yi6 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters discussing any gar¬ 
dening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 150 words each 
in length, and must be written on one 
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Two Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Seakale for Cottagers. 
We seldom or never find Seakale in a 
cottage garden ; why it should be excluded 
we do not know, unless because it is con¬ 
sidered one of the luxuries- of large gar¬ 
dens and therefore unfit for the humbler 
ones. 
It is not only extremely wholesome, 
nutritious, and of easy culture, but, 
planted on a north border which is 
little esteemed for other crops, it 
comes into use when all other kinds of 
vegetables are usually scarce, while it is 
always a saleable commodity, and may 
therefore be grown for profit. 
It can be raised from seeds or cuttings. 
When planting cuttings see that the top 
end is uppermost, and place them about 
8 inches apart. In January cover the 
crowns with pots or a good depth of litter. 
This should be done early, as at the first 
move of vegetation this delicious vege¬ 
table will come into use. Planting 
should be done in March. 
W. Sherringham. 
Dorchester. 
Some Useful Hardy Bulbs. 
There are few more dainty looking 
flowers than the blooms of Narcissus 
poeticus (or Pheasant Eye Narcissus), and 
in addition they have a peculiarly sweet 
scent. Some of the best flowers grown 
are comparatively tender, but this is one 
which is not only hardy, but which rather 
improves than otherwise by being left in 
the same place year after year. This is 
a good time of the year for planting, and, 
as the bulbs are cheap, .they should be 
planted in fairly large quantities. 
Planted at a good depth, say, six or eight 
inches below the surface, they may be left 
in the beds and the top soil stirred before 
planting summer flowers without disturb¬ 
ing the bulbs in early summer. For room 
decoration they can scarcely be beaten, 
their perfume fitting with their daintiness. 
When wanted for cutting only they may 
be planted in rows with great advantage. 
Albert A. Kerridge. 
Chippenham. 
Lilium candidum. 
There is no better time than the present 
for planting the bulbs of the grand old 
Madonna Lily as this is often called, and 
I would strongly advise all garden lovers 
who do not grow it to lose no time in 
purchasing. The usual price is about 
as. 6d. per dozen. Before planting, the 
ground should be well and deeply dug, 
and, if heavy or clayey, lightened by a 
liberal addition of leaf mould, peat, or 
even road scrapings, if nothing better can 
be had. Plant the bulbs four or five 
inches deep, in large clumps for fine 
effects, and mulch with well-rotted stable 
manure, and then let them severely alone, 
as they dislike nothing more than being 
disturbed. It is as well to label them 
conspicuously to prevent their being dug 
up by accident during future gardening 
operations. 
Geo. A. Fisher. 
Enfield. 
Labellings Plants, Etc. 
This is a very necessary precaution if 
beds of one or two colours are a feature, 
but it is often neglected by amateurs and 
sometimes the results are anything but 
satisfactory. If it is done carefully as 
cuttings, etc., are taken and old “stools” 
lifted, there is no chance of an ugly mix¬ 
ture of colours. Should, however, a plant 
be overlooked, mark it carefully to avoid 
future trouble. A bed of plants is more 
interesting to the casual observer if the 
name is there legibly written, and it is 
more easily made a note of by those who 
already know the name but want to jog 
their memory. 
D. V. E. 
Worthing. 
A Floral Wheelbarrow. 
Having read in a local newspaper a 
few days ago of a disused handsorqe cab 
being converted into a summer house, re¬ 
minds me of a very pretty floral display 
which took the form of a disused wheel¬ 
barrow, and which was to be seen on the 
banks of the Thames at the residence of 
Mr. W. A. Simmonds, Henley. The 
barrow had evidently been tacked all 
round with cork bark, including the wheel 
and handles. A large spreading Palm oc¬ 
cupied the centre of the barrow, which 
had been filled with soil. Massed around 
the Palm were Scarlet Geraniums (Mrs. 
Beck") and white Begonias, while Canary- 
Creeper and Tropaeolums were hanging 
down the sides and trained along the 
handles and about the wheel. In my 
opinion this was a very striking novelty, 
especially in the position it occupied, and 
it cannot have failed to attract the notice 
of the many visitors in river craft passing 
up and down the Thames during the sum¬ 
mer. 
J. Nibbs. 
Hollington. 
Double Tropaeolums. 
Nasturtiums we call them, and everyone 
knows then what is meant. These have 
proved very satisfactory this year. Their 
lovely rosette-like blooms are less com¬ 
mon and even more showy than the single 
varieties; the growth is not so rampant 
either, and the flowering continues over a 
very long period. For vases or window 
boxes there is nothing to beat them. So 
far I have not come across many varieties 
November 9, 1907. 
beyond the usual shades of crimson and 
yellow, the latter being lovely and re¬ 
minding one of small, well coloured W. 
A. Richardson Roses more than anything. 
No seed, of course, is produced, which 
perhaps is rather an advantage. Cuttings 
strike root easily, even in the open air. 
Roots are thrown out at every joint in 
three or four days if a shoot is cut and put 
in water. 
D. V. E. 
Worthing. 
-♦- 
Everlasti ngs- 
. . And . , 
-Immortelles. 
Flowers in winter often become scarce, 
so the precaution should be taken as early 
as possible to provide for a supply. There 
are, for instance, many varieties of Ever¬ 
lastings to select froip, and the following 
are a few of the best. 
Pampas Grass (Gynerium argenteum) is 
often dyed according to taste, but it looks 
more charming in its natural state. 
Gypsophila paniculata alba turns a dirty 
white when dried, but looks graceful with 
other plants. . Statice, or Sea Lavender, 
is very effective with a few fresh gathered 
Tvy branches intermingled. Physalis or 
Winter Cherry is pretty with sprays of 
Berberis. Helichrysum goes well with 
Eragrostis elegans or Love Grass, while 
Stipa pennata is very decorative. Echinops 
Ritro is exceedingly handsome, and looks 
well with Solidago or Golden Rod, which 
should be cut as soon as flowered, as the 
seed pods are very showy. Do not forget 
the well known Honesty, with its silvery- 
striped pods. This is admirable with 
either of the above. All the plants I have 
mentioned may well be mixed with a few 
evergreens, according to taste. The above 
mentioned Everlastings may be grown in 
any garden soil. 
T. Preston. 
-- . 
Spring Flowers for London Parks. 
Visitors to the London Royal parks next 
spring will see the blooms of the 66,000 
Hyacinths, 150,000 Tulips, 133,000 Nar¬ 
cissus, 116,000 Crocus, and 194,000 
Liliums, Snowdrops, etc., which Messrs. 
James Carter and Co., seedsmen, of High 
Holborn, have again been commanded by 
his Majesty’s First Commissioner of 
Works to supply. 
Polystichum aculeatum pulcherrimum Drueryi. 
On casual observation this bears no re¬ 
semblance to any British Fern we have 
seen. The fronds are arching, lanceo¬ 
late, bipinnate, with linear segments 
again sharply serrated and bristly- 
pointed. The pinnules are longer and 
altogether different from those of the 
corresponding variety of P. angulare, 
while the colour is also different. It was 
a sport from a sporeling, and was exhibi¬ 
ted by C. T. Druery, Esq., 11, Shaa 
Road, Acton, at a meeting of the R.H.S. 
on October 1st, and received a First-class 
Certificate. It is evidently a plumose 
variety as the plant shown was barren. 
