
if necessary, but in the case of Vegetable 
Marrows no frames are necessary after the 
middle of June unless the weather be un¬ 
usually cold. Your seedlings grow slowly 
because the temperature is naturally low. 
We think it would have looked better if you 
had placed your frames all in one line 
instead of scattering them about, and they 
will prove most useful to you if you place 
them so as to face the south as near as 
possible. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
1594. Plant Not Growing Well. 
Can you tell me what kind of a plant 
the leaf comes from which I have enclosed ? 
I have had it about three years now. It 
was a young plant then and does not seem 
to me to be growing right. I think it 
‘ought to be from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. high by 
now. Can you tell me whether there is 
anything the matter with it, and what I 
can do to it to improve it ? It was repotted 
into a 6 in. pot with some ordinary soil 
about two years ago, and now has four 
leaves on. It is now in a cold room win¬ 
dow facing south. (J. Bull, Staffordshire). 
Your plant is a Kentia, and probably 
Kentia fosteriana, a Palm which grows best 
in a stove, though it may be kept in a 
greenhouse during the warmer part of the 
year. It is often used as a room plant, and 
we think you have succeeded remarkably 
well in keeping it healthy for three years. 
We should not advise you to over-pot it, 
as Palms usually get too large soon enough. 
You can scarcely expect it to reach the 
height you mention in so short a period, 
as it is bound to grow slowly and make 
only a few leaves in a room. If you were 
to raise the heat of the room it would be 
too dry, and cripple the leaves. We think 
you cannot do better than continue the 
present treatment, keeping the leaves clean 
by sponging when they get dusty. 
1595. Joss Lilies. 
I have purchased some Joss Lilies. I 
have been told they are to be planted in 
sand and water. Will you kindly tell me 
what kind of sand or soil to use, how deeply 
must they be planted in the same, should 
they be covered (if any) with water? Some 
of the bulbs are large with two or three 
smaller ones attached. Should these be 
removed and' planted separately, or left 
upon the parent bulb? How near together 
may the bulbs be planted m order to make 
a good show? Are they intended for growth 
indcors, or can they be grown out in the 
open? (E. Wilson, Middlesex.) 1 
Any kind of sand will be suitable, and 
the cleaner it is the better for appearance 
sake, If you can get fine gravel, with the 
pieces no larger than small peas or cur¬ 
rants, it could be kept nice and clean, and 
look well. What you have to do is to get 
an ornamental bowl that will hold the num¬ 
ber of -bulbs you have, or else get a number 
of bowls. iFor instance, a 'bowl 6 in. across 
would take three of the bulbs, if not too 
large to occupy the centre. Place them 
close together, and then fill in the sand or 
gravel to about the middle of the bulbs, or 
a little higher to keep them steady. A bowl 
about 8 in. acfoss the mouth would take, 
perhaps, five of the bulbs, dependent upon 
the size of the latter, as they vary. If the 
water rises just above the sand or gravel 
it will be sufficient. Do not remove any of 
the small bulbs, as some of them may bloom. 
The bulbs, if large, may just be touching 
one another, if there is no more than three 
in the bowl; but if five, they should be 
spread out a little more to allow room for 
the foliage and flowers. It would not be 
worth your while growing the Joss Lilies 
out of doors. You should have a frame, 
or, in the absence of that, you should grow 
them in a well-lighted window facing the 
south, or the next best window you have 
for light. 
1596. Hyacinths not Flowering. 
Will you kindly inform me the reason 
of the enclosed Hyacinths not flowering ? 
I have had the bulbs two years. It has 
flowered two seasons, and it appeared to be 
in good condition when planted last Octo¬ 
ber. I am unable to find out the cause 
of failure, so decided to send it on to you. 
(A Lover of Gardening, Essex.) 
The bulbs you sent us were very small 
for Hyacinths; in fact, they have become 
exhausted and played out by flowering twice 
under unfavourable conditions, and they 
have become attacked with the bulb mite, 
poduras, and other vermin. It is too much 
to expect a Hyacinth to bloom twice in suc¬ 
cession in pots. We presume you have had 
it in the dwelling house, otherwise it must 
have had heat. In any case, your best 
plan would be to destroy the bulbs, if they 
are not going to flower, and get a new 
supply of bulbs next September or October. 
The best plan would be to burn the bulbs, 
in order to destroy the mite. Do not use 
the same soil for Hyacinths next autumn. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1597. Anemones. 
Will you kindly tell me how to plant 
Anemones ? What aspect is most favour¬ 
able? The bulbs or roots are very strange- 
looking. How many pieces should be plan¬ 
ted in one patch, and how far apart to 
make a decent clump ? (E. Wilson, 
Middlesex.) 
If the soil of your garden is of an open 
and friable nature, you should proceed to 
dig and manure it at once, if it- has not 
already been treated in that way. If the 
soil is inclined to clay, ycu will have 
to remove a foot of it or more, and fill up 
with soil similar to what is used for potting 
Chrysanthemums. Indeed, any soil from 
beneath the potting benches that has been 
used for growing plants would be suitable. 
If you have no old soil, your best plan 
would be to get some fresh loam and leaf 
mould, mixing the loam with about one- 
fifth the quantity of leaf mould and about 
a similar quantity of sand. When the 
ground is ready for planting the tubers 
can be put in holes about 1 in. below the 
surface. It is for you to determine how 
many should be planted in one patch, be¬ 
cause there is no limit to the size o a 
patch, provided you can conveniently .. 
to the plants without treading much u a 
the ground. If they are placed 3 in.!, 
6 in. apart, according to size, they ^ j 
make a good display. A patch might, . 
deed, be anything from 1 ft. to 3 fj.^ 
diameter, according to convenience. 
open situation is better than a place un- r 
a wall, as the plants like plenty of ]i; t 
Select, therefore, a sunny situation in \j 
that is likely to keep moist till well j 0 
July at least. 
1598. Achillea Ptarmica The Pearl. 
Can I raise from seed with a reasonae 
chance of success^ Achillea Ptarmica ' e 
Pearl, and how and when shall I s ,- t 
about it? (A. J. W., Kent.) 
There should be no difficulty in rais? 
the above Achillea from seeds. Inde" 
you could either sow it in a piece of uj 
prepared ground in the open at the bee. 
ning of April, or you could sow i aj 
seed-pan and place it in a cold frame abt 
that time. If you get good seed, you shed 
have no difficulty with the plant whatey 
as it is hardy and vigorous. When e 
seedlings are yet quite tender and sui 
3 7 ou will have to see that they do not t 
eaten with slugs or other vermin. Wh 
the plants have made a number of lea; 
they may be put into boxes 2 in. apart, ;l 
if they have made some growth they coil 
then toe transferred to the open grow, 
either in beds or borders. If you have ; 
command of a greenhouse, you could s - 
at once, otherwise April will be quite ea • 
enough to sow in frames. 
1599. Forget-me-not in June. 
I want to get a few pots of For get-i- 
not ready for a bazaar in June. JTowsh. 
I go to work to get them in full bloom • 
this time, and whether by seed or buvin^ ■; 
plants? (W. A. Reeves, Essex.) " B 
It is too late to think of getting Myosc 
in bloom from seed now, as seeds shoi 
have been sown during August or Septe 
ber last to get them in bloom by the ti 
you mention. Your best plan would be 
get some plants now, pot them up in 
size pots and place them in a cold frai 
in a cool situation, or even facing non 
This will retard them; and, indeed, af: 
the beginning of April you could th 
stand them out of doors in some shelter 
but shaded situation, so as to delay th< 
flowering. Two species are suitable f 
this work, namely, Myosotis sjdvatica a; 
M. alpestris. The latter naturall} 7 blcoi 
somewhat later than the former, so th; 
if possible, you could get M. alpestris V 
toria. Most of the Forget-me-nots blocm 
spring, and are used in spring beddin 
but by adopting the method we mention ■ 
retarding them, you should have no dif 
culty in having plants in bloom durir 
June. On another occasion j-ou should sc 
seeds in September and thin them out 
3 in. apart before winter. They wow 
then make nice little plants and flower we 
by the time you mention. 
1600. Sweet Peas for Exhibition. 
Please could you give me full directioi 
for the successful culture of Sweet Pea 
including time of sowing seeds, distan; 
apart, preparation of the soil, and be 
varieties to grow for exhibition. My so 
is. heavy) clay. Could you give me tl 
name and address of the Secretary of tl 
Croydon and D.M.I.S.? (Percy, Wooc 
•side, Surrey.) 
\ou will find an article dealing wit 
Sweet Peas for exhibition on p. 142. Son 
sow their seeds during February in po: 
and rear them in cold frames, afterwarc 
planting them out in the open during Apr 
in soil that has been prepared durin. 
autumn or winter. Of course, j 7 Our so; 
