THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 3) 1907. 
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 papei 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- 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
2055. Allamandas Dropping their 
Flowers. 
I should feel obliged if you will inform 
me the reason of the buds of my Allamandas 
falling off, I have three good exhibition 
plants set full for bloom. They seem to be 
all alike and turning quite yellow and drop¬ 
ping off like the enclosed buds. I have 
noticed this for two or three years now. 
They are in a stove house with about 60 degs. 
of heat (never lower). Will be glad of any. 
good advice. Should I keep them under 
shade? (Allamandas, Durham.) 
Allamandas should be freely exposed to 
sunshine all the year round if possible. 
They delight in sunshine, and can only ripen 
their wood properly when they get a good 
share of it. The past season has been very 
unfavourable to plants of this class, and no 
doubt yours have got weakened through lack 
of sunshine and a lack of sufficient air. 
Possibly the moisture gets condensed upon 
the flowers during the night and morning. 
They require copious supplies of water when 
in full growth, but they can be over-watered 
if the drainage is bad. That is a point 
which you might see to, and also whether 
there is any condensation of moisture on the 
flowers in the morning. We presume that 
the temperature gets higher during the day, 
especially by sun heat, as Allamandas de¬ 
light in a high temperature with a moist 
atmosphere. These are suggestions we make, 
so that you can perhaps form a conclusion as 
to what is the matter by observations on the 
spot, and thinking of the general treatment 
you have given them. A good compost for 
Allamandas is three parts fibrous loam, one 
part wood charcoal, and plenty of sand, with 
a little well-decayed cow manure. This, if 
thoroughly mixed, should meet their require¬ 
ments. We do not see anything really the 
matter with the buds sent beyond their de¬ 
cay, and think it some fault in cultivation or 
the weather. 
2056. Propagating Show Pelargo¬ 
niums. 
I have several Pelargoniums which have 
just finished blooming in the greenhouse. 
Could you oblige by telling me the best 
way to increase stock of them ? Also the best 
way to keep them in good foliage? Should 
they he put outside after the blooming is 
over? (Novice, Lancs.) 
We presume that you mean show, regal, 
or decorative Pelargoniums, and not the or¬ 
dinary zonal Pelargoniums. In that case, 
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 whefher 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. 
what you had best do is to stand them out¬ 
side on some hard surface, such as a walk 
or on a bed of 'ashes, so as to expose them 
to the full sunshine and air. Do not give 
them any water, to allow them to ripen off. 
I he foliage will, of course, turn yellow 
and the lower leaves will drop off. It is not 
necessary, however, nor desirable, to keep 
the foliage in good form. Pelargoniums of 
this class require to be thoroughly dried off. 
If you have too much rain, lay the pots on 
their sides to keep them dry. When the 
wood is thoroughly .ripe and the leaves have 
more or less withered up, then cut all the 
young shoots back within one or two buds of 
the base. Employ these shoots as cuttings, 
cutting them to a suitable length and in¬ 
serting them firmly in very sandy soil in a 
greenhouse or frame till they root. When 
they have formed roots and commenced 
growing pot them off singly in small pots of 
sandy soil, and when they have taken to this 
pinch out the tops to make them sprout out 
and form bushy plants. In spring they will 
require re-potting into a larger size. The 
old plants, after they are cut down, should 
be re-potted in a comport of two parts of 
good fibrous loam and one part of leaf 
mould and sand. A little cdw manure may 
be used at this potting, but it should be well 
decayed and rubbed up fine. Break away 
or rub down the old balls of soil, so that you 
can re-pot the plants into smaller pots than 
those from which you took them. If the 
soil is moist no water for the present will 
be required. Stand the plants in a green¬ 
house or cold frame where plenty of ventila¬ 
tion is given, and wait until they commence 
growing again. As they form leaves they 
may be watered, and an increasing amount 
given according to the state of growth. Keep 
the plants as cool as possible all through the 
autumn and winter, and if you observe these 
instructions carefully your plants might 
make a fine display again next year. 
2057. Geraniums at Christmas. 
Could you tell me if by fresh potting 
Geraniums and keeping them in a cold frame 
they would flower at 'Christmas? (J. W. P., 
Portsmouth.) 
It is somewhat late for re-potting Gera¬ 
niums now to flower at Christmas, but if 
they really want re-potting you could do it 
at once and still have fair success. To get 
Geraniums—or, more properly speaking, 
zonal Pelargoniums, to flower in winter they 
should be well grown during the summer 
and thoroughly exposed to light and air, so 
as to harden the wood. Soft-wooded plants 
do not flower well in winter owing to the 
damp atmosphere and bad light, so that you 
will have to work to counteract these infiu 
ences. Give them only a small shift intc 
good fibrous loam, with a little leaf mould 
and sand. Pot very firmly to induce a short 
jointed growth of the stems, as these wilj 
give a larger number of flowers than when 
they are induced to grow rapidly. Aftei 
re-potting them your best plan would be t< 
stand them out of doors in full sunshine or 
a bed of clean coal ashes. This will en 
courage slow growth and will ripen t'm 
wood. 
2058. Plants in a Greenhouse no< 
Flowering-. 
I have a lean-to glasshouse attached to th. 
back of the main building, and cannot ge 
anything to flower. The plants grow wel 
and buds form and then die off. It face 
east-south-east, and is 11 ft. high at th- 
back, 8 ft. 6 in. high in front, 10 ft. 6 in 
long, and 5 ft. 6 in. deep.. The brickwor 
in front is 3 ft. 6 in. high. The door is h 
the centre. The ventilation is 3 ft. by 2 fl 
The floor is wood, 9 in. from the earth. M 
neighbours are in the same fix. Can yo- 
tell me the fault? (J. S. Flower, Essex.) 
With an east-south-east aspect many thing 
ought to flower, provided they get a fai 
amount of sunlight. Possibly the buildin 
at the back is too high and the light in th 
interior feeble. Without some special ol 
ject -in view we should not have built so hig 
a brick wall. A better plan would have bee 
to have had just a low wall to get in 
ventilator, and then have a little glass i 
front, with the object of giving the roof c 
the greenhouse a greater slope towards :h 
light. Owing to the lack of sunshine thi 
year you have probably been keeping th 
house too close. This might produce a ran 
pant growth, but it is very poor growth fc 
flowering plants, if the light is feeblt 
Throughout the entire summer the greer 
house should be freely ventilated with th 
object of getting a substantial growth, n< 
drawn up and torced by want of air. Pr< 
viided there is no great amount of shade i 
front, such as that produced by buildings c 
trees, you should be able to grow and flowt 
such things 'as Fuchsias, zonal Pelarg< 
n-iums, herbaceous Calceolarias, Hydrange; 
and tuberous Begonias. Various other thin; 
might be flowered there provided you mal 
a point of thoroughly ripening the woo 
during the summer months. For instano 
certain plants should be placed out of dooi 
in the full sun during July, August an 
September, housing them at the end of tl 
latter month. Among things which rnigl 
be so treated we should mention Cytisi 
fragrans, often named Genista, Coronil' 
glauoa, Hydrangea hortensis, H. panicula 
grandiflora, Acacia arrnata, A. verticillat 
A. Drummondi, Daphne indica, Myrtl 
Solanum hybridum (for berries), Vallota pu 
purea (bulbs), etc. You do not mention ar 
of the plants which you have been attemj 
ing to grow, otherwise we might have giv< 
you instructions' concerning -them. In buil 
ing a greenhouse the first considerate, 
should be given as to the amount of lig 
available in the situation where you propo 
building, and also build the house with t 
same idea in view. You should take a coj 
from the leaf of the market gardeners, w. 
build very low greenhouses with a span ro 
and broad panes of glass. By putting tl 
woody plants out of doors, however, ■ 
above-mentioned, and freely ventilating t 
house on all favourable occasions, x< 
should have a fair measure of success. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
2059. Moving- Plante . in August. 
I am leaving my present house about tl 
middle of next month (August), but am 
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