I 
The Gardening World, May iS, 1907. 
CONTENTS. 
Alpine Border, A Blue . 334 
Amateur's Letter to Amateurs, An 329 
Begonias, Winter-Flowering . 343 
daladiums . 33° 
tarnations: Work for May . 335 
Cinerarias . 343 
Competition Awards . 33° 
Competition, Prize Letter . 33 2 
Daffodils at Long Ditton . 33 s 
Dahlias in 1907 .- 344 
Enquire Within .. 339 
Flotyer Garden, The. 33^ 
Fruit Garden, The. 337 
Greenhouse, The Amateur’s . 337 
Kitchen Garden, The . 337 
'Orchids for Amateurs .*. 337 
jPasque Flower, The White (illus.) 335 
Pea, Staking (illus.) . 334 
Primula, The Edged (illus.). 331 
Sluie Pool (illus.) . 333 
1 Tulip, A Graceful May-flowering 
(illus.) . 333 
Tulips, May-flowering . 33° 
Vegetable Marrow Moore s Cream 
(illus.) .. 33 1 
Work of the Week . 33^ 
-- 
YioUts. 
Violets! street Violets ! 
How does your perfume tell, 
* Of laughing eyes and lovely lips, 
Whose ianguid accents swell. 
AYluptuous as summer winds, 
Along a moorland dell ? 
Violets! sweet Violets! 
| How like my lady's eyes, 
Your deep, deep blue —I gaze on you 
And ask a thousand “whys”— 
But you are mute, sweet Violets, 
And answer not my sighs. 
Violets! sweet Violets! 
How once the woodland breeze, 
Was fragrant with thy loveliness. 
That lured the homing bees ?— 
How sadly you recall again, ■ 
Forgotten memories! 
Douglas Carswell. 
„ - 4 ~ 4~4 - 
Tulips. 
The late-flowering or May Tulips are 
evidently going to be fine this year, judg¬ 
ing from the growth they are making. 
While they are in bloom rain is unde¬ 
sirable. 
XCI. 
Annuals as Pot Plants. 
It is well worth while keeping back some 
annuals to use as pot subjects in the con¬ 
servatory or cold greenhouse. Some, of 
course, are by a long way more suitable 
than others. The very best, I should say, 
were Schizanthus, especially the variety 
known as S. wisetonensis, and I may add, 
also S. hybridus grandiflorus. Than 
really fine well-grown plants of these we 
can hardly want anything daintier and 
more delicate looking. It is essentially 
a beautiful type of annual, and more par¬ 
ticularly beautiful when grown under glass 
entirely. A few plants of Impatiens Bal- 
samina—if. we are growing these for gar¬ 
den decoration—should be retained for pot 
culture and grown on generously, and 
without a check. Third on my list I 
must place Thunbergia alata, which at¬ 
tains to some three feet in height, but is 
immensely decorative and pretty. 
Planting Out Annuals. 
I was reminded only this afternoon of 
a rather important point. Sometimes we 
prick out our annuals into pots. When 
this is done, see that the roots are not 
through the pots. Directly this is so, 
better, so long as they have been 
hardened, plant them out at once: they 
cannot thrive properly with their roots in 
this condition, and, after all, half-hardy 
or tender though they be, the time has 
come when they are better out; far better 
than delaying until the general bedding 
of Geraniums, Dahlias, etc., takes place. 
Seed Sowing. 
Because we have sown plenty of an¬ 
nuals, we must not think that seed sow¬ 
ing is over. Dianthuses, Sweet Williams 
among them, are not to be overlooked. 
This is an extremely useful plant in all 
kinds of positions, and in each position 
in the garden it seems to have a particular 
beauty. Thus, hanging cascade fashion 
over a steep bit in the rock garden, it 
is wonderfully effective. In a border, too 
hot and parched to grow the majority of 
summer flowering plants, Sweet AA illiams 
will flower and flourish. As a broad, well- 
defined edging plant, it is hard to beat; 
and as a carpet under a wide-spreading 
tree on a lawn in an old-fashioned 
country garden, I have known it used 
with really good results. This plant 
Dianthus barbatus, to give it its true 
name—is classed as a biennial, but in 
many soils it is perennial. There is a 
variety known as Pink Beauty that I am 
especially fond of, and the auricula-eyed 
kinds are strikingly showy. The double 
varieties have a special value in that they 
remain in flower over a long period. Last 
year a great group of double Sweet AA il¬ 
liams was, I might almost say, the back¬ 
bone of colour in the rock garden during 
a period when flowers are especially valu¬ 
able there. 
Carnations. 
These also come under the title Dian¬ 
thus, and thoroughly delightful and in¬ 
teresting it is to grow a batch of seedling 
plants. The seed should have been hand 
fertilised, and this is the reason why it is 
necessary to secure reliable seed. We can 
buy seed separately of mixed seifs, or 
mixed fancies, or bizarres and flakes. I 
lean towards the first myself, but of course 
it is a matter of individual taste. The 
seed should be put in at once. There is 
no need to wait until June, as some do ; 
our object is to secure strong sturdy plants 
for planting out in the autumn, therefore 
a fortnight’s growth is of considerable im¬ 
portance. W T here the idea of growing is 
more especially for cutting purposes the 
claims of the variety known as Grenadin 
must not be overlooked. Sometimes I 
am inclined to think that the merits and 
beauties of the oriental variety D. chinen- 
sis, including Heddewiggii, laciniatus, 
and others have been over-estimated. Of 
course they are beautiful, and I say over¬ 
estimated, because they have been grown 
to the exclusion, in many cases, of such 
varieties as D. hybridus Lady Dixon, 
Napoleon III., Marie Pare, and others of 
remarkably fine effect, and, I cannot help 
thinking, of better habit, growth and form. 
Lady Dixon especially is to be recom¬ 
mended. I do not know if seeds are ob¬ 
tainable, but a few plants purchased now 
would yield ample supply of pipings, or 
growths for layering, as might be pre¬ 
ferred. The flowers are radiantly red. I 
can call them nothing else—and I must 
add that it is necessary to know we get 
what we ask for, as inferior varieties have 
been sold for it. 
There are many varieties of Dianthus 
that should appeal to us as delightful and 
characteristic plants to rear for the rock 
garden, whether the rock garden be al¬ 
ready in existence or only a piece of work 
we are making up our minds to undertake 
in the autumn. .In fact, if we commence 
growing plants for a rock garden that is 
to be a year in advance so much the 
better. F. Norfolk. 
-- 
Erica mediterranea has flowered splen¬ 
didly this year. Frost and rain seem to 
have exercised no ill-effect upon it what¬ 
ever. 
