September 14, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
609 
2186. Flowers for Garden Beds. 
I should be greatly obliged if you will 
tell me what to plant in the various beds 
|(plan enclosed) to get a continuous show. 
Cash is a consideration. Any suggestions 
for improving the plan would also be very 
acceptable. The flowers are wanted for 
Igarden decoration -and cutting. (W. T., 
Essex.) 
We have not much to suggest in altering 
the plan, as it has chiefly got to fit into 
the shape of the garden and the houses 
situated upon the same ground. We should 
suggest, however, that a cold frame would 
be a very useful adjunct- to the garden, and 
it might stand on that portion of the grass 
adjoining the Rose W. A. Richardson, as it 
would get a fair amount of sunshine and be 
sheltered by the wall. Many plants could 
be propagated and kept there during the 
winter, such as Calceolarias, Pansies or 
Violas, Pentstemons, Marguerites, which you 
could keep in mild winters. Antirrhinum 
cuttings and seedlings of various other 
things. It would be equally useful in 
spring by raising seeds of half-hardy an¬ 
nuals to plant out in the beds during May. 
The portion of grass under the Apple tree 
might also be done away with, as it would 
necessitate some clipping with, the shears, 
owing to the narrowness- of the strip and 
its nearness to the wall, while the mowing 
machine might be liable to bark the Apple 
tree. This might very well be planted with 
bulbs for spring flowering. Bed A we 
should plant with perennials as they would 
be more likely to succeed than annuals, as 
they would be already established in the 
ground and not feel the effects of shade so 
much as annuals would. Possibly, how¬ 
ever, it does not get much shade from the 
various houses with the exception of the 
dwelling house. Any way, we should sug¬ 
gest Christmas Roses, Doronicum planta- 
gineum, Aquilegias, Globe Flowers (Trol- 
lius), Galega officinalis, G. o. alba, Iberis 
sempervirens, I. correaefolia, Campanula 
persicifolia grandiflora alba, Canterbury 
Bells and Sweet Williams. The last two 
may be grown from seed. The last five 
sorts, together with single and double Pyre- 
thrums, Iris germanica, I. pallida and other 
Irises, mig£t be planted towards the path¬ 
way. Against the wall you might have such 
tall-growing things as Hollyhocks and Del¬ 
phiniums, that is, perennial Larkspurs. If 
you do not care to go to the expense of get¬ 
ting a sufficient number of these plants to 
fill the bed the first year, some of the spaces 
might be occupied with clumps of annuals. 
Bed B might be sown with such annuals as 
Shirley Poppies, Chrysanthemum carinatum 
burridgeanum, Godetia Marchioness of Salis¬ 
bury and Nemophila insignis, commencing 
at the wall with the Poppies and finishing 
up with lines of the plants we have named 
in that same order. To give variety we 
would suggest for Bed C, commencing at 
the wall, Chrysanthemum coronarium 
double white, Clarkia pulchella, Phlox 
Drummondii and Linum grandiflorum ru- 
brum at the front. Bed D, having nearly 
a southern aspect might be filled with plants 
of the Japanese Pink (Dianthus Hedde- 
ydgii). They would come into bloom earlier 
ii raised in a cold frame, sowing the seeds 
in March. Bed E might be sown with 
Coreopsis tinctoria next the wall, then Chry¬ 
santhemum carinatum Morning Star, Vis- 
caria cardinalis and Virginian Stock. Bed 
- F might be entirely filled with Calceolaria 
Golden Gem, which would have to be kept 
in a cold frame during winter, putting in 
the cuttings in October. Bed G might be 
planted -with Violas or fancy Pansies raised 
from seeds in July or AugusJ and planted 
out in spring. If you would prefer named 
varieties, then you would require to get 
plants to start -with and propagate them by 
cuttings at the beginning of September. 
Bed H we should reserve for a rockery or 
Roses, whichever you fancied most. The 
grass mound behind this semi-circular bed 
might be planted with Crocuses and Daffo¬ 
dils, which need not be lifted, but allowed 
to remain from year to year. All of the 
annuals we mention could be raised from 
seeds, sowing them about the beginning of 
April. If we have named too many, two 
of the beds might be sown with the same 
varieties. We mention different things for 
different beds, so as to give you as much 
variety as possible. If the soil is properly 
dug and manured during autumn or winter, 
all of those things we have named should 
grow well. 
2187. Plant with Leaves Like a 
Gladiolus. 
Could you tell me the name of the plant 
that has leaves somewhat like Gladiolus The 
Bride and throws up a slender stem, at the 
end of which are the small flowers of a 
golden sunset-red, something like the sketch 
enclosed? Tell me the time of planting. 
(J. E. W., Middlesex.) 
Judging from your illustration of the 
plant we reckon it to be Dierama pulcher- 
rima, otherwise known in catalogues as 
Sparaxis pulcherrima. You do not, how¬ 
ever, tell us the height of the stem, as that 
would have been a better guide. It is just 
as possible to be some variety of Mont- 
bretia, say M. crocosmiaeflora, which grows 
about 1^ "ft. to 2 ft. in height. The other 
plant we mention is much taller. The 
corms may be planted in October or in 
February. The latter would be better if 
the soil is heavy. 
2188. Cuttings of Pentstemons. 
Would } r ou kindly give me some informa¬ 
tion about taking cuttings of Pentstemons 
and whether, as I have no greenhouse, I 
could keep them during the winter in a 
large outhouse, which has scarcely any light 
(one large pane of glass facing north), if I 
kept the frost out? (J. E. W., Middlesex.) 
We do not think you will be able to keep 
Pentstemons alive in such a place, as the 
light would be £0 poor and no air. The 
leaves would damp off and the stems like¬ 
wise long before spring. We should ad¬ 
vise you to make up some potfuls of light 
sandy soil, draining the pots well, and in¬ 
serting the Pentstemon cuttings in this. At 
the same time you could use boxes 4 in. 
deep, draining them well and using the com¬ 
post mentioned. Pots or boxes could be 
stood at the foot of a wall in a sheltered 
situation and -a pane of glass erected over 
them by means of pegs to keep off the wet 
in winter. 
2189. Best Kind of Flowers to Plant. 
I am afraid I did not give you enough in¬ 
formation concerning question 2146. The 
flowers are for table decoration and also 
some good showy varieties for the garden 
only. (Enquirer, Surrey.) 
All of the flowers we mentioned will be 
perfectly serviceable for cutting and for 
garden decoration. In the absence of in¬ 
structions we selected those that would be 
generally useful. The list we gave would 
extend well into October. You might add 
to it, to give you a supply of flowers- in 
spring, by planting bulbs of Narcissus ob- 
vallaris, Henry Irving, Golden Spur, Em¬ 
press, Emperor, Gloria Mundi, Sir Watkin, 
Poeticus ornatus, and the Gardenia-flowered 
Narcissus, which keeps on till the end of 
May. Darwin Tulips bloom in May, Span¬ 
ish Irises in June, and English Irises in 
July. 4 If you would like late flowering 
Chrysanthemums to bloom out of doors, 
plant Gustave Grimnerwald, Glow, Mrs. E. 
V. Freeman, Fraicheur, Grenade, and 
Mytchett Beauty. These will give you a 
long succession, even if you employ only 
some of those we have mentioned in the pre¬ 
vious answer and in this one. 
2190. Blue Flowers for Spring. 
I have a border in front of a low hedge 
which I should like to plant with various 
blue flowers to bloom as long as possible 
in spring. Would you be good enough to 
name a number and say how deeply they 
should be planted? They must be hardy. 
(J. O. S., Norfolk.) 
Blue flowers to bloom in spring are mostly 
bulbs, and include Chionodoxa sardensis, 
C. Lucilae, C. gigantea, C. Tmolusii, Scilla 
bifolia, S. sibirica, S. amoena, ,S. hispan- 
ica, S. nutans. Crocus Bleu Celeste, Muscari 
conicum, M. botryoides, M. szovitzianum, 
Hyacinth Lord Derby, Leonodas, Queen of 
the Blues, King of the Blues, Masterpiece, 
and Charles Dickens. The smaller bulbs 
first mentioned should be planted four 
inches deep, but the Hyacinths may be 
planted 5 in. deep. Other plants with blue 
flowers are Forget-me-Not, such as Myosotis 
sylvatica and M. alpestris Victoria. 
ROSES . 
2191. Show Board. 
Will you please give me the size and di¬ 
mensions of the most up-to-date show board 
for twelve Rose blooms, and, if possible, a 
sketch of the same would be very accept¬ 
able? It is rather an out-of-the-way ques¬ 
tion for the time of the year, but will 
greatly oblige. (Anxious, Northampton¬ 
shire.) 
According to the rules of the National 
Rose Society a board for twelve blooms 
should be 24 in. long, 18 in. wide, and 4 in. 
deep in front. You can either make it some¬ 
what deeper at the hack, or, what is better, 
prop it up to the desired height when stag¬ 
ing the blooms. The holes should be 3 in. 
from the edge of the board all round and 
6 in. from centre to centre of the holes. 
You will see .by the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion that a lid is made to fit on this up-to- 
date 'box. It should have a bead inside the 
edge of it to fit inside the box holding the 
blooms. By this means the Roses can be 
safely conveyed to the show. The blooms 
should be in three rows of four blooms to 
each row. 
2192. Habit of Rose. 
I have enclosed a Rose bloom with foliage 
and should feel obliged if you would give 
me the name of same Is it worth growing? 
If so, would it be best suited for pillar, 
standard or dwarf? (A. L. O., Devon.) 
The bloom is- either Tea Rose G. Nabon- 
nand or a variety closely- similar. The 
flowers are produced in clusters arid the 
plant is of_fairly dwarf habit. It may-, 
therefore, be used as a bush, a standard, for 
bedding, and for garden decoration gener¬ 
ally, except that we should not use it as a 
pillar Rose. It is a free flowering and 
valuable variety. 
