THE FLORAL WORLD 



AND 



GARDEN GUIDE. 



JANUARY, 1860. 

 NOTES ON SUBTROPICAL GARDENING. 



WITH SKETCH FBOM THE SUBTROPICAL GARDEN, BATTEBSEA PA1IK. 



T first thought it may appear that little remains to he said 

 upon the subject of subtropical gardening, and that 

 . every misapprehension which existed in connection with 

 the subject is now numbered with the things of the 

 past. Such, however, is not the case, for we constantly 

 meet with people who object to it on the ground of its assumed 

 costliness, and the high degree of skill necessary to carry ib out. 

 It must be granted that it costs time and money to produce the 

 plants required for this system, as it does to produce hosts of gera- 

 niums, calceolarias, and plants of that type, but no more. The 

 varieties of Canna, Ricinus, Wigandia, and Solanum, can be raised 

 from seed in the spring with as little trouble as that attached to the 

 production of a stock of asters, and other half hardy annuals. The 

 Aralia, the India rubber, and other plants of that class, can be stored 

 away in a cold greenhouse, or light airy shed — anywhere, in fact, so 

 long as they get a little light and are secure from frost. The housing 

 of the smaller subjects, like the Lantanas and Plumbagos, requires 

 no consideration whatever, for they can be stored away in the space 

 which, in the ordinary course of things, would be occupied with 

 geraniums and verbenas. And the possession of a few fine Palms, 

 tree Ferns, Musas, and Dracrenas, is more of au advantage than an 

 incumbrance, for they are just the class of plants that are wanted 

 for associating with the chrysanthemums and other winter-flowering 

 plants in the conservatory, when the bedding season is past. The 

 fact that we have hosts of hardy plants capable, with judicious 

 arrangement, of producing grand effects in our gardens, must not bo 

 lost sight of. We have the noble Yuccas, the beautifully variegated 

 Maple, and the gracefully growing and fiery glowing Tritoma, with 

 its spikes of . scarlet flowers, besides the Pampas grass and Arundo 

 donax and CGnspicua, which produce abundance of silvery plumes. 

 All these plants have a fine graceful habit, which is sufficient to 

 vol. it. — no. i. l 



