June i, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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 be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of pape1 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 invited 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 
jflat 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. 
'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
1875. Plants for Cold Greenhouse. 
I am starting a small span-roofed green¬ 
house. It is not heated at present, but it 
will be by the time winter sets in. Am I too 
late to get plants to flower during the sum¬ 
mer and autumn? If not, will you kindly 
name a few, rather hardy plants preferably. 
I might mention the house is facing south. 
Underneath the shelves is an earth bottom. 
Could you suggest any flowers that would 
grow there, or how to use it to the best ad¬ 
vantage. I have a few Pelargoniums, when 
is the best time for taking cuttings of them ? 
If Cineraria seed is sown now, should they 
flower next spring if treated properly? 
(Amateur, Soms.). 
You are still in good time to get plants 
to fill your greenhouse. Very few flowers 
would give satisfaction planted beneath the 
shelves, as the.water from the pots would 
fall upon them and spoil the flowers, be¬ 
sides which the shelves would obstruct the 
light. We should recommend you to plant 
:ither Tradescantia zebrina, Ferns, or 
Selaginella kraussiana. The last-named 
would make a beautiful moss-like covering 
to the soil, and would probably give you 
nore satisfaction than either of the others, 
is it would not acquire that splashed ap¬ 
pearance which broad-leaved plants would 
iy the water falling on them from above. 
You can propagate Pelargoniums all the 
ear round if you have heat for them in 
.vinter, but the best times would be in spring 
■r in September, when bedding plants are 
■eing propagated. You can take cuttings 
jiow if you can spare them, but it will keep 
,’our plants from flowering for some weeks 
o come if you take off many of the tops, 
-ou can sow Cineraria seed now, and pot 
hem on gradually from small pots to large 
•nes. They should be ready for the last 
hift, say, in October, and if not ready then, 
ebruarv would be a more suitable month 
0 put them in their flowering pots. It all 
epends upon how successfully you manage 
0 grow them. The plan is to repot before 
hey get pot-bound until they reach the 
owering pot. We have selected a number 
f easily-grown plants so that you can gain 
vperience, but they are all worthy of culti- 
ition for greenhouse decoration. They are 
onal Pelargoniums, Ivy-leaved Pelargo- 
iums, Fuchsias, Marguerites, Petunias, 
eliotrope. Myrtle, Begonia metallica, B. 
eltoniensis. B. sempervirens, B.s. Vernon, 
ngle and double Tuberous Begonias, Hv- 
angea hortensis, H.h. Dr. Hogg (white), 
Streptocarpus, and Bridal Wreath (Francoa 
ramosa). If you like scented leaves you 
should get some of the scented-leaved Pelar¬ 
goniums. When you have gained a little 
experience you might sow Calceolarias about 
this time and Cyclamen about September. 
Plants you could get now, or else in the 
autumn for spring flowering, are Indian 
Azaleas and Cytisus fragrans (better known 
as Genista). Eupatorium riparium flowers 
in winter, but you can get small plants now 
and grow them on. Chinese Primulas might 
be sown now and grown with the Cinerarias. 
If you would like any fine foliage plants, 
you might get green or variegated Aspi¬ 
distras, an India-Rubber Plant or two, and 
Asparagus plumosus. If you install a heat¬ 
ing apparatus about the end of September, 
or before, you can keep all those plants dur¬ 
ing the winter. See under Vegetables for 
your other question. 
COLD FRAMES. 
1876. Auriculas with Curled Flowers. 
I have some Auriculas in pots growing in 
a cold frame, but they do not seem to be 
thriving. The flowers come crumpled in¬ 
stead of opening out flat. Can you suggest 
any reason for this? (A. Merton, North¬ 
umberland.) 
There are various reasons why your 
flowers may behave in the way you state. 
Probably, however, they are, or have been, 
infested with greenfly, which secrete them¬ 
selves about the buds, puncturing them, and 
when the flowers are crippled in that way 
they do not open kindly, and look distorted 
even when expanded. You have no doubt 
been keeping the frame rather close on ac¬ 
count of the cold weather. These hardy 
plants delight in plenty of ventilation, 
which enables them to come along sturdily 
without getting drawn. When the frame is 
kept close, even in cold weather, it en¬ 
courages the aphides to increase. Examine 
your flowers, and if there are still flies 
upon them, a small, rather stiff, brush would 
serve to brush off the flies. Bv taking the 
pots out of the frame one by one, and clean¬ 
ing the plants in this fashion, they would 
then grow more kindlv. Next year you 
should keep a close eve upon them from 
the time the buds make appearance until 
they are fully expanded. You could then 
fumigate the frame while the flowers are 
still in the small bud state, but after they 
attain the point of expansion, it is somewhat 
risky .to fumigate them. They shpuld be 
dry before lighting tobacco in the frame. 
371 
Another way would be to syringe them with 
soft soap, with a pint of tobacco water to 
a gallon of soap-suds, but il you can spare 
the Lime to brush olf any flies which make 
their appearance, this would be more effec¬ 
tive. Another way is to dust the infested 
parts with tobacco powder, which can be 
washed off with a syringe next day. Make 
a point of giving plenty oi air, as you can 
tilt up the sashes all along one side and 
opposite to that from which the wind is 
blowing, so that the wind will blow over 
instead of into the frame. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
1877. Seeds of Aspidistra. 
I have a fine Aspidistra that flowered last 
summer. When the flowers burst I found a 
lot of small se^ds. Can 1 grow them, if so, 
will you tell me how.’' (R. S., Liverpool.) 
We are a little doubtful whether you 
really have got seeds, judging from the 
wording of your letter. For instance, you 
say when the flowers burst I found a lot 
of small seeds.” No plants have seeds 
when the flowers burst, but only the various 
parts of the flower itself. \Ye are not sure 
whether you gathered these seeds last year 
or this year. If you gathered them this 
year from the flowers that bloomed last year, 
they are more likely to be seeds. We should 
have liked id you had sent us a few of them 
in your letter, so as to convince us that 
they were seeds. If they really seeds, 
you should make up a pot of light sandy 
soil and sow them at once. Cover the seeds 
lightly with a fine portion of the same soil, 
and place a pane of glass over the pot. If 
you have no other convenience, stand the 
pot in a window, facing the south, if pos¬ 
sible. The soil should be kept moist, water¬ 
ing it with a fine rosed watering pot. There 
is, of course, a danger of overwatering, and 
you must learn to just keep the soil moist, 
but not sodden, until the seedlings appear. 
If you have a cold frame that you can keep 
closed, you can stand the pot there. A 
hand-light or bell-glass would answer the 
same purpose. The frame should face the 
south, so as to get the benefit of sun heat. 
The seeds may take some months to ger¬ 
minate, so fhat you should exercise patience 
and remove any weeds that appear while 
vet in the small state, so as not to disturb 
the seedlings. In our experience, the Aspi¬ 
distra does not produce seeds, but there is 
no reason why it should not if the flowers 
are properly fertilised, either by insects or 
artificially. The pane of glass should, of 
course, be removed when the seedlings make 
their appearance. The next operation would 
be transplanting the seedlings into other 
pots, seed pans, or boxes, it in. apart each 
way, using a compost of one part fibrous 
loam, one part leaf mould, and a third part 
of sand. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1878. Tulips not Flowering - . 
Would you tell me why half of my Tulips 
failed like the enclosed? They were all 
planted alike in good garden black loam. 
They seemed healthv bulbs from Holland, 
and some have some very handsome blos¬ 
soms. (Waratah, Devon.) 
The bulbs you sent us were too small to 
flower, and must have been so when vou had 
them last autumn. Such bulbs only send 
up one big leaf, and amongst florists are 
known as widows. They are simply bulbs 
that have not reached the flowering size. 
They want another year’s growth in good 
soil. There were, in fact, no flowers in 
them when you had them, if they were all 
like the samples sent. You should get 
larger bulbs. 
