THE GARDENING WORLD. August 17, 1907. 
yet. If your soil is light or if the weather 
proves dry it would assist the beds to mulch 
them with cocoanut fibre or road sweepings 
to retain the soil moisture. In dry weather 
a watering or two given on the top of this 
mulch would be of great assistance to them. 
Tuberous Begonias are very shallow root¬ 
ing subjects, and whenever the weather be¬ 
comes dry, even for a short period, the Be¬ 
gonias are more or less seriously affected 
or retarded owing to the lack of moisture. 
You admit, however, that you have had a 
good season for moisture, and we therefore 
presume that the Begonias have had some 
unfair treatment one way or another. For 
instance, you might have had them out of 
a warm house, where they were placed to 
start them, and if you transferred them 
straight away to the beds- the chances are 
that they were seriously affected by the ex¬ 
posure of the tender foliage to the cold 
winds and sun alternately during the day, 
and the cold, almost frosty, nights which 
occurred for a long time after they were 
planted. It would have been well to have 
put them into cold frames for a time, har¬ 
dening them off by the removal of the lights 
during the day, but drawing on the lights 
at night and tilting them up. The shelter 
of the frames would have protected them 
from cold winds and at the same time 
enabled you to harden them off before com¬ 
mitting them to full exposure in the open 
ground. Tuberous Begonias are more deli¬ 
cate in the springtime than in September, 
though a sharp frost even then will blacken 
their foliage in a single night. 
2105. Name and Treatment of Plant. 
Will you kindly furnish me with the name 
of the plant that bears the enclosed flowers 
and the treatment required for its culture?' 
(C. Stevens, Q.M.Sergt., Ayrshire.) 
The plant you sent us was Achillea Ptar- 
mica flore pleno, or it might have been the 
variety known as The Pearl, but judging 
from the size of the flowers sent they were 
simply the ordinary double variety, as 
named. It is a hardy border, plant, being, 
indeed, a native of Britain in the single- 
flowered wild type. It likes fairly good soil 
and moist rather than dry. We do not imply 
that the ground should in any way be 
boggy, but if the soil is of a rich character 
the plant will grow and flower to perfec¬ 
tion. If the soil is poor the plant will still 
flower, although the flowers will be smaller 
and less’ durable, especially when cut. In 
a word, we should advise you to give it the 
same treatment as a Paeony, perennial Lark¬ 
spur, Veronica; or other plant of that class. 
2106. Propagating; Hollyhocks. 
I have a bed of Hollyhocks 7ft. high, and 
amongst them are some beautiful colours 
which I should like to propagate true to 
colour. Do you think they would come true 
from seed, and, if not, how can I increase 
them? There are no small shoots which I 
can use as cuttings. I should be thankful 
for any advice on the subject. (T. Red¬ 
mond, Sussex.) 
It is scarcely likely that the plants would 
come all true to character, though some of 
them might be better and some of them worse 
than the parents. You can, however, propa¬ 
gate them from eyes, as it is termed. Select 
shoots which are pushing up for flower, but 
which have not yet reached the flowering 
stage. Cut the stem into lengths of 2 in. 
or 3 in. with a leaf stalk to each and a bud 
in the axil of the leaf. The stem may be 
cut just below the eye, and then about 2 in. 
above it. The leaf stalk should be retained, 
but the blade of the leaf may be cut away. 
Make up a box of light soil consisting of 
sand and leaf mould, with a little loam in 
it. Put some drainage in the bottom of the 
boxes, fill up with the compost, and make 
it quite firm. Dibble these eyes into the 
soil, making them quite firm and leaving 
the stalk and upper end of the stem just out 
of the soil. There being no leaves to run 
away with the moisture, all that is neces¬ 
sary is to stand the box in any shaded situa¬ 
tion, even under trees. Give a good water¬ 
ing with a rosed watering pot, and in course 
of time the eyes will root and show that 
they have commenced life as rooted cuttings 
by pushing a shoot up through the soil. 
When the leaves have attained some size you 
can pot off the cuttings singly and winter 
them in a cold frame. If they make good 
growth in the autumn it would be worth 
while giving them another shift before 
planting them out in April or May, say in 
February. The sooner you put in the cut¬ 
tings now the better. 
210 7. Flowers for Shady Beds. 
Will you kindly tell me the best flowers 
for growing in shady beds in an orchard? 
I should like them as bright as possible. Is 
it too late to sow now for next year’s bloom¬ 
ing? I have Cornflowers and Michaelmas 
Daisies, which are doing very well. (J. J. 
Rogers, Glos.) 
There are many things which would suc¬ 
ceed if Cornflowers do well. Indeed, it all 
depends upon the amount of shade produced 
by the trees in the orchard. At the same 
time we have seen the market gardeners 
growing several things under very shady 
conditions, owing to the closely planted con¬ 
dition of the trees. We should, therefore, 
recommend Wallflowers in several colours, 
but the seeds should really be sown in May. 
At the present time you can sow Forget-Me- 
Nots, such as Myosotis sylvatica, M. alpes- 
tris Victoria, Erysimum perofskianum, 
which is an annual, Honesty (Lunaria 
annua), and such Evening Primroses as 
Oenothera biennis, Oe. b. grandiflora, and 
get plants of Oe. fruiticosa Youngi and Oe. 
speciosa. Daffodils and Pheasant’s Eye Nar¬ 
cissus usually give good satisfaction under 
trees. Several other perennials may be 
grown, including Iris germanica, I. pallida, 
I. variegata, Cyclamen neapolitanum, Pole- 
monium caeruleum, Platycodon grandi- 
florum, Polygonatum multiflorum (Solo¬ 
mon’s Seal), Anemone blanda, Campanula 
latifolia, C.l. macrantha, Helleborus 
(Christmas Roses and Lenten Roses), Lon¬ 
don Pride (Saxifraga umbrosa), and various 
other subjects. The above, however, will 
give you a good start and variety. 
210 8. Violas Unsatisfactory. 
I have ten varieties of Violas, which I 
planted in May, but they are still very short 
in the stem, and the flowers are small and 
crumpled. A friend tells me I should have 
planted them in March. Can, I do anything 
now to get them to make good growth ? I 
have seen them do well in other gardens 
where they have less shelter than in mine. 
Indeed, my garden is well sheltered, and 
with such a cool season they should have 
done much better. (A. Birkett, Hants.) 
Your friend was quite right in saying 
that your Violas should have been planted 
in March. This applies to all the southern 
counties of England, more especially where 
the climate is likely to get dry and warm 
during the summer. If planted early thev 
are able to make a good root-system, and 
therefore to withstand the hot weather when 
it comes. Even in a season like the present, 
however, with late planting you can assist 
the Violas by mulching the ground with 
some well-decayed, manure, which will keep 
it cool and also furnish nourishment. We 
presume, however, that something else is 
the matter with the flowers, seeing that they 
are crumpled and have short stalks. Shel¬ 
ter is good enough in its way, but it very 
often fosters a variety of insect enemies, 
and we should be afraid your plants have 
got attacked with green fly in the crowns of 
young leaves and flower buds. They are 
sometimes very severely punished in this 
way during the month of June. Even no 
you might inspect them for the presence < 
this enemy, and if you find any affecte 
syringe the plants with clean water and the 
dust the crowns with tobacco powder, ma 
ing sure that the powder gets well j 
amongst the young leaves. 
TREES AND SHRUBS . 
210 9. Fuchsia in the Isle of Wight. 
In several parts of the Isle of Wight 
saw a Fuchsia making hedges 6ft. high an 
flowering splendidly. They must have bee 
there many years considering the size < 
them. Can you give me the name of it, an 
say whether it would be hardy here 
Would it be necessary to give it any prote 
tion in winter? (A. Davidson, Bucks.) 
We presume the Fuchsia is F. Ricca 
toni, which is the most commonly plante 
hardy Fuchsia. There are, however, sever; 
others which are as hardy or nearly so, an 
the most common of the others would 1 
F. macrostemma, which has various otht 
names, such as F. coccinea and F. gracili 
The first-named one is, however, the mo ; 
hardy and vigorous. It should prove hard i 
in your county, more especially if plant* 1 
against a wall in ' soil that is of a ligl ' 
character, so that the roots will be fair, j 
dry in. winter. A little protection may t 
given the upper part of the plant, bi .] 
usually if this is left on continuously it ma j 
do more harm than good by making t! 
stems tender. You can find a situation fe : : 
it in your garden by propagating the pla: 
and getting a stock, so that you can ri? 
, some of them in various parts of your ga J 
den and on the walls of the house. Eve ( 
in the far north, although the stems ma ; 
get more or less cut down in winter, the , 
shoot up again in spring, making more c 
less vigorous growth during the summer an •: 
flowering. 
ROSES. 
2110. Dorothy Perkins Turning Yellov 
Will you kindly tell me what is the cau: 
of my rambler Dorothy. Perkins making n 
fresh shoots, and. also why the foliage hf 
turned yellow? It seems in a poor way, a 
though I have tried all I know to get it or 
It is half-way up an arch in the garder 
and there it remains, a poor-looking thin; 
(A Learner, Middlesex.) 
Evidently your Rose is in a bad way, bv 
we are unable to say what is the matte 
with it, as we have no particulars. We car 
however, make a, number of suggestions, a ; 
it all depends upon the plant itself to begi 
with and the treatment it has received sine! 
you got it. Did you prepare a site befor 
planting it by taking out the natural so ; 
for some depth and improving it or re 
placing it by fresh material of a suitabl 
character ? Roses and other climbers ar 
often put into a hole just large enough t 
receive the roots at planting time, and hav 
a difficulty in penetrating the soil. If 1 
has only been planted one season it ha 
scarcely yet had time to get properly estal 
lished. At planting time the stems shou 1 
have been cut down to within 12 in. or iSin 
of the ground, according to their strength 
By this process you will have got no flower 
the first season, but by getting stroni 
growths from the base you would get flower 
the year after. As the leaves are turning 
yellow in a cool season like the present i 
indicates that something is wrong. Eithe 
the plant has been attacked by red spider o: 
the roots have gone wrong for some reasoi 
or other. Have the stems been rubbing 01 
a galvanised wire .arch and got injured 
After all these things have been enquire* 
into there still remains the question as tt 
the condition of the plant when you ftrs. 
