March 23 . 1907 . 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
213 
expense construct a small pit that would 
contain and shelter this plant. The plan 
is to dig ouit a hole of greater or less depth 
close to the wall of the house and in this 
to construct a frame with sash on the top to 
open to enable you to get at the plant when 
necessary. The pit need not be span-roofed 
as shown in the picture, as .the back of the 
frame could consist of the wall itself and 
the pit built up to the necessary height. 
When, made in such a situation it would in 
most winters afford a sufficient shelter to 
prevent the frost from injuring the plant. 
Indeed, it is so nearly hardy that shelter 
and moisture are the most .necessary condi¬ 
tions which you have to provide. During 
severe weather in winter a covering of one 
or two layers of mats would keep out a lot 
of frost, while a few degrees inside the 
frame would not do much harm. 
1649. Keeping a Fern Clean. 
I enclose a piece of a Fer.n and should 
like the correct name of it. It gets very 
dusty, but the leaves are so fine that I 
have difficulty in- keeping it clean without 
spoiling or breaking off pieces. What is 
the best way to keep it clean without damag¬ 
ing it? (T. Ward, Berks.) 
If there is nothing else on the fronds ex¬ 
cept dust, as there should not be in a dwel¬ 
ling room, all that is necessary is to get 
something that will wash off the dust by 
means cf cold water. A syringe is the mest 
handy instrument, and if you require such 
an instrument sufficiently often it would be 
worth while getting one. Take the plant 
out of doors or elsewhere convenient and 
syringe the fronds rather forcibly with 
clean waiter. In the absence of a syringe, 
the rosed watering pot will answer the same 
purpose, though not quite so effectively, be¬ 
cause you cannot apply the water with the 
same amount of force. Those who are ex¬ 
perienced could manage with a sponge and 
soapy water, but it takes some time and re¬ 
quires care and caution to accomplish the 
work without damaging the fronds. The 
Fern you send is Asplenium bulbiferum 
fabianum. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1650. Flowers to Bloom All Summer. 
\\ ill you kindly tell me the names of 
flowers that will blossom most of the sum¬ 
mer, such as Petunias, etc. I am anxious 
to make a good display from June to Sep¬ 
tember. I have three borders 30 ft. long. 
The first in a sunny position, the third 
shaded by a tall corrugated iron building. 
In which border would Violas thrive best? 
(Monica, Essex.) 
Useful and showy .bedding plants that 
would flower from June to September are 
1 Petunias, single or double, though singles 
1 flower most freely; also Zonal Pelargoniums, 
Calceolarias, French Marigolds, white and 
yellow Marguerites and Antirrhinums. All 
of the above are easily raised, some of them 
requiring greenhouse treatment in winter, 
while others, such as Calceolarias, can be 
I *ept a cold frame. French Marigolds 
and Antirrhinums can, of course, be raised 
m heat m spring. If you have plenty of 
■ cc./nenience you could also in a greenhouse 
grow Tuberous Begonias, fibrous rooted Be¬ 
gonias, Verbenas and Ageratums for plant- 
mg out at the end of May or the beginning 
ol June. The Violas would be most suitable 
tor the border that is shaded by (the tatll 
corrugated iron building. In this border 
you could also grow Pansies in a great 
\anety; Calceolarias would also succeed 
there. 
16al. Campanula isophylla alba. 
Mould you kindly inform me in a f 
ijsue of your paper where I can get se 
ampanula isophylla alba. I have sea 
m a11 hsts that I have and cannot fir 
Has it now got another name ? I have net 
wanted it for years. (J. K. Bicney, Yorks.) 
We have also consulted some of the best 
seed catalogues on our table and fail to 
find it. Some of these catalogues are parti¬ 
cularly nctable.for the variety of seed which 
they list. Me presume that no seed is avail¬ 
able and in our experience the plant does 
not seed freely, if at all. Moreover, we 
always obtained a sufficient number for our 
requirements by propagating it from cut¬ 
tings during the summer months. Most of 
the nurserymen who grow hardy plants offer 
plants of this, so your best plan would be to 
get a plant or two, as it is not expensive. 
The name has not been changed. 
1652. Trimardeau Pansies. 
Can you inform me of the several names 
of fancy Pansies belonging to the family 
of Trimardeau? I have the latter and 
want all the others. (C. R. F\, Surrey.) 
Trimardeau is merely the name of a strain 
of Pansies raised from seed. Other names 
given to selections are Giant Trimardeau 
and Lemoine’s Extra Selected, but these 
names explain themselves. The first set 
had been selected for the large size of their 
flowers, and the Lemoine strain may' simply 
be a finer selection. The characters of the 
Trimardeau strains are that the flowers are 
large and are furnished with three large 
blotches on .the lower petals. They may- be 
compared to the fancy Pansy of the florist 
in this country-, but we should prefer the 
florists’ flowers which have been selected 
on account of their special fineness and then 
propagated by cuttings. You can scarcely 
expect to get them to come true to any 
particular ty-pe as Violas, and Pansies, .tco, 
vary- from seed even if there is only one 
colour in the garden to begin with. Two 
other strains named White Giant and Yel¬ 
low Giant aTe known as White Trimardeau 
and Yellow Trimardeau respectively-, but we 
think this going away from the original 
character cf Trimardeau. 
1653. Snake’s Head Iris. 
I have had a bulb or tuber given me of an 
Iris (Snake’s Head). Can you oblige by 
telling me how to plant the same in the 
ground or in a pot and when and what soil 
to use? (David S. Jones, Surrey.) 
The Snake’s Head Iris is known as Iris 
tuberosa, but the most correct name is 
Hermodactylus tuberosus, because botanists 
at the present day do not all think it is a 
true Iris. You are very late with it now, 
as it should have been planted in. autumn in 
any dry or light soil. It should bloom 
sometime im spring if it had been planted 
then. You should not delay planting it 
any longer. Select some part of your gar¬ 
den where the soil contains a good deal of 
sand in it and is well drained. Or, in the 
absence of that, take out a hole about 2 ft. 
wide, 1 ft. deep, and fill it up with light 
soil, planting the tubers about 3 in. below 
the surface. If you plant it in a warm 
situation it should ripen off its foliage some¬ 
time towards autumn when you can lift it if 
you so desire ; but it is really- hardy, and may¬ 
be left out in the ground provided the soil 
is light and well drained. If ycu prefer 
to pet it, make up a compost of two parts 
lcam and one part of leaf mould, with 
plenty of sand. A pot about 4^in. in 
diameter would be suitable for the purpose. 
You can then either grow it in a cold frame 
or in a greenhouse. 
1654. Sweet Peas and Wire Netting. _ 
I would esteem it a favour if y-ou would 
be so good as to tell me if Sweet Peas would 
grow or rather climb up wire meshing? I 
am gowing some along a fence, and I 
thought if I fixed wire meshing along it 
would be better than string to grc<w on. (E. 
P. Bisley, Surrey.) 
Galvanised wire netting is often used for 
a support to Sweet Peas as well as Garden 
Peas, so that you should not find difficulty 
in getting them to climb upon it. If the 
Sweet Peas are close to the fence they will be 
inclined to grow away from that, so that you 
can put the wire netting in front of the Peas 
and they will attach themselves to it readily. 
1655. Lime and Ferns. 
Should I put lime on the soil where I 
intend growing Ferns? (E. P. Bisley, 
Surrey.) 
Ferns, speaking generally, are a class of 
plant that do not like lime, though a few ot 
them like it and others are indifferent. For 
instance, Wall Rue (Asplenium Ruta-mur- 
aria) and Poly-podium robertianum naturally 
grow in places where lime is'plentiful, and 
occasionally you will find some of the Last- 
reas growing in chalky places, but you will 
find that the chalk is overlaid by- clay. 
Without information on the point, we should 
advise you not to use lime for Ferns. 
LAWNS. 
1656. Putting Lime on Lawns. 
Should I put lime on the soil where I 
intend lay-ing turves? (E. P. Bisley, 
Surrey-.) 
We cannot quite see what object you would 
have in placing lime on the soil which y-ou 
intend to cover with tuxf later on. If the 
lime is intended to be of any service to the 
grass you should lay the turf and then after 
it has been beaten and rolled y-ou can 
spread the lime on the top of that as a top 
dressing. It would even be equally ser¬ 
viceable and be more beneficial to the grass 
if you make up a compost of old potting 
bench soil, sifting it and adding lime to it. 
This then could be spread as a top dressing 
to the grass. Lime always has a tendency 
to get deeper and deeper in the so ; l, so that 
there is no object in bury-ing it to begin 
with. 
HEDGES. 
1657. Cutting a Privet Hedge. 
When is the best time to cut a Privet 
hedge? I only planted it at the end of 
February-. (E. P. Bisley, Surrey.) 
For .the benefit of the hedge it cannot be 
pruned tco early now, as it will soon begin 
to grow. If cut at once then the energy 
of the plants will be directed to pushing 
the buds that are left. Seeing that it was 
only planted in February, there should be 
very little to cut, but it is well to remember 
that you can get the best hedge by regular 
pruning while it is young, so as to induce 
a bushy growth from the base upwards. You 
do not tell us the height of your plants, 
but we should advise you to cut them well 
back with the object of getting numerous 
shoots so as to make a close hedge very near 
the ground. If you want to make a hedge 
very- trim at all times you could prune it 
in July and again in September. This 
applies to the hedge after it has got to the 
height you require it, and the second prun¬ 
ing is intended to keep it neat. If you pre¬ 
fer to see as many bright yellow leaves on 
it for the longest period of time, then you 
should prune once a year, and that in 'the 
middle of March. The hedge will keep 
its leaves all the vvinter. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
1658. Chrysanthemums with Single Flowers. 
I am an admirer of your valuable paper 
and also a lover of Chrysanthemums. Last 
y-ear I bought some, and two varieties 
amongst others were Mrs. A. H. Lewis 
and Exmouth Rival. These two grew well 
and promised fine blooms, but they- expanded 
perfectly single. I grew . them to bloom 
on the second crowns as in the catalogue I 
bought them from. No special instruc¬ 
tion's were given. Was the fault in taking 
the wrong bud, or was it in the plant origin¬ 
ally, that is, was the plant from a stem cut¬ 
ting instead of a root cutting? I wish to 
