40 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE 
January 18 , 1913 . 
found these do so well, and they either 
produce a number of suckers from the 
knob, or the latter gradually decays, and 
it is a pity to lose a good standard from 
this. By starting with the smallest pot 
you can shift on a little later, and so 
greatly help the plant, for I may say at 
once you will not he so successful in any 
root or soil reduction as in the case of 
dwarf pot roses. This is mainly because 
obviously the growth cannot be cut down 
to the base and so make a fresh start. 
1 prefer them fto be outside, or, at 
any rate, as cool and moist as possible, for 
some time after potting, and as it is neces¬ 
sary they should not sway about and 
wrench off the young roots as they form, 
I have generally st<K)d them in row’s, passed 
a stout string or small cord between a 
couple of supports, and then tied each 
standard stem to this cord. When well 
set, and under glass, this support will not 
be so much needed against w ind, of course, 
but we must contrive somehow’ to obviate 
the risk of their tumbling over from top¬ 
heaviness. 
I have already hinted that it is advis¬ 
able to prune back the wood hard at first. 
It is of little use leaving any of the 
growth for flow ering during the first spring 
from potting. The result would be unsatis¬ 
factory, and the cultivator would lo.se in 
the matter of a good base for the future 
specimen. Forego this little and indifferent 
crop, and obtain a good base and some 
really fine growths in the ensuing season. 
Do not hurry the growth in any way by 
heat. If they are in a sheltered posi-tion 
I would leave them out all winter, or onlv 
bring them under cover for a time should 
very sev’ere weather set in. As a rule, the 
varieties most suited for this method of 
culture are rather more precocious in 
grow^th than others, and as it is the first 
and strongest buds that we want to en¬ 
courage into long, rod-like grow’ths as soon 
as possible, I would endeavour to protect 
them in some w’ay as soon as they break, 
for one never knows when a nipping spring 
frost will come along. We had a good 
example of that during last spring. 
There is no need to occupy the green¬ 
house with them during the first summer’s 
growth. Have the pots upon a firm 
bottom, give plenty of room for the shoots 
to develop, and pay great attention to 
keeping the grow’th clean. It is a good 
plan to three-parts plunge the pots in a 
.small betl of .short manure and heavy soil. 
It helps to steady them, keeps them 
more uniformly moist, and feeds the roots 
to a certain extent. There is no need to 
have the plunging material over the whole 
of the ground, for as they grow* the plants 
will be .some little distance apart, and the 
plunging material might lx* put to better 
use. 
If too many grow’ths start, reduce 
them to the number your plant is best 
able to support. For example, five or six 
shoots should be ample for an ordinary- 
sized .stem, and more especially in the fir.st 
season. 
Suppose we have reache<l this desirable 
stage, and are in our second year's work. 
Very earlv the following year they can be 
introduced to a cool house, and if thev 
are not hurried at first the cultivator will 
have those lovelv cascades of blossom so 
much admired whether at home or the 
early exhibitions. Remember from the 
first that it is what some would look upon 
as useless wood, because it does not flow’pr 
the first season, that is of the most value 
in this cla.ss of rose. Provide<l this is fairlv 
w’ell matured, and not .started hastilv. it 
will caiTv trusses of flowers from almo.st 
everv bud throughout its length. 
The shoots can be arranged in many 
forms, but keep them as horizontal or else 
as pendent as the design will admit. If 
trained upright there are apt to be many 
” blind,” or flowerless, grow’ths. With the 
exception of guarding against w ind-waving 
the young rods should grow’ as naturally as 
possible the first year in the open. 
From the very first keep the foliage 
clean by a frequent u.se of the syringe. A 
very weak insecticide will do, and then you 
can use* it freely enough to help the groAvth 
or flower buds to break easily. It is not a 
quantity that is w’anted, but a little 
sprinkled over the foliage more often than 
many practise. It is this constant wash¬ 
ing, when <lone gently, that keeps insects 
at bay and all healthy, much more than 
now’ and again taking such drastic mea¬ 
sures that oftentimes as much harm as good 
results. 
As the plants show’ their flower buds they 
must be w’atered freely with liquid 
manure. And here, also, a larger quan¬ 
tity of a weaker strength w ill be found the 
better plan. In fact, my owui plants are 
watered with a weak solution wdienever the 
watering-can is used at this stage. Much 
of what I call “ foliage feeding ” can be 
done by keeping the soil or concrete be- 
tw'een the plants moist, and more especially 
if you can afford to give them a little stable 
drainings oec*asionally in these ground 
sprinklings. Of course, this is not always 
feasible in the conservatory, but it is 
largely practised by trade grow’ers who 
have houses for roses alone. Keep the 
plants cool directly the flower truss is well 
formed, and before any flowers expand, 
thus ensuring a prolonged show of beauty 
that cannot fail to please. 
A few’ varieties that w’e have found best 
suited to the standard form, but there are 
many others of much merit, are Pink and 
White Dorothy Perkins, Rene Andre, saf¬ 
fron and orange; Minnehaha, dark rose; 
Lady Godiva, creamy blirsh; Hiawatha, 
scarlet; Francois Foucard, lemon yellow’; 
P^xcelsa. a bright scarlet form of D. Per¬ 
kins ; Dorothy Dennison and Christian 
Curie, shell pinks; and Robert Craig, with 
Aviator Bleriot as golden yellow’s. The 
above are all hybrid Wichuraianas, and 
have particularly long, slender grow’ths 
that droop over even without the w’eight 
of blossoms. 
In mentioning that these could be 
trained in many forms I omitted to hint 
of their extreme beauty when trained over 
one of the numerous contriyances now’ on 
the market, that are designed much after the 
shape of an opened umbrella. A. P. 
Calceolaria, deflexa. —Placed un¬ 
der favourable conditions in the greenhouse 
this calceolaria will bloom throughout the 
w’inter months, its bright yellow flow’ers being 
much appreciated at this season. It is an old 
species, being formerly known as Calceolaria 
fuchsiaefolia. It is reputed to be one of the 
7 :)arents of the popular Calceolaria Burbidgei, 
but different opinions have been expressed 
on that point.—W. T. 
Early Fig^s. —It is not absolutely neces¬ 
sary that pot fig trees should be plunged 
in fermenting materials; but as they are 
subject to early attacks from red spider, fer¬ 
menting materials play a prominent part in 
their cultivation, not only in keeping up the 
heat, but also in maintaining suitable at¬ 
mospheric conditions. A steady bottom heat 
of about 75 degrees, with a night tempera¬ 
ture of 00 to 65 degrees on mild nights, and 
70 to 80 degrees by dav. with a little fresh 
air admitt^ on all favourable occasions, 
will be found suitable for trees started in 
Novemter. Second houses containing trained 
trees may now be closed, while late houses 
must be kept cool by liberal ventilation ex¬ 
cept in severe weather.— F. Jordan. 
ISOLOMA HIRSUTA. 
Quite a bank of this pretty f ree-floweriin» 
Gesnerad was shown at the Horticiiltura*! 
Hall on Janiiary'7.' It possesses many de¬ 
sirable features, yet at the same time is 
not often met with. In the first place, 
it can be readily propagate by means 
of cuttings, division, or by seeds; next, it 
will grow’ readily in a warm, light green¬ 
house, proyiding there is a liberal 
amount of leaf-mould in the soil; and, 
lastly, its bright-c(3loared blossoms are 
borne oyer a considerable portion of the 
year. They are of inflated tubular shape, 
about a couple of inches long, and, in com. 
mon w’ith the stems and leaf-stalks, are 
thickly clothed witli brownisli hairs. The 
leayes, too, are also hairy. 
This Isoloma is nearly related to the 
garden yarieties of Tydiea ; indeed, these 
last are by some authorities included in 
the genus Isoloma. In I. hirsuta, how’ever. 
the lobes of the flower are not spreading at 
the mouth, as in most of the Tydaeas. The 
specimens shown were from three to four 
feet in height, but they will flower freely 
w’hen considerably shorter than that. 
Though exceedingly pretty w’hen grouped 
together in the greenhouse, Isoloma hirsuta 
does not trayel at all well, and had the 
plants exliibited not lost a good many of 
their flow’ers in this way, they w’ould have 
made a much brighter display. AV. T. 
SINGLE-FLOWERED 
CAMELLIAS. 
For some years now’ camellias have not 
occupied the prominent position in our gar¬ 
dens that they at one time did, but signs 
of a return to favour are in their case 
becoming more or less evident The public 
taste has, however, quite veered round 
from the very double flowers, with a hard 
and formal outline, to those Avhich_ are 
either semi-double or single. A feature of 
the single camellias^ and a very beau¬ 
tiful one, is the large brush-like tuft of con¬ 
spicuous yellow’ stamens in the centre of the 
flow’er. 
At the meeting of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society on January 7, cut sprays of 
several delightful single-flowerecl forms 
were shown from the nurseries of Messrs. 
William Paul and Son, at AValtham Cross, 
where camellias have long occupied a pro¬ 
minent position. Notew’orthy among these 
yarieties w’cre Adelina Patti, pink, 
edged with white; Juno, w’hite, flaked 
pink ; Jupiter, rosy-red, a fine large flower; 
Minerva, deep rose; Lady M’Kinnon, crim¬ 
son, marbled white; Tricolor, pale 
flaked crimson; Snowflake, pure white; 
A^esta, bright red; and AA^altliarn Glory, 
rich deep scarlet, particularly telling. 
Besides the foregoing single camellias, 
there are also Camellia Sasanqua, 
small rose-coloured flowers. Of this, which 
blooms earlier than the forms of Camellia 
japonica, there is a variety with white blos¬ 
soms, and another w’ith variegated leaves. 
I have found that Camellia Sasanqua can 
be readily struck from cuttings. 
Another single-flow’ered' ya.riety is the 
Chinese cuspidata. which was given ajj 
Award of Merit last spring. It has smal 
white flow’ers, and has proved to^ be Qint^ 
hardy on the slopes of Coombe AA'ood 
sery. The Tea-plant is now’ regarded as a 
camellia under the name of C. Thea, 
and w’hile its flow’ers are single, f 
less conspicuous tlian those of the 
A grand camellia w’ith semi-double flouei s 
of quite an informal nature is 
retieuhta, which is seen to the best advan¬ 
tage when planted out in a conservatory 
similar situation. 
