March r6, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
193 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
orld, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
1 v er any branch of gardening. Questions 
ould be as brief as ■possible and -written on 
ie side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
e best use of this column are i-nvited to 
epare and forward to us a rough outline 
awing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
> position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
15. Flowers for Bed of Greenhouse. 
I have got a span-roofed greenhouse and 
has a bed in the centre of the floor about 
yds. by 1 yd. Can you advise what to 
ow in it for summer, something to bloom, 
.t not a creeper, as this would not show 
up? The bed has white Hyacinths in 
00m at present. I thought of putting 
olets in it for next winter. (Troubled, 
;sex). 
There is quite a multitude of plants which 
ty be grown under the conditions you 
.me, so that it resolves itself into a ques- 
)H of what flowers you take most delight 
. We name a number of them so that you 
a take your choice. The Night-scented 
jbacco (Niootiana affinis), if raised iin a 
:tle heat in spring and planted out, will 
iwer in the bed and live through the 
inter in the soil if you care to let it. A 
d of them would prove rather strongly 
ented, though they would make splendid 
owth and be most effective, chiefly in the 
anting and after sundown. Primula ob- 
nica would grow and flower splendidly 
1 the summer; Intermediate Stocks would 
) well and be delightfully scented; fibrous- 
oted Begonias would succeed and flower 
ell during summer. Other subjects which 
ould succeed equally well are Pelargo- 
ums, Roses, Lilies and Fuchsias. If you 
ant out Pelargoniums they should not be 
’er-watered as they are inclined to grow 
;ry strong foliage and not flower so well 
> if they were kept on the dry side, 
lilies would grow well with a moderate 
nount of watering when planted out. 
uchsias and Roses would enjoy a good 
ipply of water. We presume that your 
ouse is well lighted, and whichever of the 
)ove-mentioned plants you grow you should 
»p the house well ventilated and cool 
Inring the summer. A thin shading during 
e middle of the day in bright weather 
ould enable the flowers to last longer than 
hen fully exposed. 
>16. Treatment of Bulbous Plant. 
Can you give me a few hints on the 
rowing of the bulbous plant enclosed ? Is 
a greenhouse plant or does it do outside ? 
• A., Stirlingshire). 
The bulb you sent us appears to be 
rinum Moorei, or some closely-allied spe- 
os.. A warm greenhouse would meet its 
-quirements, with plenty of water during 
i_e growing season and be rather dry in 
inter. If it really is C. Moorei, it is so 
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. 
nearly hardy that it lives and flowers at 
the foot of a warm wall in the south. 
The bulbs are planted very deeply, and the 
heat in the soil, owing to the sheltered po¬ 
sition near a hothouse, enables the plant to 
thrive without any other protection. We are 
'doubtful, however, if it would succeed even 
under this treatment in your county, and 
the bulbs had .better be kept in a heated 
greenhouse till you get a sufficient number 
to spare some for trial out of doors. 
1617. Propagating Dahlias. 
Could you tell me of some simple method 
of propagating Dahlias? I have some tu¬ 
bers which have kept sound through the 
winter, and I would like to get them well 
started before planting them out. (Fancier, 
Staffordshire). 
If you have a’ heated greenhouse you 
should plant the tubers in a box of light 
soil or leaf mould, and stand the box in a 
Method of cutting Dahlia tuber. 
warm position near the hot-water pipes to 
encourage the tubers to sprout at the top. 
When these shoots have grown about 3 in. 
long you could take them off as cuttings 
and root them in sandy soil. In case you 
may not have a bottom heat of 60 degs. 
to 70 degs., you could take off a small por¬ 
tion of the tuber with each cutting, and 
this will enable it to form roots, even al¬ 
though the temperature is not very high. 
You could also get a smaller number of 
young plants by taking off each finger-like 
portion of tuber after it has sprouted about 
£ in. or so, cut it through the middle and 
pot the top half singly in small pots. With 
a portion of tuber to each crown roots are 
very easily encouraged to form, and there 
is no danger of losing the cutting unless you 
keep it too wet in the early stages. Indeed, 
very little water will be required until the 
Cutting of Dahlia tuber potted. 
stem is growing strongly. (See illustra¬ 
tions of this method of propagation). 
1618. Starting Fuchsias. 
Do Fuchsias require much heat to start 
them ? We have an unheated conservatory. 
The Fuchsias grew well last year and 
flowered all summer, Ibut they are now 
rather straggling and without any leaves. 
Any hints would be appreciated. (B. War¬ 
den, Hants.). 
Fuchsias are so nearly hardy that they do 
not require any artificial heat to start 
them, and, indeed, heat is likely to give 
you trouble unless you have some experi¬ 
ence of using the ventilators to give the 
plants air and prevent them from getting 
drawn. Heat is merely necessary to start 
them into growth early. Until you are 
thoroughly acquainted with them your best 
plan would be to let them start naturally. 
At the present time prune the plants into 
shape. If you require them in the form 
of pyramids retain the central stem, merely 
shortening it a bit and then cut back the 
side shoots within a bud or two of the base 
of the last made shoots. Some may be left 
longer, if neoessary, to give the proper out¬ 
line to the bushes. In this respect it is 
necessary to use your judgment by pruning 
to the desired shape. Repot the plants into 
a size slightly larger, using three parts of 
loam, one part of sand and one part of 
leaf mould. Give good drainage, as Fuch¬ 
sias delight in plenty of moisture during 
the summer. Pot firmly and place the 
plants in the greenhouse, giving the usual 
treatment in the way of ventilation. Do 
not water the Fuchsias until they show 
signs of sprouting, when a good watering 
may be given if the soil is inclined to be 
dry. 
1619. Pruning a Hydrangea. 
We have a large Hydrangea which blooms 
well every year, but it is getting too.large 
and takes up too much space. Would you 
recommend me to prune it, and when is the 
best time to do it? (J. Russell, Norfolk). 
If it is the common Hydrangea, as we 
presume it is, it would be quite a mistake 
to shorten back the shoots and expect flowers 
from them during the forthcoming sum¬ 
mer. It you want tc reduce the bush the 
best plan would be to thin out some of the 
more weakly shoots and then tie the others 
in to stakes so as to form a plant to suit 
your convenience. The flower buds are 
produced at the tips of the shoots during 
autumn, and from them alone you will get 
flowers in summer. If the shoots have 
flowered in summer,, these could be cut well 
back, making sure that ycu have a numher 
of shoots without flowers, whicn will make 
up their flower buds in autumn to give you 
blooms the next year. By this means you 
can restrict the size of the bush 
'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr? 
