35 6 
farther on in the season than in other 
aspects. The wall also makes such a de¬ 
sirable background with a proper selection 
of plants, such as shrubs, Clematis, of 
which there are now so many beautiful 
varieties, and Roses, of which I consider 
Gloire de Dijon, Wiiliam A. Richardson, 
-Madame Alfred Carriere, Reine Olga de- 
Wurtemburg, Carmine Pillar, and 
Dorothy Perkins should be amongst those 
selected. Of shrubs, I should confine 
the selection to early flowering subjects, as 
Chimonanthus fragrans, Forsythia sus- 
pensa, Jasminum nudiflorum, Daphne 
Mezereum, Pyrus japonica, and its varie¬ 
ties, Iverria japonica, Magnolia conspicua, 
and M. steliata. The wall will then be 
found especially valuable in the spring 
when the greater part of the perennials 
are hardly through the ground. These 
shrubs should be tied loosely to the wall, 
keeping in mind the natural habit of the 
plants rather than neatly trained speci¬ 
mens, as if they were Peach trees. The 
selection of Clematis may be late flowering- 
varieties of the Jackmanii type. In Sep¬ 
tember and October there are so many 
yellow flowering plants at the back of the 
border that something seems required to 
break the monotony. The grand colours 
of these do this effectually. Tastes differ 
no doubt, but to me these gorgeous colours 
combined with the yellows are exceeding 
rich in their effect in the autumn days. 
If it happens to be a retaining wall at 
the back of the border, the owner may in¬ 
dulge in the pleasure of wall gardening. 
This is a delightful way of growing the 
commoner rock plants, and well repays 
any extra trouble in taking out stones or 
bricks, forming pockets, sowing seeds of 
annuals, etc. 
For garden scenery the border running 
north and south, with a walk or lawn all 
round it, is very effective. The plants 
in the centre being staked out and seen 
from .all sides, and if the border is slightly 
raised, this will be considerably 
heightened, especially so if strong grow¬ 
ing plants occupy the central positions, or 
permanent plants such as hardy Bamboos, 
Tree Paeonies, and Japanese Cherries 
(Cerasus Pseudo-cerasus). H. ARNOLD. 
-- 
Hugh Low and Co. at Mannheim. 
Among the successful competitors in 
the Orchid classes at the Jubilee Exhibi¬ 
tion of Art and Horticulture, which opened 
at Mannheim, Germany, on May ist, 
were Messrs. Hugh Low and Co., of Bush 
Hill Park. The exhibits of this firm, 
which filled one entire long table, com¬ 
prised a large and interesting group re¬ 
presenting most of the Orchid families 
in cultivation, and were awarded two first 
and one second prize. Messrs. Low also 
received a Gold Medal for a group of 
Anglo-American perpetual flowering Car¬ 
nations, in which were included several 
novelties. The scarlet Britannia was ac¬ 
knowledged to be the finest of its colour 
ever exhibited in Germany, and although 
some sorts had suffered on account of the 
long journey, this variety was in perfect 
form. At no time did the attendance 
at the flower show seem very numerous, 
neither .was the genuine enthusiasm to be 
seen at similar shows in England at all 
noticeable; however, if the Germans ex¬ 
celled in cultivation as they do in artistic 
arrangement, we English would be out¬ 
classed. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 25, 1907. 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should b: as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are i-nvited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens , indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
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 
fiat 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. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
185 2. Lapagreria Unhealthy. 
I have a Lapageria which is not very 
healthy. There are ten hard stems growing 
up from it which bear no leaves. What can 
I do with it in order to make it send up 
young shoots from the bottom? It is grow¬ 
ing in a 16 in. pot and against a wall in 
the conservatory. (D. McNally, Ireland). 
We suspect there is something wrong with 
the roots of the plant or the soil, seeing that 
the plant has got into such a bad condition. 
The drainage may be bad or the soil hard 
and thoroughly exhausted. We should sug¬ 
gest repotting even if into the same size pot. 
Reduce the ball of soil considerably, tak¬ 
ing care of every sound root which you find. 
If any of these are decayed you should cut 
them back to a sound piece. Several of the 
oldest stems should also be cut away from 
the base which may give inducement to fresh 
ones to spring up from the base. Make up 
a compost of two parts of peat, one part 
fibrous loam, with a good proportion of sand. 
Some lumps of charcoal about the size of 
Hazelnuts would also prove serviceable in 
keeping the soil open and porous. We think 
it is quite likely that the soil is getting into 
a too solid condition and the roots cannot 
get sufficient air to enable them to perform 
their functions properly. Drain the pot 
well, so that no stagnant moisture will re¬ 
main in the bottom. Watering should be 
carefully done until the plant commences to 
sprout afresh. If the plant is not diseased 
we think this will cause it to renew its work. 
185 3. Exhibiting: Passion Flowers. 
Looking through The Gardening World 
of July 22nd, 1905, p. 589, re a Passion 
Flower you mention, Percy Waterer, Esq., 
exhibited a splendid lot of cut flowers. Can 
you tell me how I can show the same, as I 
find after having cut them for twelve hours 
they close up? Can I cut back to the old 
wood? (Uncle Boffin, East Ham, Essex). 
Some Passion Flowers are not very long 
lived, and you do not tell us what species 
you grow. We presume it is Passifiora 
caerulea. The flowers should be cut on the 
morning of the exhibition, selecting those 
which are just on the point of expansion. 
Those which have been expanded for some 
time on the plant would not be likely to re¬ 
main open for any length of time in the 
cut state. Poppies, such as the Iceland and 
Shirley Poppies, require to be cut while 
still in bud, and they not only open in water, 
but remain fresh for a longer time than if 
cut after they are fully expanded. If ymu 
could cut the Passion Flower some hours 
before starting for the Exhibition and put 
them in water so as to saturate the stems, 
we think this would give them a better 
chance of remaining fresh when they arrive 
on the scene of the exhibition. The Passion 
Flower exhibited by Percy Waterer, Esq., 
was P. quadrangularis Bonapartii, which we 
think is rather more durable - than P. 
caerulea. 
1854. Name and Treatment of Plant- 
Will you give me the name, date of intro¬ 
duction, and what country it comes from, of 
the Cactus enclosed, and the growing nature? 
(Cacti, Middlesex). 
The specimen you sent is Gasteria verru¬ 
cosa, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, 
and introduced to this country in 1731. It 
should be potted in a compost of two parts 
of fibrous loam, one part of peat, a little 
decayed cow manure with a good sprinkling 
of brick rubbish, that is, a soft red brick 
broken up into small lumps about the size 
of Hazelnuts with the fine dust left in. A 
sixty size pot would be sufficient for a small 
plant and a forty-eight size pot would con¬ 
tain a larger plant for a number of years 
growing slowly. It may be grown in a 
greenhouse or in a dwelling house window 
fully exposed to sunshine. Little water is 
required in winter, but during summer, when 
making its growth, it will take more. 
1855. Geraniums Losing: Leaves. 
The leaves of my Geraniums are fading 
and dropping off. I send you herewith a 
few specimens. They have all been repotted, 
but the fading still goes on as bad as ever. 
I shall feel greatly indebted if you will be 
good enough to explain the cause of this. 
The plants are rapidly becoming leafless 
and the disease has attacked plants of dif¬ 
ferent ages. (James Bartleman, Midlothian). 
We have been examining the leaves you 
sent us, but fail to find any trace of disease. 
There seems to have been some green flv 
or mites upon them at one time, but nothing 
is now left but a few cast-off skins. We 
think the ailment is due to bad light during 
winter, and although the leaves keep falling 
off they are the old leaves that suffered dur 
ing winter, and the plants can only renew 
themselves by making fresh growth. Dc 
not over-water them till they commence grow 
ing. As the light intensifies and the tem 
perature rises we think they will recovei 
their wonted health. Keep them as neav 
the glass as possible and exercise a little 
patience. We have frequently seen Pelar 
goniums behave in this way, but grow ou 
of it later on. 
