The Gardening World, May ii, 1907. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
Ci.itivntp nnt nnlv tfie i-nrnfields of vour mind, but the pleasure grounds also.” — Whately. 
CONTENTS . 
Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs, An. ... 313 
Chrysanthemums: Work for May ... 320 
Competition Awards . 3*4 
Competition, Prize Letter . 3*6 
Daffodils at Birmingham . 323 
Enquire V ithin . 3 2 4 
Flower Garden, The .. 321 
Foam Flower, The (illus.) .• • 3 X 9 
Fritiliary, The Golden (illus.) . 317 
Fruit Garden, The . 321 
Grapes, The Culture of (illus.) . 327 
Greenhouse, The Amateur’s . 322 
Kitchen Garden, The . 321 
Orchids for Amateurs. 322 
Pandanus Veitchii . 318 
Roses, Own Root . 3 ! 5 
Roses: Work for May . 320 
Sliortia, The Japan (illus'.).... 327 
Spinach, New Zealand. 314 
Steam in Greenhouses (illus.) . 318 
Summerhouse, The “ Roxton’’ (illus.) 315 
Tulip, A Brilliant (illus.) . 317 
Window Boxes, About. 3 J 9 
Work of the Week . 3 21 
-4-M-- 
Oh, fairest glory of the year, 
With bud and" blossom crowned, 
With flower and leaf, a grand display, 
To cheer the teeming ground. 
Dread winter did his worst to kill 
The life thy breath did give, 
Thou earnest to the earth again, 
And caused all things to live. 
The frost and snow, the cold and wet, 
The gloom of evil days 
Are vanquished by the power of May, 
We therefore sing thy praise. 
The flowers of spring hold carnival, 
And dance with great delight; 
The Roses hasten on to bloom, 
The sun smiles warm and bright. 
March blew his trumpet loud and clear 
To herald in thy reign, 
And April wept for very joy 
That May should come again. 
Thou promise of the summer’s fruits, 
Thou pledge of harvest home. 
We greet thee for our hearts are glad 
That May, sweet May, hath come. 
Baynton-Taylor. 
XC. 
A Necessary Piece of Work. 
Nobody likes staking and tying; it is 
onerous, thankless work that is often put 
off from day to day because no one likes 
to take it in hand. But I go far enough 
to say that there is no garden operation 
that needs being done at the right time 
so much. Some plants, like the Galega 
for instance, have stems sturdy enough 
to need no stake until close upon the 
time when they become heavy with blos¬ 
som. Others, the Erigeron speciosus, 
Oriental Poppies, to name but one or 
two, if once they begin to lose their up¬ 
right habit, and fall forward, are impos¬ 
sible to deal with in a satisfactory and 
tidy manner. Under such conditions it 
is impossible to make them even present¬ 
able. Hence, then, I would emphasise 
the need of staking and tying as it be¬ 
comes necessary. 
A New Flower. 
Well, a new flower in its present form 
and‘one that should prove a grand addi¬ 
tion to the summer garden. It is our old 
friend the blue Lobelia, but as a double 
flower. Think of it! Wliat a mass of 
blue, of glorious rich blue, it will make 
for us, denser than the single form could 
ever become, and of good compact habit 
of growth. Some few of us may have 
grown it last season, but thousands will 
want it for the coming summer, Pm sure. 
We had reams of literature on the Nico- 
tiana Sanderae when it was a novelty, 
but, somehow, this double flowered Lo¬ 
belia does not seem to have been much 
written about, but I can assure my 
readers it is not a subject to be passed 
over. It cannot be grown from seed, 
but I am glad to see that this season 
rooted cuttings are being offered for bed¬ 
ding out at two shillings and sixpence 
for fifty. This novelty rejoices in the 
name L. Kathleen Mallard. 
The Violet. 
Have we made our new Violet beds ? 
If not we should have done so, but better 
late than never, and if we want to gather 
the sweet fragrant double flowers next 
winter we shall plant at once rooted off¬ 
sets of Parme de Toulouse. There are 
other varieties every bit as good as this 
so far as the flower goes, but for wintt$ 
flowering in frames I have never found 
one to compare with it for profuse flower¬ 
ing. It is a little curious that both 
Primroses and Violets like quarters for 
summer, and different ones for winter 
and spring. Thus, for summer, we may- 
select some cool, moist position, with a 
minimum of -sunshine, but in early 
autumn they r will have had enough of this, 
and benefit by being transferred to 
sunnier, warmer positions ; this especially 
applies to the Violets, and Parme de Tou¬ 
louse will flower most of the winter if 
given frame protection in some warm, 
sheltered position. 
The Wallflower. 
This is easily the Queen of the 
fragrant spring flowers. We all want 
stout, healthy Wallflowers — then, the 
best means of securing them is to sow the 
seed in May. To me the Wallflower is 
such a necessary flower, but I am always 
a little fastidious as to the setting I give 
it. There happens to be a border in this 
old garden that has a woodland 
background, and this, of all others, 
makes the most beautiful setting for 
the Wallflowers. I never allow my¬ 
self a very wide range of colour¬ 
ing. Three varieties, a brilliant orange, 
a deep chestnut, and a blood red, suffices. 
This makes for a splendid, restrained, 
and rich colour scheme that is not nearly 
so effective if other tones and colourings 
are used in addition. I cannot help 
thinking that man has gone a little too 
far in the making of new Wallflowers, 
and that the multiplicity of hues that has 
been evolved is not good when used in 
too great admixture, and I know I am 
not alone in thus thinking. 
Spring Pruning. 
The Forsythia and other shrubs that 
flower early in the year should be 
pruned, if they require it, as they cease 
to blossom. I say if they require it, for 
a week or so ago I saw a grand sight — a 
Forsy-thia covering a bit of house wall, 
wreathing round a lofty window, like a 
gorgeous golden mantle. It was some 
seven or eight years old— a knife had 
never touched it. Oh this Forsythia! 
What a beautiful brilliant thing it is. 
I do not hesitate to say- that no garden 
should be without it, and it is easy enough 
to grow. Three years ago, this April, 
I put in a tiny scrap of a cutting under 
a north wall. The next autumn y r ear I 
transplanted it to the south side of the 
house, and this spring it has borne hun¬ 
dreds of blossoms. Many people I know 
never attempt to strike cuttings of shrubs 
except in the autumn. I do not know 
whv, but I always make my attempts in 
the spring, and often with success. I 
always put them in a cool position—a 
north wall a few feet behind them. By 
the way, one shrub I have tried my 
hardest to strike is the New Zealand or 
Australian (I forget which) Matappo. I 
should be very glad to know if anyone 
has succeeded in rooting this beautiful 
evergreen subiect from cuttines. A friend 
