Mahch 24, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists* Review, 



907 



Many others of either bush or 

 climbing varieties of hardy roses could 

 be added to the foregoing, and useful in 

 some way or other for the embellish- 

 ment of the hardy garden, as there will 

 always be found some part of it where 

 something is wanting, and where a bush, 

 trailing, pillar or climbing rose would 

 be just the thing. 



GESNERA EXONIENSIS. 



By very many plantsmen the beauty 

 and usefulness of some gesneras for 

 winter flowering have been overlooked 

 during recent years, especially since the 

 introduction of retarded subjects suitable 

 for forcing, and the greatly increased 

 culture of bulbous plants. But formerly 

 several gesneras, notably G. cinnabarina 

 and G. exoniensis were extensively 

 grown for winter flowering, and a stock 

 of these was considered as being as much 

 a part of the regular routine for the 

 provision of winter supplies as stocks 

 of poinsettias, or even zonal pelargon- 

 iums. So gradually do plants, and even 

 certain classes of plants, fall out of 

 general cultivation at times, that it is 

 only when good batches are brought be- 

 fore the public that we recognize the fact 

 that they had somehow been forgotten. 

 There is a great danger in these days 

 of repetition in stocks of winter-flow- 

 ering plants; certain subjects have be- 

 come popular, their culture is so well 

 known that mistakes are rare, and, 

 moreover, they are, unquestionably, ver.y 

 useful, but when one visits half-a-dozen 

 places during the winter months and 

 finds in each the same kinds of plants 

 grown in the same manner, it becomes a 

 little monotonous, to say the least of it. 

 If to these popular plants something of 

 a distinct character could be added the 

 interest in the display would be much 

 keener. 



Gesnera exoniensis offers an oppor- 

 tunity for some growers to improve their 

 collections next winter. Messrs. J. 

 Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, recently exhib- 

 ited beautiful plants at the Drill Hall, 

 Westminster, clothed in broad, rounded 

 leaves of a dark and rich velvety ap- 

 pearance, studded with tiny red hairs, 

 and producing erect branching spikes of 

 slightly pendulous flowers of a rich or- 

 ange-scarlet color, with a yellow throat. 

 An idea of the shape and size of the 

 flowers, and the formation of the spike, 

 can be obtained from the aceompan}ang 

 illustration. 



In the matter of cultivation Gesnera 

 exoniensis offers no difficulties to those 

 possessed of moderate conveniences, such, 

 for instance, as a brick frame, or pit, 

 provided with hot-water pipes, and also 

 a house where an intermediate temper- 

 ature is maintained during winter. 

 Propagation is easily effected, and the 

 same methods employed for the increase 

 of gloxinias will sufEce. This gesnera 

 readily responds to leaf propagation, 

 and where a few plants are purchased 

 in the autumn this provides the grower 

 with an opportunity of securing a use- 

 ful stock of tubers that will result in 

 good plants for the next season. Such 

 leaves as can be spared without materi- 

 ally reducing the beauty of the speci- 

 mens should be dealt with previous to 

 October, when they will produce young 

 plants in the same manner as gloxinias 

 and foliage begonias when similarly 

 treated. As the tubers of G. exoniensis 

 are sparingly produced, leaf propaga- 

 tion is a matter of considerable impor- 



Gesnera Exoniensis. 



tance, and is often of more value than 

 increase by cuttings. 



April is quite early enough to start 

 the dormant tubers, placing them in 

 pans of light soU, and covering them 

 to the depth of half an inch. Afford 

 a temperature of from 60 to 70 degrees 

 and provide a moist atmosphere, so that 

 hardly any water need be applied after 

 the first watering to settle the soil. 

 When the young growths are an Inch 

 high, lift the plants separately, and pot 

 each one in a 60-sized pot. in a mixture 

 of light loam, leaf-soil and sand. Care- 

 ful watering, and attention to syringing 

 for the purpose of keeping insect pests 

 at bay, must be given, otherwise the 

 leaves will not grow regularly, neither 

 will they be so beautiful as they might, 

 and if the foliage is not well preserved 

 right up to and during the period of 

 florescence a great deal of the plant's 

 beauty is lost. Early in July 6 or 7-inch 

 pots must be provided, and at this pot- 

 ting a little dried cow manure, finely sift- 

 ed, may be added to the mixture already 

 prescribed. Directly the plants have 

 taken hold of the new soil they may well 

 be placed in a frame or pit, keeping 

 them close at first, but eventually ad- 

 mitting plenty of air during the day. 

 Here the plants may remain, keeping 



them near the glass, until the end of 

 August, when they had better be housed. 

 If warmer treatment is given through 

 the summer this gesnera flowers in No- 

 vember and December, but if grown as 

 advised December and January will be 

 the flowering time. 



The flowers of 6. exoniensis are not 

 particularly useful for cutting, but a 

 well-grown plant, with its rich leave? 

 covering the upper part of the pot, looks 

 remarkably well in a jardiniere set upon 

 the dining-table, or placed in the draw- 

 ing-room, and in either case its dis- 

 tinguished appearance commands atten- 

 tion, and excites interest. As so many 

 subjects harmonize or contrast with this 

 dark-leaved gesnera, a number of plants 

 in a conservatory help to produce a 

 handsome and novel display, and, pro- 

 vided the structure is not a draughty one, 

 they will last a long while in beauty. — 

 Gardeners' Magazine. 



Petoskey, jSIich. — S. .7. Long reports 

 trade good and prices right. Roses are 

 a little backward, owing to cold nights, 

 but will come on for Easter. Lilies are 

 prime and carnations A No. 1. Morn- 

 ing Glory is glorious to behold. The 

 only failure is Mrs. Potter Palmer, 

 which has too much rust and splits badly. 



