March 30, 1907. 
THE OARDEI\/NO WORLD 
229 
|s about 14 ft. from the ground. Please 
jive direction for the best soil. (J.C. Den- 
um, Kent). 
You should have no difficulty in growing 
n Ampelopsis in a window box if the 
alter is at least 6 in. deep, though 8 in. 
vould be better and save a deal of watering. 
,Ye presume you mean, to use Ampelopsis 
veitchi, which is the neatest species for 
;uch a purpose, and would make a closer 
overing and be less straggling than the 
irdinary Virginia Creeper, ff the box is a 
.vooden one it will require renewing after 
i number of years, but it should be taken 
o pieces, leaving the Ampelopsis where it 
is, or at least retaining a quantity of soil 
ibouit it. The new window box would have 
to be made so that it could be fastened 
together after the Ampelopsis is placed in¬ 
side unless the latter has a moderate amount 
of roots and can be lifted inside. Good 
substantial soil should be employed, .say 
three parts of fibrous loam with about a 
quarter part of well-rotted manure or leaf 
soil, as this will help to retain the mois¬ 
ture. The bottom of the box should, of 
course, be drained to avoid holding water 
about the roots in a stagnant condition. 
1669. Plants for Summer. 
I have some window boxes filled with 
Keizer’s Kroon, White Swan and other 
Tulips. When will these bloom, as I 
should like to fill the boxes with summer 
blooming plants? Please let me know what 
would flower all the summer in a warm and 
dry situation. (Camus, Middlesex). 
i'or dry situations Zonal Pelargoniums are 
reliable and some of the free flowering va¬ 
rieties should be procured. Single Petunias 
also flower very freely in dry situations 
even in dry seasdns, and some of the double 
ones, if you prefer them, would also flower 
freely. The very large flowering varieties 
do not as a rule produce flowers in sufficient 
abundlanoe to intake them showy. Ivy¬ 
leaved Pelargoniums are useful for hanging 
over the edges, but an edging of white or 
blue Lobelia would also prove satisfactory. 
Marguerites, French Marigolds and Nas¬ 
turtiums, both tall and dwarf, would grow 
in such a situation, but the Nasturtiums 
would sooner run to seed than any of the 
others mentioned. , 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1670. Bulbs for Autumn Flowering. 
I have got my garden well stocked with 
spring and early summer flowering bulbs, 
etc., but should like to know what I ought 
to put in now to ensure a late summer, and 
autumn display. Kindly, therefore, inform 
me what bulbs, if set now, will flower at 
the desired time. If you will also state the 
colour and nature of the flowers you re¬ 
commend I shall he extremely obliged. (En¬ 
deavour, Essex). 
Several of the Lilies are still obtainable 
and if planted at once will give a late sum¬ 
mer and ajutumn display of flowers. These 
would include the Golden-rayed Lily of 
Japan (Lilium auratum), and its variety, 
L. a. platyphyllum, with larger and more 
spotted flowers. Also L. speciosum (pale 
rose), L. s. Kraetzeri (white), L. s. Mel¬ 
pomene (rose and crimson), L. tigrinum 
splendens and L. t. Fortunei (both orange 
with crimson spots), L. longiflorum gigan- 
teum (white), L. elegans atrosanguineum 
(dark crimson-red) and L. e. Orange Queen. 
There is quite a host of Gladioli which may 
be planted now to give a display at the time 
desired. These would include the numerous 
garden varieties of Gladiolus gandavensis, 
G. brenchleyensis, G. Lemoinei (with large 
purple and yellow blotches), G. nancieanus 
(scarlet and spotted). Anv of these strains 
may probably be had in mixture, giving 
you a great variety of colours, but if you 
get them to name you can then be sure of 
the colours. Good varieties of the ganda¬ 
vensis strain atre • Hercules, velvety-crim¬ 
son; Baroness Burdetit-Coutts, lilac-tinted 
rose; Admiral Willis, crimson; Andromeda, 
yellow-tinted rase; Bellini, white with violet 
stripe; and Lord Rothschild, scarlet-crim¬ 
son. Tiger Day Lilies are very handsome, 
though the individual flowers only last for 
a day. Two very fine ones are Tigridia 
grandiflora, scarlet and yellow; and T. g. 
aurea, golden-yellow. The Montbretias are 
very handsome autumn-flowering subjects, 
and the following are well worthy of culti¬ 
vation :—Crccosmiaeflora, orange-yellow ; 
Etoile de Feu, reddish-orange; Germania, 
orange-scarlet and red. The Cape Hya¬ 
cinth (Galtonia candicans) with white 
flowers would blcom in autumn if planted 
now. It grows from 3 ft. to 6 ft. in height 
according to strength, soil and time of 
planting. 
1671. Names and Qualities of Plants. 
Will you kindly insert the names and 
qualities of enclosed. I have a large root 
of the same. (Gem, Surrey). 
The plant of which you sent us a speci¬ 
men was Centaurea, montana, one of the 
perennial Cornflowers or Blue-bottles. The 
variety cannot be indicated till it comes 
into flower, as there is a white and a rose 
one, besides the ordinary blue form. It 
grows about a foot in height and is best 
adapted for border cultivation. It proves 
as useful for cutting for decorative work as 
the annual blue Cornflower. 
1672. Roots and Seeds for a Shaded 
Garden. 
Would you kindly name the best roots 
and seeds to grow in a garden that is 
shaded by large trees and does not get much 
sun. (Gem, Surrey). 
There are numerous bulbs that would grow 
and flower under the shade of deciduous 
trees, provided the shade is not too dense 
and the soil keeps fairly moisit during the 
summer months. If these conditions do not 
prevail you will have some difficulty. For 
instance, it would be advisable to have the 
lower branches pruned away to admit more 
light and to add dressings of soil every 
year and to put something on the surface 
that will serve as a mulch to retain the 
moisture. Bulbs that would grow under 
such conditions_ are Narcissus Telamonius 
plenus, double English Lent Lily, Golden 
Spur and the Pheasant’s Eye (N. poeticus). 
Splendid Crocuses are Golden-yellow, King 
of Blues, King of Whites, President Lin¬ 
coln, Purple Queen, Snow Queen, Bleu Ce¬ 
leste. A succession of blcom would be af¬ 
forded by Scilla nutans, S. hispanica and 
S. sibirica, The first-named is the English 
Bluebell, which should give satisfaction 
even in ground that is rather poor and per¬ 
meated with roots. Plants that should thrive 
if the soil is fairly moist are Iris ger- 
manica, Primroses, Polyanthuses and Lon¬ 
don Pride. Seeds of annuals that you 
could precure are giant Evening Primroses 
(Oenothera biennis grandiflora), pot or Cape 
Marigold (Calendula officinalis), blue Corn¬ 
flower, Candytuft and Sweet Alyssum (Alj's- 
■sum maritimum). 
1673. Dwarf Flowers for a Grave. 
I want to plant our grave with perennial 
plants of an extremely dwarf habit and all 
of the same height so that the cross may 
show up always. Could the groundwork be 
green and the cross white or a sort of silver, 
or could the cross be red and the groundwork 
white? Any suggestions you can favour me 
with to ensure a striking effect in carpet 
bedding I shall be extremely grateful for. 
(Buckmaster, Essex). 
The brightest-coloured flowers are mostly 
exotics, so that you cannot get hardy per¬ 
ennials to give the bright red colour which 
you desire as a contrast to the white. We 
mention a number of plants that are hardy 
and suitable so far as they go, then we shall 
mention one or two of the tender exotics, 
but they can only be planted about the second 
week of June. For instance, you could 
plant the groundwork with Herniaria gla¬ 
bra, Cotula dioica, Sedum lydium, Veronica 
repens, Thymus Serpyllum or 1 ’yrethrum 
Tchihatchewii. All ot the above are green, 
and in the case of the 1’yrethrum you can 
maintain the green appearance by keeping 
the flowers picked off. The same would, of 
course, apply to the common wild Thyme 
just mentioned. You could make the cross 
appear to be white by planting either Snow 
in Summer (Cerastium tomentosum) or An- 
tennaria tomentosa. The Snow in Summer 
would grow from 4 in. ito 6 in. high, but 
being in the centre it would therefore be well 
shown off. If you would like it to be 
dwarfer you could cut it with the shears 
about the end of June and fresh shoots made 
after that will then give it a brighter ap¬ 
pearance during the remainder of the season. 
It is not necessary to use all of the green 
plants we mentioned as we merely indicate 
them so that you can make your choice. 
Now supposing you wish to make the 
groundwork white, you could plant either 
Cerastium or Antennaria. For red to make 
the cross you could get Oxalis corniculata 
rubra or Ajuga reptans rubra. Neither of 
these are bright red, but more properly 
speaking a metallic-purple and very dwarf. 
If you want something that is brighter to 
use during the summer months only you 
could get Alternanthera paronychoides 
magnifica, Iresine Lindini or Coleus Ver- 
schaffeltii. Neither of these are exactly 
red, though they are some approach to it 
and all are brighter than the two hardy 
plants mentioned as metallic-purple. The 
three tender exotics would, of course, have 
to be grown in a stove by some nurseryman 
for you. They should not be planted out 
till the first or second week of June. 
1674. The True Shamrock. 
Will you kindly inform me if I am cor¬ 
rect. I have been under the impression that 
nobody knows for a certainty which species 
of the Trifolium is the true Shamrock. 
(W. H. Glanville, Middlesex). 
YYm are quite correct in your surmise 
that nobody knows for certa-n which of the 
Trifoliums it was that St. Patrick held up 
to the view of his audience; if, indeed, it 
was a Trifolium at all. Y'ou may put it 
down that any leaf having three leaflets 
would be in ordeT. At the same time, s ; noe 
the matter has received a greater amount of 
attention, it may be that the number of 
plants spoken of as the true Shamrock will 
be reduced in number. Trifolium minus is 
largely grown at Cork, and distributed over 
the country from that centre. At Dublin 
the same species is largely employed, but 
we have had from that source a mixture 
of several plants, including T. minus, T. 
repens and Medicago lupulina, all oi which 
we have grown to the flowering stage and 
identified. Usually it is T. repens that is 
sold in London on St. Patrick’s Day. A 
very good joke, which we believe originated 
in America, is that one half of the world 
says the true Shamrock is T. repens; the 
other half says it is Oxalis Acetosella, so 
that nobody is left to say that T. minus is 
the proper one. 
1675. Raising Perennials. 
Will you be kind enough to tell me how to 
raise the following from seed and the after 
treatment of the young plants, whether they 
should be wintered in cold frames, etc. : 
Lychnis haaqeana, Galega officinalis, Pent- 
stemon barbatua, Pentstemon gentianoides, 
Gilia aggresrata, Eremurus himalaicus, 
Oenothera missouriensis and Day Lily? 
(Whitto, Surrey.) 
Most of the plants you name are peren¬ 
nials ; indeed, all of them except the Gilia. 
If you sow these perennials in boxes or 
