Incidentally I do hope that it has been made clear that, when referring to tubers, the actual fleshy root portion is meant, not the crown or stem, and that each dahlia plant will produce a group or clump of tubers. It is unfortunate that the gardener invariably refers to the whole clump (which consists of stem, crown and a group of tubers) as a dahlia tuber-the chance of confusion the whole, as for example, in the chrysanthemum, where the term “stool” is used to signify the whole plant after lifting.

Rotting tubers make themselves evident in several ways. A wrinkled tuber in an otherwise plump clump, should be suspect immediately. Brown or grey “mould” is, of course, a grave danger signal, but by the time this appears usually the danger has reached serious proportions, so it cannot be considered an ideal guide.

Softness is also a danger sign. The outer skin in this case will usually peel off with only slight pressure from the fingers to reveal the corruption beneath.

Cortinarius armillatus is a neat-looking species and easily recognized at first sight. Its relatively sturdy fruit-bodies have a brick-red or reddish, rusty brown cap, with yellow, later cinnamon brown gills and a brown, club-shaped stipc, decorated with vermilion red broken stripes, which are remnants of the cortina. Its flesh lacks any specific taste or smell.

Cortinarius armillatus is associated with the birch trees of mixed forests and grows in an acid soil. Its fruit-bodies sometimes grow in small groups on mossy cushions or between fallen rotting leaves and needles. This species is usually classified as edible, but like the majority of Cortinarius, it is rarely collected. Its characteristic feature is the red striping on its stipe; these preclude any possibility of confusing it with other mushrooms.

Fortunately, it can be easily distinguished from other purple edible gill fungi. Pluteus cervinus is one of the most common red- spore mushrooms which grow on stumps and rotting wood. Its relatively large fruit-bodies have a light to dark greY or greyish-brown cap, surmounting a thin, white stipe which is longitudinally streaked with thin dark fibrils. The gills arc prominent and stand free from the stipe.

Out of doors nicotine can be used to control aphis and thrips, but would appear to be more reliable, used either in spray or dust form, as it is effective at much lower temperatures than nicotine, as well as being rather more lasting in effect. Alternatives are derris, which does not appear to be very effective, and the phosphorus group insecticides. Most of the phosphorus group, although extremely effective against a wide range of pests, are dangerous to use, and protective clothing and masks must be used.

They have not true stomachs, so that they inject a little of their digestive juices into the plant sap, together with the virus, and suck hack the pre-digested sap, greatly to their advantage, but also greatly to the dahlia’s detriment.

Attack by aphides is usually marked by twisted and distorted foliage, so that if these symptoms are seen investigate the under surfaces of the leaves: it is almost certain that a small colony will be present.

Metaldehyde (meta-fuel) bait is an almost complete answer; this can either be purchased as a ready made up compound, or mixed at home by crushing one bar of meta-fuel into a fine powder, mixing with water and about 4 ozs bran to form a crumbly mash.

The common clone now grown in the Lampongs in southern Sumatra is ‘Belantung’ with large leaves and small fhiits; it shows some field resistance to foot rot; it is said to have taken over from `Djambi’ as the latter was very susceptible to foot rot in the Lampongs around 1930.

The flowers have no perianth and 2 -4 minute stamens are borne on each side of the ovary in hermaphrodite flowers and are 1 mm long with small anthers with two sacs. The ovary is globose, one-celled, oneovuled, surmounted by 3-5 rather fleshy stigmas, covered with papillae, white when receptive, later turning brown.

The fruit is a globose drupe, 4-6 mm in diameter, with a pulpy pericarp, borne in spikes 5-15 cm long. Each spike may produce 50-60 single-seeded fruits. The unripe fruit is green with the exocarp turning red when ripe, and drying black. The seed is 3-4 mm in diameter with a minute embryo, little endosperm and copious perisperm. The weight of 100 peppercorns varies from 3 to 8 g and is usually about 4.5 g.

According to Rosengarten (1969), custom records show that cloves were imported into Alexandria by A.D. 176. The Emperor Constantine is said to have presented St Silvester, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 314-35, with numerous vessels of gold and silver, incense, and spices, including 150 pounds of cloves. By the fourth century cloves were well known round the Mediterranean and by the eighth century throughout Europe.

The spice appears to have reached China in the third century B.C. and Alexandria in the second century A.D. Cloves were spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and were very expensive. The spice, whole or ground, has a number of culinary uses. Clove oils are obtained by distillation of the spice, dried peduncles or leaves; small amounts are used in medicine, dentistry and microscopy.

The orders were particularly cruel, as it was the custom in the Moluccas for the indigenous people to plant a clove tree for the birth of each child, which helped to keep a record of the child’s age; if the tree was subsequently destroyed it portended doom for the child. The Dutch aimed to create an artificial scarcity and maintained prices by destroying surplus cloves which came onto the market. They made Batavia (Djakarta) the entrepot for cloves. Rutnphius (1626-1702) gives a very accurate account of the clove tree and method of production in his Herbarium Amboinense.

The seedling produces a pronounced tap root which remains relatively short and is fairly quickly replaced by two or three primary sinkers which develop from it. During the first year, a mass of fibrous roots spread out from the tap root to a depth of about 25 cm and a radius of 36-50 cm.

The inflorescence is a terminal, corymbose, trichotomous panicle, shortly pedunculate and branched from the base, shorter than the leaves, and very variable in the number of flowers, from 3 flowers on a simple three-forked peduncle to as many as 50 or more when conditions have favoured the triple subdivisions of the peduncle. The angled peduncles and shorter pedicels, about 5 mm long, constitute the clove stems of commerce. The bracts and bracteoles are narrow, acute, 2-3 mm long, and quickly falling. The flower is hermaphrodite with a fleshy hypanthium which is surmounted by the sepals.

Garrya elliptica is without doubt the most maligned shrub in my garden. With serene good nature it presents a well-clothed aspect of grey- green to hide the nakedness of a very exposed west wall. In February come the silver catkins 5 in. long to delight everyone who sees it, except me. Despite every effort on my part the garrya and I have not yet reached a rapprochement. Cuttings taken of young wood in July-August root readily. One I took 16 years ago is now 8 ft. high by about 6 ft. across.

There is an old elm nearby clothed in ivy which confirms my regard for this climber. It makes a perfect sanctuary for nesting birds in summer, a column of polished green to lighten the dark days of winter. Some older buildings would be stark ruins without a softening mantle of ivy. No matter that the soil is dry to the point of aridity, or dark with the shade of forest trees, the ivy grows to mask the nakedness of inhospitable earth with quiet efficiency.

I just let the alpina and montana hybrids grow where space permits, then cut them back to within two or three buds of the old wood in early March. Where space is limited I train them out to make a framework of branches to fill the available wall space.

First Barbara Jackman (Patens) which I grow on a north-west wall, the petunia-pink flowers are better in partial shade. Comtesse de Bouchaud (Jackmanii) is profligate with her pink flowers from July to October. Ernest Markham (Viticella) is rather spoilt for me as I first saw the dark red velvety flowers against new brick; the gardener was at fault not the clematis. In vigour and length of flowering season, July to October, it cannot be faulted.

As I stand each spring under a 30-ft. high hawthorn through which has intertwined a Clematis montana Elizabeth I would be the last to disagree. The white of the hawthorn and pink of the clematis intermingle to make the complete floral curtain. Tradition has it that clematis produce their best efforts when the roots are shaded but the flowers are allowed to reach up into the sun. However, I believe a well-drained soil to be more important, otherwise losses in winter are liable to be heavy. A mulch of peat mixed with a handful of bone- meal is all the feed necessary.

Orchids are shade-loving plants, and while they are growing they need the equivalent of the dappled sunlight they would receive growing in the tree canopy of their natural home. Too much light during the summer will harm the plants by turning the foliage a light green-yellow.

In more severe cases, direct sun will burn the leaves, causing black areas where the sun’s rays have destroyed the leaf cells.

Insufficient light, on the other hand, will create dark green leaves that can become over-extended and limp. The aim should be to give your orchids just enough light to produce a good mid-green, healthy foliage and pseudo bulbs that will develop flower spikes at the right time.

After flowering and before the new growth starts, Calanthe pseudobulbs can be taken out of their pot and left to dry until the new growth is seen.

Thunias are among the very few orchids that produce an autumn display when their leaves change colour before being shed. The leafless canes remain dormant for the winter.

Ceratostigma willmottianum takes the very sensible precaution of becoming herbaceous in severe winters. The first time this happened I assumed the worst, and was just about to plant a very expensive replacement in the same position when I noticed bright scarlet buds poking through the soil, which on investigation proved to be the timorous ceratostigma.

The blue flowers with a warmth which reminds me of Gentiana verna, open in July, while the foliage turns a good deep red in autumn. My bushes are never much more than 3 ft. in height making just the right companion for the glaucous-leaved rue.

Cercis siliquastrum always looks in need of a thorough spring clean to me. Even when the branches are clothed during June in lilac-purple flowers I still take a somewhat jaundiced view of a tree most gardeners revere. The best specimens I have ever seen grew on a lime soil over gravel and were especially attractive, so the proud.