Jctl 19. 1913- 
clerodendron 
THOMSONS. 
This lovely stove cliimber is probably seen 
at Its best wHen grown on a wall, or cover¬ 
ing a good ‘space of trellising,, ana is useiui 
a vase plant for house aecoration wheu 
grown on a halloon^liaped frame or trained 
evenly on five or six slender stakes oaretully 
placed around the sides of the pot. More¬ 
over, if started according to the time it is 
required to bloom, and given wanmer or 
cooler conditions, as may De deemed neces¬ 
sary, it may be nowered at any time from 
April until August. Such plants now 
bowering require to be kept in the inter¬ 
mediate nouse until the nowers are past 
their best, when they may be relieved of 
useless wood and flower spikes, and be 
given stove conditions to ensure sufhcient 
strong, healthy growth for the production 
of flowers nex^ year. A topdressmg or a 
little assistance from aitificial manure will 
be of material assistance. One or two 
young plants rooted in the spring will 
aflora a good display of flowers within two 
years, and suOh plants grown in a ten-inch 
or twelve-inch pot wiili remain in a healthy, 
free-flowering condition tor several years. 
Hatfield House Gardens. H. Prime. 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
flowers are the fine veins, suffused T\dth 
purple, that traverse the lips of the flowers. 
A. molle and A. sempervirens are two 
species having much in common, and like 
glutinosum, they are partial to tlie hottest 
exposure the rock-garden affords. In A. 
molle the flowers are wdiite, the lip being 
yellow, with darker veins of purple; the 
leaves and also the slender piociimbent 
branches are densely clothed with fine 
woolly hairs. In A. sempervirens the 
flowers are almost pure white, the leaves 
and stems heing hirsute like the others. 
These species of antirrhinum succeed in 
any light soil, but all are partial to that 
containing an appreciable quantity of lime¬ 
stone or chalk ; they are readily propagated 
by seeds or cuttings, the former sown as 
LIBONIA FLORIBUNDA. 
The final pottng of the main batch of 
plants should be dune as soon as possible 
now, so that everyone will form a good 
specimen before the flower-buds show. If 
retained too long in smaller pots the buds 
form prematurely, and then the best at¬ 
tention as regards re-potting and feeding 
will not have the desired effect. 
Cool tre<atment at this season is good for 
the plants. When newly potte<l in an 
open compost made moderately finn the 
lights of the frame should be closed all 
night, and only opene<l a few inches during 
the daytime for about ten days. After¬ 
wards gradually give more ventilatio!i 
until full exposure is reached. When the 
CREEPING SNAPDRAGONS- 
To the majority of cultivators the genus 
Antirrhinum strands expressly for tne 
riciily-coloured forms of A. inajus, and 
so varied are the hrignt and attractive 
flowers of the varietal forms that they have 
attained a degree of popularity that makes 
their presence in every garden almost a 
necessity. 
In addition to these erect forms, there 
is a cliarming group that partakes of the 
character of alpines, having prostrate or 
procumbent stems, bearing soft, downy, 
grey-green leafage, and from whence spring 
heiightful miniature flowers of true snap¬ 
dragon form. The flow’ers of these dwarf 
species do not exhibit the wide range of 
colour that is so prominent a feature hi 
the erect forms; they are usually white or 
cream, with delicate pencillings of purple 
upon the lip or upper segment; they are 
also exquisitely modelled and characterise<l 
by great refinement, and their Ibeauty in¬ 
stinctively appeals to one, from the manner 
in which the flowers nestle among the hoary 
Th^e alpine snapdragons (present no 
^rious difficulty in cultivation, provided 
their special requirements are recognised 
and an endeavour made to meet them. 
bey are extremely susceptible to excessive 
moisture in winter, hence a light soil and 
well-drained position are necessary and 
bey usually succeed best in the hottest 
xposure the rock-garden affords. The 
greatest success I have had wdth them was 
^ ryjwall plants; here rooted cuttings 
ihc were used, and inserted in 
an 1 T? ■^^ally in quite a small state, 
fir 1 subsequent behaviour was en- 
XI ^ y satisfactory, the plants passing 
. several winters without the 
ffi?’ and presenting a display cf 
mU flowers that laeited from 
Of September. 
is snapdragons, A. asarina 
SDwm y fho best known. It is an Italian 
crpnm ’ roimded leaves and large, 
is larger in its 
Species others, but is an attractive 
dry-wall plant. A glu- 
W ^ 1 ^ captivating species, hav- 
White loav-es, and pretty creamy- 
and ®Iender branches during Juno 
y» an attractive feature in the 
CLERODENDRON THOMSONiE. 
4 finely-flowered specimen, as grown for decorative piirposes by Mr. Prime. 
Hatfield House Gardens. 
soon as ripe in pans of sandy soil, and the 
seedlings wintered in a frost-proof struc- 
ture planting them out permanently in 
the succeeding spring. If sown during 
M^arch in the ordinary way, and the r^ 
suiting seedlings grown exiposed from the 
start, strong plants will result, and be 
ready for permanent planting by the be¬ 
ginning of August of the same year. Cut¬ 
tings of the young sh<^bs, taken during 
July and August, and inserted in pots of 
sandy soil, will root readily if kept mode¬ 
rately close for a few weeks, when they 
can be potted up singly, and treated in the 
way advised for seedlings. 
Thomas Smith. 
Coombe Court Gardens. 
nights become cooler put on the lights. 
This treatment, coupled with judicious 
feeding after the pots are well filled with 
roots, will result in the growth of grand 
plants, bearing richly-coloured flowers. 
Spinach Beet.— In many places the 
ordinary winter spinach cannot be relied 
upon to provide pickings throughout the 
winter and early spring, and where this is 
so it is advisable to sow a good breadth of 
the perpetual or spinach beet. A sowing 
may be made forthwith on well-manured and 
deeply-dug land. Draw the drills 15 inches 
apart, and thin out the plants to 9 inches 
apart.—W. Messenger, Woolverstone Park 
Gardens. 
