he Gardening World, July 27, 1907, 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
If the-weather don’t happen to be good for my work to-day, it’s good for some other man’s, 
and will come round to me to-morrow.”— Dickens. 
An Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs. 
CONTENTS. 
Hateur’s Letter to Amateurs, An... 499 
.mpetition Awards . 500 
Cmpetition. Prize Letter . 508 
Ihlias for Exhibition . 500 
F quire Within . 509 
fiwer Garden, The . 506 
Frit Garden, The . 506 
Cum rivale . 505 
Cienhouse, The Amateur's . 506 
Fchen Garden, The . 506 
C:hids for Amateurs . 507 
C:his, The Marsh (illus.) . 502 
Fiks, Laced . 508 
Fcher Plant, A Rare (illus.) . 504 
Fmulas, Hardy . 500 
Fse, A New Dwarf Polyantha (illus.) 505 
Fse, Dr. J. Campbell Hall (illus.)... 501 
Ise, Rev. Alan Cheales (illus.) . 501 
-eet Peas in July . r 0 , 
Ltering, The Science of . 502 
Lrk of the Week . 506 
-f+4- 
Jgust Bank Holiday. 
ving to the August Bank Holiday, we 
all be compelled to go to press earlier with 
the issue of 
'THE GARDENING WORLD,” 
Dated Aug. 10th, 1907. 
0 Advertisement for that issue can be 
reived, altered, or stopped after the First 
Post on 
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1st. 
ci. 
Perennials for Exhibition. 
During these weeks of numerous flower 
shows, both in town and country, it may 
be a topical subject to turn for a few 
minutes to some of the pre-eminently suit¬ 
able varieties of hardy perennials for ex¬ 
hibition. Some flowers are many degrees 
happier as cut flowers than others, and 
this is one of the points to which we 
should pay attention. Clear, clean 
colouring is always pleasing. I have 
been struck with the usefulness of Lychnis 
Yiscaria splendens ; its intensity of colour¬ 
ing makes it good alike for garden de¬ 
coration and for exhibition. Flowers of a 
brilliant red-rose - colour are, in my 
humble opinion, the most decorative of 
any we can grow in the garden, for the 
summer season especially. Another plant 
even more radiantly intense in colouring 
is the beautiful Achillea Millefolium 
rosea, and both these plants are as easy 
to grow as weeds, and not at all particular 
as to soil. 
An Effective Yellow Stager. 
Among the yellow flowered plants, I 
look upon Barbarea vulgaris, fl. pi. (that 
is to say, double flowered) as a capital sub¬ 
ject, and often is it in flower throughout 
the summer. We have to remember that 
summer flower shows are often timed to 
suit the Roses, and therefore we must de¬ 
pend upon perennials that will flower, and 
be at the height of perfection, at a corre¬ 
sponding time. This Barbarea comes in 
with the earliest of the Roses, and is a 
good stager. Beside the form mentioned, 
there is an effective variety with varie¬ 
gated foliage. 
A Handsome Paeony. 
Nothing, however, on the exhibition 
table has pleased me more than a remark¬ 
ably handsome Paeony, known as 
Imperial Queen, in colour a deep rich 
bronze-red, single flowered, and showing 
bright orange stamens. 
Seedling Plants. 
During this month and the months fol¬ 
lowing careful attention must be be¬ 
stowed on seedling perennials that are to 
be ready to transplant during the autumn 
operations. Much of their ultimate 
vigour and merit depends upon their un¬ 
checked grorvth at this stage. I must 
take it for granted that all of sufficient 
size have been transplanted to nursery 
beds, and although they have not suffered 
a season of drought, the weeds have been 
unusually rampant this year. Seedling 
plants must be kept clean and free of 
these, or air and sunshine cannot do their 
work of developing and ripening them. 
There must be sufficient space between 
the individual plants for the same reason ; 
and, frequently, should the surface soil 
be stirred between them. There may be 
year-old plants, also, of Gentians, Auri¬ 
culas, etc., and these need exactly the 
same treatment. 
Lychnis haageana. 
There are always those who neglect to 
sow seeds at their proper season. They 
mean to grow a stock of perennials from 
seed but delay getting in the seed until 
long after the time when the plants will 
have the chance to blossom the next sea¬ 
son. To these I would say—there are 
some few perennial plants that blossom 
their first season. Well and good. We 
often make use of them in the place of 
annuals, but they are stronger and flower 
more profusely if sown now, than if not 
started until the spring. Among these 
I would mention Lychnis haageana (one 
of the best hardy plants for a cold, sun¬ 
less aspect). It dies down in winter, but 
is quite hardy. Another perennial amen¬ 
able to this treatment is Anthemis tinc- 
toria, and, by the bye, if the plant is 
already established, it is the easiest thing 
to increase it at this season by putting in 
cuttings. If the tips be pinched out quite 
bushy plants will be formed by the 
autumn. It is a capital subject for a 
dry sun-parched border. The cuttings, 
however, should be inserted in a cooler, 
moister position. 
A Brilliant Annual. 
There is a brilliant little annual that 
is never so good as when sown at this 
time; I mean Silene pendula compacta. 
There is an improved form known as 
Empress of India, and also a double- 
flowered variety. It reaches but six 
inches, or so, in height, and comes in as 
a most useful subject anywhere that a 
patch of bright rose colour is desired. 
Once established, it comes to stay, as it 
seeds freely. Sown now, it enjoys nearly 
a year’s growth before flowering, and this 
means a splendid profuseness of blossom. 
In fact, the plant is a mass of flowers, and 
it will grow anywhere. I often put in 
plants at the foot of the rock garden abut¬ 
ting on the path; and it seems to flower 
as freely in the gravel as anywhere. 
There is a white variety, but it has no¬ 
thing of the beauty or the charm of the 
deep coloured Rose. 
Speaking of the Silenes reminds me that 
the perennial Silene Elizabethae, even 
dwarfer than the above annual variety, is 
a gem for the rock garden. 
Annual as Pot Plants. 
I have been experimenting with a good 
many annuals as pot plants this season 
A dozen pots or so of Schizanthus wise 
