262 FLORA HISTORTCA. 



are to flower in pots, are taken as soon as their buds 

 begin to swell in the spring ; all the old mould 

 being removed from their roots, they are planted 

 in fresh earth, in pots of about eight inches in dia- 

 meter at top, and placed in front of the green-house 

 or peach-house ; if the plants are not over large, 

 pots of smaller dimensions should be used ; these 

 will come into flower in June. Care must be taken 

 to supply them plentifully with water whilst they 

 are coming into bloom, and it is best to place water 

 pans under the pots, to secure a continual supply of 

 moisture. If it is desirable to have plants in flower 

 early in the spring, they must be shifted into their 

 new pots in January, and brought forward with 

 forcing heat. The mould I generally give to my 

 Hydrangeas is a compost of loam and bog-earth, 

 or leaf-mould, with a little sand, well incorporated 

 together ; in this they will produce red flowers ; if 

 they are expected to blow blue, they must be planted 

 in pure yellow loam." 



This genus of plants was named Hydrangea by 

 Gronovius, a Dutch writer, who derived the appel- 

 lation from the Greek v^m^, water, and ayfor, a 

 vessel, in allusion to the quantiiy of water that 

 these plants require. 



As the Hydrangea is a plant so lately made 

 known in Europe, it has not appeared in the Ian- 



