June 29, i 9 ° 7 - 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
441 
O transplant them once from the seed bed 
Into nursery lines or beds in fresh ground, 
living them 6 in. to 8 in. from plant 10 
dant and 12 in. from line to line. We 
ire afraid that your soil has been at fault, 
raving been shallowly dug for a number of 
,'ears. 
1957. Propagating Pink Mrs. Sinkins. 
I have some large plants of Mrs. Sinkins 
Pink which I would like to propagate to 
form an edging. Whalt is the best plan of 
ncreasing them rapidly to get up a big 
stock ? (R. A. Neale, Notts ) 
You should make up a shallow hot-bed, 
■a V about 1 ft. deep, in a cold frame, and 
rover this with 4 in. of light, sandy soil, 
reading it down firmly. About the end of 
his month the cuttings should be ready for 
•aking off and inserting in this bed of soil. 
They may be put in quite thickly in lines, 
and watered with the rosed watering-pot 
before leaving off work. The sash should 
oe kept closed and shaded during bright 
sunshine until the cuttings show signs of 
having rooted by commencing to grow. The 
shade should be taken off, however, at sun¬ 
down and not replaced until required. When 
the cuttings show that they have rooted by 
commencing to grow give them a little air 
to prevent their becoming drawn. They 
should be well rooted and ready to plant 
out in their permanent positions in Septem¬ 
ber. Pinks are also layered, but the pips 
are produced so closely together that you 
can only layer relatively a small number. 
1958. Standard Geraniums. 
Would you describe the method of grow¬ 
ing Geraniums to make standards 2 ft. or 
3 ft. high? I have seen some of them flower¬ 
ing grandly, and would Tike to grow some of 
them myself. How long does it take to grow 
them to flowering size ? I have a green¬ 
house that can be heated. (R. A. Neale, 
Notts.) 
You should get good plants of any. variety 
which you desire, but strong growing ones 
would most quickly develop into standards. 
The plan is to confine them to a single stem 
by removing any side branches that may 
make their appearance. They do flower well 
in this form, because produced on the top 
of an old stem, which restricts the amount of 
moisture and encourages many blossoms, 
though they may not be so large. The 
length of time it would take to grow them 
to flowering size would depend largely upon 
the season of the year you commence, the 
amount of heat, within limits, which you 
give them, and the attention in the way of 
watering and feeding. It is, of course, largely 
a question of skill, together with house ac¬ 
commodation. The plan is to grow the 
plants until you get a sufficiently long stem, 
then to pinch out the point of this in order 
1 to cause a number of shoots to be produced 
and thereby form a head. These, of course, 
could in their turn be pinched to get an 
extra number of branches. They might be 
allowed to flower after having been pinched 
once or twice, because at the end of the 
season you can cut back the younger shoots 
within a joint or two of the old wood, and 
during winter these will begin to sprout out 
. again and gradually make larger flowering 
plants for the next year. 
1959. Plants for a Rockery. 
I know that winter and spring are the 
best time to make a rockery,- but I have a 
number of plants that would suit, and think 
I could transplant them. I would get some 
more if you think they would grow if 
planted at this time of the year, Would you 
kindly name a few that vou think could be 
got and planted when the rockery is built? 
(J. Trueman, Yorks.) 
A large number of hardy plantsmen keep 
collections of these alpines in pots, so that 
you can practically get them at §,ny time 
of the year. You would have no trouble 
in establishing them if you plant them out 
of pots before the end of September, as there 
would be sufficient heat in the soil to effect 
that object. We understand, however, that 
you intend to plant immediately. When 
turned out of pots and planted a watering 
should be given if the weather is dry at 
the time. Plants suitable for your purpose 
are Saxifraga Wallacei, S. macnabiana, S. 
lingulata lantioscana, Lifhospermum pros¬ 
tratum, Iberis sempervirens, I. correaefolia, 
Linum flavum, Aubrietia Leichtlinii, Are- 
naria montana, Alyssum saxatile flore 
pleno, Achillea sibirica, A. umbellata, Acan- 
tholimon glumaceum, Acaena Novae-Zea- 
landiae, Primula Sieboldii, P. rosea, Sedum 
Ewersii, Silene maritima flore pleno, and 
many others. 
1960. Preserving' Gazania splendens. 
Having some Gazania splendens in pots, 
I would like to plant them out, as 1 am told 
they make good bedding plants for a sunny 
position. How can I preserve them through 
the winter ? Should I lift and pot them up 
in autumn? (S. Kelley, Lines.) 
No doubt the old plants could be lifted 
and potted up in autumn, but as they would 
often be of straggling growth they would 
require to be partly cut back. A better plan 
is to ‘take cuttings early in September and 
insert them in sandy soil, either in pots, 
pans or boxes. You can root them in a 
cold frame in these boxes and then transfer 
them to the shelf of a greenhouse, where 
they can be kept rather dry in winter. 
1961. Mathiola bicornis. 
If I sow Mathiola bicornis now in pots, 
when would the plants bloom? I want them 
for removal indoors when in flower. What 
does the plant prefer in the way of soil ? 
(J. B., Ipswich.) 
If sown at present the plants should bloom 
about September, but unless the weather is 
fairly dry and warm the flowers may not be 
so sweetly scented as earlier in the season. 
Sow the seeds In 5^ in. pots and stand them 
in a sunny situation. Thin them out to plant 
them in a pot and look after them in the 
matter of watering. For compost you could 
use loam with abou/ one-third of leaf soil 
and a little well-decayed cow manure. The 
latter proves serviceable in retaining the 
moisture in the pots rather than in the food 
which it supplies. A good proportion of 
sand should also be employed in the soil. 
1962. Stopping Perennials. 
In May I planted out a number of peren¬ 
nials of different kinds, and these have 
grown well, but I fear I ought to have 
stopped them sooner in order to induce side 
shoots. They are now a foot or more high 
in some cases, and in a number qf them 
flowering buds are to be seen. Is it too late 
to pinch them now in order to make bushy 
plants? (Novice, Surrey.) 
You neglect an important point in not 
telling us the names of the perennials. 
Some kinds do not require stopping at all; 
indeed, some of them produce too many stems 
for getting flowers of the best quality. In 
such cases it is a good plan to cut out. a 
number of stems during April or May, the 
earlier the better, when you can see where 
there is likelv to be crowding. A large num¬ 
ber of herbaceous plants when thinned out 
in this wav become bushy and branched with¬ 
out stopping, so you see it all depends as to 
what particular class of plant you refer to. 
After herbaceous plants show flower buds it 
would be quite useless to expect any ad¬ 
vantage from stopping them,, unless you 
really desire to make them bloom very late. 
We should be pleased to help you if you 
mention the names of plants you desire to 
deal with properly. 
1963. Plants Turning Yellow. 
Many of the plants in my garden, annuals 
and newly planted perennials, are turning 
yellow at the base. That is to say, the lower 
leaves are yellowing and dying, although 
the upper portions of the plants look quite 
green and vigorous. Can you determine the 
aause of this, and tell me what I can do, as 
it not only makes the plants unsightly, but 
I imagine is an indication of something 
wrong. (Puzzled, Cornwall.) 
You have, in one case at least, told us 
what is the matter with them, namely, that 
the perennials were recently planted. Most 
perennials should be planted in Marche and 
not later than the first half of April, but 
the earlier the better, as they can then de¬ 
velop growth naturally with the advance 
of the season. If they were lifted just prior 
to being planted, many of the roots that 
feed the plants must have been destroyed, 
and the lower leaves die because the roots 
are unable to support them. In some oases, 
however, the lower leaves will die as others 
are produced above them, but if this takes 
place naturally the young foliage should 
completely Jtide the decayed ones. In the 
case of the annuals, if they were reared 
under glass, you may take it for granted 
that the earlier leaves are always shorter- 
lived than those produced out of doors. This 
is more especially the case if the plants 
under glass are too far away from the 
glass, or whether shaded in any way. Such 
leaves are thin, short-lived, and when put 
out of doors, exposed to sun and air, they 
soon die away. If the plants are growing 
at the top there is no need for alarm, as 
the foliage should soon hide any defects. 
ROSES . 
1964. Rose Buds Dropping. 
Will the Editor kindly explain why the 
buds of this climber break oft about mid¬ 
way down the stem and wither ? The same 
thing occurred last year, and its position 
was altered, but the new growths of last 
year turned almost black in some cases 
before the buds appeared. (Adah, Middle¬ 
sex.) 
We should advise you to keep a close watch 
over this climbing Rose and see whether 
any beetles or weevils are present amongst 
the foliage. We do not see why the stems 
should break off about mid-way down, un¬ 
less they have been gnawed by some of the 
beetles which infest plants belonging to this 
and several other orders. Caterpillars 
might, of course, be the depredators. That 
is something for inspection on the spot. It 
may be that the flowers break away at the 
natural joint of the flower stalk because the 
conditions are unfavourable for them. We 
inspected the buds you sent us, and have 
reason to believe that they are suffering from 
the wet weather. You will notice that the 
damage commences at the edges of the petals 
and in the centre of the flower. The cold 
and the wet would be answerable for damag¬ 
ing the flowers commencing at the edges, 
and when this takes place they are unable 
to expand naturally, and distress occurs at 
the base of the petals, where they become 
disjointed and fall off without opening. 
Some Roses are very susceptible to wet 
weather, and unless the season is suitable 
for them they prove unsatisfactory under 
the care of even expert Rose growers. We 
have thus made three suggestions for the 
dropping of the buds, namely, beetles, cater¬ 
pillars and the cold, wet nature of the sum¬ 
mer. You do not tell us the name of the 
variety, but we fear it is entirely due to the 
nature of the weather. Another suggestion 
we should' make is that if the variety is 
entirely unsatisfactory in your garden after 
giving it a second season’s trial or more, 
5’ou should get some other varieties, as thev 
do not all behave alike. A good Hybrid Tea 
Rose for a town garden would be Longworth 
Rambler, and Gloire de Dijon is a good 
Tea Rose for a town garden. 
