The Gardening World, September 14, 1907. 
MOTTO 
THE WEEK: 
FOR 
“ Absence of occupation is not rest, 
A mind quite vacant is a mind distress’d.”— Pope. 
CONTENTS. 
Allamanda grandiflora . 599 
Almonds, The Enemy of . 600 
Alpine, A Choice (illus.) . 599 
Amateur's Letter to Amateurs, An... 597 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. C. L. Bell 
(illus.) .. 601 
Clematis: Classified for Amateurs ... 59S 
Competition Awards . 59 ^ 
Dahlias at the Crystal Palace . 604 
Enquire Within . 607 
Flower Garden, The . 605 
Fruit Garden, The . 605 
Greenhouse, The Amateur's . 605 
Kitchen Garden, The . 6°5 
Orchids for Amateurs . 606 
Perennials, Autumn Propagation of 600 
Roses for Wet Weather . 59 ^ 
Town Garden, The Small . 6° 2 
Vfiojas in a London Suburban Gar¬ 
den (illus.) . 602 
Work of the Week . 605 
-*++- 
She 
It knows not whither, it knows not why 
The wild wind hurries it off to die, 
Enough to feel that its life has been 
A drop in the sea of living green, 
That surged and swayed 
And patterns made 
Of God's design on the sunflecked glade. 
The call came soon, but the wood bereft 
Was all content with the millions left, 
And smiled and danced to the shy old 
sun, 
And sighed to the moon when day was 
done. 
One more, one less ; 
Who counts each tress 
Or every thread in Flora’s dress ? 
With a somersault and a saucy grace 
The leaf comes swirling against my face,. 
And says as plainly as leaves can do 
, “ There’s an end to me and an end to 1 
you.” 
Ah, tiny friend. 
We both descend. 
But what is the end? Ah, what is the’ 
end ? A. W. 
—In the Daily News. 
CVIII. 
A Useful Plant for Edgings. 
It is sometimes difficult to find a satis¬ 
factory edging for a bed or border that 
is situated in an unfavourable position. 
You want something that shall be neat, 
tiirn, and perennial. Now, I think that, 
all things considered, it is very difficult 
to beat the good old-fashioned Stachys la- 
nata, or Lamb’s Ear. The white leaves 
have an excellent effect in the distance; it 
makes a neat, compact line, and can be 
kept so with a little care and a thinning 
from time to time. It is much better if 
the flower stems are cut off, and once in 
five years or so it is well worth while to lift 
the whole and pull to pieces, replanting 
only young growths, and that singly and 
about half a foot apart. I am speaking 
of it solely as a subject for an unfavour¬ 
able position in which it has not the 
chance to make rampant and luxuriant 
growth, and I need not say that it is a 
subject for a dry, parched position; those 
woolly leaves are characteristic of plants 
that can resist Excessive heat. It may be 
over-familiar and not a choice ty r pe of 
plant, but all the same it is wonderfully 
decorative, and I have never forgotten 
hearing a great floiver lover, at the sight 
of a long, sweeping edging of it the length 
of a long carriage drive, exclaim, “It 
would be difficult to find anything hand¬ 
somer or more decorative.” And there is 
this to be said of it—its white foliage has 
particular value throughout the winter, 
when the garden is blossomless, for then 
is it, indeed, that coloured foliage makes 
a splendid foil to the general greenness. 
It is a great thing, too, that the plant 
flourishes on starvation rations, or what 
would be so to other subjects, so that 
where an edging is desirable in the 
vicinity of trees with wide-spreading roots, 
or a border under a Privet or Lew hedge 
—both hungry, greedy subjects—this old- 
fashioned Stachys is often the most suit¬ 
able plant that can be choKB. 
Cuttings of Bedding Plants. 
I have never known cuttings of Ivy¬ 
leaved Geraniums so soft. and sappy as 
they are this year, and that from plants 
that are growing in an open and sunny 
position (when there is sun). Now this 
condition may not matter so very much for 
plants that are to have ample protection 
and artificial heat through the winter, but 
where these -and, of course, other sub¬ 
jects too — are to be wintered without heat 
in a cold house; or even in an unheated 
room, it is a serious matter, and every¬ 
thing possible to ripen the growth should 
be done. As usual, I shall experiment 
with a certain number in a cold house 
throughout the winter; and at present, in¬ 
stead of standing the pots in the open out 
of doors, I am standing them on the top 
shelf of greenhouse, with the lights down, 
as I find this the most airy and the driest 
and warmest spot for them, and all these 
conditions are necessary. If we do get a 
hot spell they can be put entirely out of 
doors, but the great thing is to get them 
rooted as soon as possible, and to ripen 
them at the same time. Some years it is 
possible to root all the cuttings of Gera¬ 
niums in the open ground, but this sea¬ 
son, where anything like trying winter 
conditions are likely, it must not be 
thought of. 
Lilium candidum. 
I have already spoken of this good old 
bulbous plant, but I want just to remind 
my readers once again that if they wish 
to plant this, or divide it, to lose no more 
time. The bulbs of this particular variety 
rest for an incredibly short while, so that 
they deteriorate rapidly if left until late 
in the season out of the ground, and in 
the case of lifting plants—well, it is far 
better to do this before the new growth 
has far advanced, so that they receive no 
serious check, as in that case, for two or 
three seasons will produce no blossom. 
Do not bury the bulbs too deeply. That, 
again, is frequently the fault of the 
novice, and results in lack of blossom. 
I have known a long line throughout a 
border having to be lifted again for the 
purpose of shallower planting, and 
clearly this was the reason of their failure 
to flower, for having become re-estab¬ 
lished they blossomed freely. But though 
they are "not to be deeply planted, the 
ground they are to occupy should be quite 
deeply dug and manured. I plant all 
mine in the driest position the garden 
affords. They were not always there, but 
I found a clump or two that were as dry 
as dust all the summer which flowered un¬ 
failingly and prodigiously, far better than 
those in cooler, moister positions, so that 
now they all occupy dry, warm quarters 
and flower in a highly satisfactory man¬ 
ner. 
Garden Peas. 
I wonder how many readers of THE 
Gardening World were curious enough 
to experiment with the inoculating 
material for leguminous plants. So far as 
I am concerned I carried out the instruc¬ 
tions strictly, and soaked all Peas before 
sowing. After that they were sown fhinly, 
and in what seems to me always a satis¬ 
factory method—in trenches — so that after 
the seed is covered it is then four inches 
below the surrounding level. The crop of 
