THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



209 



to do best in the hands of a grower of 

 orchids and filmy ferns. It is a most in- 

 teresting plant, and in its way really beau- 

 tiful ; at all events, it will always have a 

 peculiar interest as a subject demanding 

 more than ordinary care. The best con- 

 trivance in which to grow it is a large 

 double-rimmed pot from the "West Kent 

 Pottery at Chiselhurst. These pots are 

 made expressly for bell-glasses, and are 

 shallow, to suit plants of the kind. The 

 soil should be chopped sphagnum, peat, 

 and small potsherds, equal parts, and the 

 pot must be kept in a pan, between which 

 and the pot there must be a stuffing of 

 moss, which is to be kept constantly moist. 

 The propagating-house or a warm corner 

 of the fernery is the best place for it. 



Gesnera brevifiora, discolor, and 

 Douglasii. — Where houses are required to 

 be always gay, a few Gesneras should be 

 started for succession every month in the 

 year. Of course the main planting should 

 be early in the spring, and each batch 

 should have its season of rest. 



Grielum laciniatum. — An almost un- 

 known greenhouse herbaceous plant from 

 the Cape. The genus belongs to Rosacea, 

 and has yellow flowers. There are three 

 species in cultivation, namely, humifusum, 

 laciniatum, and tenuifolium, all plants 

 of dwarf habit, and with hoary leaves 

 and stems. 



Grindelia coronopifolia. — A pretty 

 Mexican composite with yellow flowers. 

 It forms a neat evergreen greenhouse 

 shrub, if grown in peat and loam, and fre- 

 quently pinched in to make it bushy during 

 the early part of the growing season. 

 There are four other species worth having, 

 namely, Duvallii, inuloides, Lambertii, and 

 spatulata ; they all grow eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches high. 



JacJcsonia grandiflora. — This is about 

 the best of a tribe which is not very attrac- 

 tive. The yellow papilionaceous blossoms 

 are attractive, but we have so many similar 

 things in blossom, that none of the Jack- 

 sonias can be considered desiderata. 



Mesemhryanthemum Jloribundum. ■ 



We have had some plants of this in pots 

 suspended from the rafters of a warm lean- 

 to, where they have been covered with bun- 

 dles of pink flowers since the end of April 

 last, and look now as if they would bloom 

 till Christmas. It is the best of all for 

 a small collection. 



Nivenia spicata. — This pretty Protead 

 has been in bloom since the 1st of July, 

 and every one admires its neat purple 

 flowers. Treat the same as Cape Ericas. 

 Cuttings root pretty easily in May, but 

 they require considerable coaxing to make 

 plants of them. Ordinary greenhouse tem- 

 perature will keep any of this genus during 

 the winter. 



Oyedaa buphthalmoides. — A Peruvian 

 composite with yellow flowers, not of great 

 value, and with no special beauty to recom- 

 mend it, but interesting to the botanist. 



Ricinus rutilans. — This fine reddish- 

 stalked species makes a grand specimen 

 plant for the conservatory, with liberal cul- 

 ture from the first, and should now be very 

 showy. This a biennial species, and this 

 is a good time to sow for next year ; 

 the plants to have stove treatment all 

 winter. 



Senecio mikance. — This is a very beau- 

 tiful ivy-leaved twiner, useful for baskets 

 and pillars, but it is very shy of bloom, 

 and when it does bloom not any more 

 handsome than at other times. Every 

 gardener should have it, as it is a most 

 interesting plant. It is a favourite window 

 plant in Germany. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Memory Tablets of Garden Work.— 

 To the Editor of the Floral World.— 

 Sir, — In reference to your notice of 

 " Memory Tablets of Garden Work— the 

 Flower Garden," in the Floral World 

 for July, I beg to state that they were, 

 for the most part, written for me by the 

 late Mr. Plant, editor of the Florists' 

 Journal, and author of the "New Gar- 

 deners' Dictionary," who was also a 

 practical gardener. Mr. Plant went out 

 to Africa in connection with a scientific 

 expedition under Sir John Hooker, and, 

 I regret to learn, has since died at the 



Cape. Had he been living, he would 

 have made the necessary additions to 

 adapt these floralcalendars to the present 

 purpose. A practical gardener on a 

 somewhat extensive scale, and a very 

 intelligent member of his profession, 

 Mr. Wardle was as competent as most to 

 edit a work of this kind, and he has 

 done so to the satisfaction of a goodly 

 number of purchasers, the notice to the 

 contrary in the Floral World notwith- 

 standing. In another form, the little 

 work (or Mr. Plant's portion of it) has 

 circulated to the extent of upwards of 



