652 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
October 5, 1907. 
in the atmosphere. The conditions which 
are generally given in a stove will meet the 
requirements of D. Phalaenopsis also. 
When the flowers have expanded they 
should be placed in a position where they 
are not wetted with the syringing of the 
house. If the plants can be moved to the 
temperature of the intermediate house after 
the flowers have become expanded they last 
in perfection for several weeks, or if cut 
after the flowers have been open a week or 
two they last a long time when cut and used 
for floral decorations in the house. Their 
graceful spike of flowers is most attractive 
under artificial light. 
H. J. Chapman. 
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 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 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 
flat 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. 
'rrrrrrrrrrrrrr^ 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
2 242. Ivy-Leaved Geraniums Injured. 
Having been a subscriber to your paper 
for some considerable time, I take m3' first 
opportunity of asking you to kindly state 
your .opinion of the enclosed leaves, which, 
I think, are infested with red spider. It at¬ 
tacks all the Ivy-leaved Geraniums, and 
only this week I have had to destroy no less 
than twenty-six good plants. I have just 
turned the greenhouse out and have washed 
all the paint with a kind of soap called 
Gizard’s and will see if that is any good. 
Could you kindly give me a few hints as to 
getting rid of this pest? (Anxious, Hants.) 
We carefully examined the leaves of the 
Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums you sent us, but 
could find no trace of red spider. The 
leaves would appear to have been punctured 
when young with green fly and an examina¬ 
tion of them would indicate that they had 
been attacked by a microscopical fungus, pro¬ 
ducing what would be called bacteriosis in 
Carnations. You will find that the leaves 
are full of pale specks when held up to the 
light. The plant may have been attacked 
with green fly in the early stages when the 
weather was very cold and wet. It is just 
possible, then, that the spores of bacteria 
got inside the tissues of the leaves, so that 
the damage really occurred some months ago 
and the leaves are only now showing the 
ill-effects of the attack. In our experience 
and observation Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums 
have not done very well this year, and we 
think it largely due to the cold, sunless and 
wet weather, and that a higher tempera¬ 
ture, but especially with more sunshine, 
would have helped.them to do better. \our 
best plan in taking cuttings would be to get 
shoots that have as clean leaves as possible, 
and to make sure there is nothing upon 
them you may wash them by dipping them 
into soapy water and then allow them to 
get dry before you insert them as cuttings. 
It is late for this work, but you can still 
be able to root them with the aid of a green¬ 
house. We do not know the conditions 
under which they have grown, but possibly 
they were in a .shady part of the greenhouse, 
or were too far from the glass, or you might 
have been giving them too much shade. 
You did quite right in washing the inside 
of the house with soap, as that will help 
to destroy any enemies that may be present. 
The damage is, of course, already done, but 
you could syringe all your plants thor¬ 
oughly with soapsuds and sulphur, which 
cannot do them any harm and will clean 
the foliage. 
2 243. Roman Hyacinths at Christmas. 
Would you be so kind as to tell me how to 
treat Roman Hyaicinths to get them in bloom 
at Christmas. (T. L., Hants.) 
If you had potted them in August or Sep¬ 
tember, it would have given the bulbs plenty 
of time to form roots while the weather was 
still mild and genial. You should, there¬ 
fore, pot them at once and stand them in 
a cold frame facing .south or in some shel¬ 
tered position out of doors, where they will 
be exposed to the action of the weather. 
Plunge them in cocoanut fibre or leaf mould, 
putting about 2 in. over the top of the pots. 
They should commence rooting directly, and 
at the end of October, or when the flower 
spike is showing and before severe frost, 
place them on a stage or shelf near the glass 
or in a sunny window facing the south. 
You do not tell us what convenience you 
have for hastening growth, but if 3'ou have 
no fire heat, you should have commenced by 
potting them in August or early in Septem¬ 
ber. If you have any means of urging them 
into s^rowfthf you can place them in a 
warmer house about the beginning of De¬ 
cember. iFor instance, after the flower spikes 
are about an inch long you could get them 
into bloom in the course of a week if you 
plunge them in a bottom heat of 6^ degs. 
to 70 degs. If you have no means of heat¬ 
ing, of course you must depend upon getting 
them under the most favourable conditions 
you can, and they will come along slowly, 
and possibly be in bloom by the time you 
desire. Of course, with artificial heat \-ou 
could regulate the matter to a nicety. A five- 
inch pot is convenient for five bulbs. You 
can use any light sandy soil, with some 
leaf mould and a little decayed cow manure. 
Look after them in the matter of watering 
after they commence to grow. 
COLD FRAMES. 
2 2 44. Best Time to Take Cuttings. 
Please let me know the best time to take 
cuttings of Pentstemons, Calceolarias, Mar¬ 
guerites, Pansies, Phloxes, and Hollyhocks. 
Do any of these require a hot-bed or artifi¬ 
cial heat to .strike them? (A. C. Wadds, 
Herefordshire.) 
All of the above may be propagated in 
boxes or pots in oold frames. In the case 
of some of them you could have commenced 
earlier, and Hollyhocks should have been 
propagated in July or August. You can 
commence with Pentstemons, Marguerites, 
Pansies and Phloxes at once. The cuttings 
of Calceolarias may be taken any time dur¬ 
ing October and dibbled into soil" in a frame 
or into boxes. They are the last that may 
be taken of the list you mention. By com¬ 
mencing at once we do not think that a hot¬ 
bed is necessary in either case, though they 
may not all root until well into spring. Mar¬ 
guerites, being the most tender, may live in 
a cold frame throughout the winter, but if 
it is severe they would be safer in a green¬ 
house. Put them into 5 in. pots or boxes, 
so that you can shift them about if neces¬ 
sary. 
WINDOW BOXES. 
2245. Filling Window Boxes. 
Is it too early to fill window boxes with 
such things as Wallflowers, Tulips, Polyan¬ 
thuses, Primroses, 'Crocuses and Daffodils? 
The summer flowering stuff is now past its 
best, and I thought it would give the boxes 
a fresh appearance. Would the Wallflower 
stand transplanting at the present time? 
Would bulbs- be too early to escape the cold 
weather in spring? (Henry Woods, Derby.) 
There is no necessity 'for delay in planting 
any of the things you mention, as they are 
all perfectly hard}', and if the bulbs get 
well rooted before winter they should flower 
all the better in spring. They will of course 
flower a few days earlier by being planted 
now than if the operation were delayed till 
Christmas, for instance. You will have to 
be more careful with the Wallflowers, Polv- 
anthuses and Primroses on account of the 
dry weather and thje foliage. You should 
water these things about two or three hours 
before you commence lifting them, so that 
the soil about -them will be quite moist and 
hold together better than if you attempted 
to lift them in the present dry condition 
of the soil without any preparation. If the 
watering is done effectually the leaves of the 
Wallflower should stand well without flag¬ 
ging. Make the soil quite firm about the 
roots. By transplanting now the plants will 
get well established before cold weather sets 
in, and growth will proceed more or less 
during winter while mild weather prevails. 
2246. Increasing Antirrhinum. 
I have a fine crimson variet}' of Antirr¬ 
hinum, but only two small plants of it. 
How can I increase them to make the most 
of them, so as to fill a bed in spring ? They 
were very late in coming into bloom, or I 
would have cut them down to make them 
break and give a lot of cuttings. If they 
ripen seeds, will they come true to colour? 
(Robert E. Jennings, Warwick.) 
You should take all the cuttings you can 
get and insert them firmly in pots- of sandy 
soil. They may be taken off with a heel if 
