220 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
March 29, 1913 
Tliere are several other races, such as Col- 
villei, which gives Us such charming plants 
for pot culture and early flowering, and the 
later set of Prineeps hybridis, and the quite 
new family produced by crossing Kelwayi 
forms with the pollen of G. primulinus, the 
latter coming from near the Zambesi 
Falls. 
Gladioli are not nearly enough grown, nor 
are they sufficiently w’dl grown in many 
gardens, lliey love rich soil, and a fairly 
heavy one, if w^ell drained, and though 
they provide splendid colouring in a mixed 
border, they too often have to compete there 
with strong-growing and voracious herba¬ 
ceous subjects. If every lover of the genus 
would plant a few' dozen of the better varie¬ 
ties in a plot of land deeply worked and 
freely manured the previous autumn, or on 
soil heavily manured for a previous crop, 
the capacity of the plants to produce fine 
secondary spikes would be better appre¬ 
ciated. The old practice of placing some 
sand just under and just over each conn 
at planting time has much to recommend it, 
especially in retentive soils. Gladioli are 
sunshine lovers, but when g^o^vn for exhi¬ 
bition it is necessary to shade the low’or 
part of the spike, so that the first-opened 
flowers may remain fresh until many of the 
upper ones have expanded. A carpeting 
plant of some kind is generally advisable 
under gladioli. 
“ And the small wdJd Pinks from tender 
F'^ther-grasses i>eep at us; 
While above them burns on slender 
Stems the red Gladiolus.” 
We should have to alter these lines of Lord 
Lytton’s, however, to make them fitly de¬ 
scribe the robust, many-coloured gladioli of 
our times. C. K. 
HERBACEOUS PEONIES. 
Tho flowers of herbaceous pseonies not 
only make a grand display in the herba¬ 
ceous borders during the summer months, 
where, if planted in bold groups of separ¬ 
ate colours they are very attractive, as 
they last some time in perfection, parti¬ 
cularly if shaded from the bright sunshine 
but they are also useful for cutting for 
decorative purposes. 
rnfortunately these pseonies have large 
foliage, which renders it necessary for 
them to be planted a good distance apart 
^ develop, and so, when grown in the 
herbaceous borders, after the flowering 
^nod IS over, tiliere is always a blank. 
To overcome this the roots ought to be 
allowed ample room to admit of some 
later-flowering subjects being planted be¬ 
tween them. When grown sjxK'ially for the 
production of cut flow'ers it is preferable 
to* plant them in a plot by themselves, 
where they can be liberally treated while 
glowing. 
Paeonies delight in a deep rich loam, and 
an abundance of moisture at the roots w'hile 
growing, therefore it is best to plant them 
by themselves, where, during dry weather 
they can be mulched and liberallv watered.’ 
If left for several years they “throw up 
strong flower stems, which, in many in¬ 
stances, are from two to three feet “lon<r, 
carrying three or four blooms each. As 
these flowers do not all expand at the 
same time their season of bloom is pro¬ 
longed considerably. 
There is no difficulty in raising a stock 
of plants from seeds, but those who are 
desirous of growing the best named varie¬ 
ties would do well to procure a stock of 
roots, and when these are established they 
may be increased by root cuttings, in the 
same way as seakale and many other plants. 
The cuttings take some time to callus, 
therefore the plants will be small the first 
season, but when they have once formed 
crowns they grow' away rapidly. Care will 
be needed with the cutting until new roots 
are formed, as they are liable to rot if the 
soil is too wet. Though pmonies may be 
planted at any time during the winter, 
after the foliage has died down, I have 
alw ays found plants grow away more vigo¬ 
rously if planted early in the autumn, pe- 
fore the crown buds are too prominent. 
If some of the tubers are taken off them 
and made into cuttings these will have made 
crowns by the following autumn, but it is 
well to allow them to remain in the nur¬ 
sery beds for another season to become 
thoroughly established. 
Tliere is now' a long list of choice named 
varieties of paeonies, ranging from white 
to deep crimson, and not a few of them 
are very sweetly scented. I will just name 
a few for the guidance of those who may 
not have grow'n them : Albert Crousse, soft 
blush; Duke of Cornw'all. bright crimson ; 
Gloriosa, white, tipped with pink; La 
Perle, flesh colour; Snowball, pure white; 
Lutea plenissima, soft yellow ; Beauty of 
Tokio, pure w'hite, and very large. 
H. C. Prinsep. 
TWO GOOD 
LATE-FLOWERING LILIES. 
Tile importations of Liliiim nepalense 
and L. sulphureum, both delightful late- 
flowering lilies for the greenhouse, appear 
this year to be remarkably fine. Neither 
of them are, so far as I know, cultivated 
for the sake of their bulbs, the supply 
being kept up by importations from Up,per 
Biirmah, where they are collected in a 
wild state. A somew^hat notable feature 
in ccnn^ion with their culture is that 
after being potted and placed under con¬ 
ditions favourable to growth, the bulbs re¬ 
main for some time without any signs of 
the young shoots making their appearance. 
When, however, they do start progress is 
rapid, particularly in the case of L. sul¬ 
phureum, which will often run up to a 
height of six to eight feet. This last- 
named species has large funnel-shaped 
flowers, rich yellow within, and of a paler 
tone on the exterior, w'hioh is flushed with 
reddish-brow'n. The leaves are exceedingly 
numerous, and rather narrow, while in the 
axils thereof on the upper part of the stem 
bulbils are freely produced. These bulbils 
are large, and, under favourable condi¬ 
tions, w'ill flower in three years. The 
other species—L. nepalense—is not so tall 
a grower, and the stem is very slender. 
The flowers, which reflex in a Turk’s cap¬ 
like fashion, but not to the same extent, 
have the basal portion of the segments deep 
purple, and the upper part greenish-yellow 
or yellowish-green. In the tone of colour 
and the extent of the purple marking there 
is a certain amount of individual variation 
W. T. 
Freesia Ragrioneri —This strain of 
ireesias is, I believe, of Italian origin, and 
shows a more decided range in colour than 
we have hitherto been accustomed to see. 
True, ever since the introduction of Freesia 
Armstrongi (now a dozen years or so ago), 
coloured forms have been making their ap¬ 
pearance, but in most cases the tints repr^ 
have been various shades of pink, rose, 
and lilac. In these new-comers bronzy tints 
occur, and there is also a wide range in 
pinks, orange, pale-blues, etc. All these 
varieties e^in to have the rather attenuated 
giowth of Freesia Armstrongi, and an- 
other and by no means desirable, feature 
that they are to a great extent wanting in 
the delicious frapance which constitutes one 
clarkia elegans 
It is not smT>rising that Clarkia 
sho.ul<l' gam in estimation with the 
It IS a hardy annual that presents bea„w 
and utility in the highest degree h L 
probably m the open border tLt its L! 
gant habit and warm, rich tones of col^ 
appear to the best advantage, w'hile 
utiiUtj is also demonstrated by the fact 
it succeeds as readily in pots as in the oZ 
border The flowers are not ephenieS^ 
and either upon the plants or in a cut suu 
they retain their brightness and freslin«» 
tor some considerable time. 
Clarkias do not reach such early maturit? 
as some others, nor is their flowering sea^ 
of such brief duration. For the earliest 
display it is usual to sow in the open duriiif 
autumn, tmnsplanting the seedlings into 
pots or iboxes, and wintering in a light 
airy, and frost-proof structure. With in! 
peasing sunshine in spring, they are pott<d 
into larger sizes, and subsequently into 
their flowering pots, or planted in the op« 
some time in March. In the case of pot- 
grown plants, these flower toward the end 
of Ap'ril and during May, while the open 
ground plants flower during June and Julr. 
^^le earliest spring sowing should be ina^ 
in boxes under glass, and the seedling! 
grown steadily in a cool structure, trans¬ 
planting ^em into prepared soil, protected- 
by handlights, and finally planting out iij 
their flowering quarters during April 
Where clarkias are wanted for a late sum¬ 
mer display, the seeds should be sown dur. 
ing April where the plants are intended to 
flower. Thinning must be taken in hand 
early^ and is best performed in tw'o or thr«# 
operations, with an interval of ten da.n; 
between, allowing 15 to 18 inches betwecij 
the plants at the final thinning. 8taktoP 
should have early attention, for all tk^ 
forms of Clarkia elegans attain a heigfct^ 
of three feet in the open, and a light ban- 
boo support prevents the plants from 
breaking down under the influence of rail 
or wind. 
The most popular variety of Clarkia el^ 
gans is Salmon Queen, in which the doubi# 
flowers are delightfully coloured salmon 
rose; in Vesuvius the salmon shade m 
almost displaced by orange-scarlet: wh3e 
in Orange King we have even a bright®^ 
selection; Brilliant is a variety with glow¬ 
ing rosy-salmon flowers; in Purple Prin» 
the colour is a rich rose-purple; in ^ o’* 
Queen the flowers are white, and 
Alary is a lovely shade of rose-carmine. oW 
of the loveliest shades in the whole group 1 
Scarlet Queen is exceedingly brilliant « 
colour, and is an effective shade to einp*vl 
for distant effect. Thomas Smith. 
Coombe Court Gardens. 
The Water Garden. — 
around most water gardens are ; 
banks and hillocks, and these m 
ably provide sites for numerous 
associated with water, such as 
boos, gunneras, astilbes, 
senecios. The fact must not be over 
that such positions, although more n ^ 
near the water, sometimes become t j 
during the summer, and, 
at that season receive a heavy mulching ^ 
rotten cow manure, which IuH 
retain moisture, as well as to ^ 
riant growth. I do not mean ^ ^ 
these subjects only require muicM g j 
situated in such positions, as ^ jf * 
times respond to such treatm^t. g 
proves very beneficial to Ins ^ ^ f tJM 
there has been any recent P!f 1 be 
popular Japanese iris; the soil m 
moist round the roots should we 
harsh drying wind^s. This 
refers to imported roots recentp 
T. B. Field. 
