i88i.l DECORATIVE GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 15 



naturally dry you will only need to surface-drain it — that is, lay a row 

 of tiles from the back to the front, with a few inches of fall, if pos- 

 sible, one at each end, and one in the middle. Over these drains you 

 must put stones or broken bricks, tiles, or similar material, to the 

 depth of 8 or 9 inches ; for Vines need great waterings, and a speedy 

 outlet for superfluous water. Over these stones you must place a turf, 

 grassy side downwards, to prevent the earth, of which the border is 

 to be made, from getting down among the stones and choking the 

 drainage." J. H. 



{To he continued.) 



NOTES ON DECORATIVE GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



LISIANTHUS EUSSELLIANUS AND L. PKINCEPS. 



These Lisianths are perhaps two of the most gorgeous and showy green- 

 house plants in cultivation. Though they used formerly to be con- 

 sidered and treated as stove-plants, yet they thrive quite as well in the 

 greenhouse, or at least in the intermediate house. 



They are both natives of South America ; hence, as coming from a 

 warm country, and before their culture was fully understood, they 

 were, like most other exotic plants on being introduced, almost as a 

 matter of course relegated to the stove, at least by those who did not 

 stop to consider under what conditions they were found in their 

 native habitats. They are found in Mexico and New Grenada, at a 

 considerable elevation, even as high as 11,000 feet; so it naturally 

 follows that the treatment usually accorded to plants from more tem- 

 perate climes must suit them also, and such is found by practice 

 to be the case. L. Russellianus was introduced to this country 

 in 1835, and was so named in honour of the Duke of Bedford, who 

 was a great patron of horticulture. It was flowered first by Mr 

 Turnbull at Bothwell. The flowers are cup-shaped, and of a deep- 

 blue colour, verging on purple. It is generally considered a some- 

 what difficult plant to cultivate, which may be the reason that one so 

 seldom sees it among collections of plants. To grow a good speci- 

 men of it is considered a pretty fair test of a gardener's skill as a 

 plant-grower ; but it is well worthy of more extended cultivation. 



It can be propagated either by cuttings of the half-ripened wood, or 

 be raised from seed ; the latter is the more general way. The seed 

 should be sown at the end of February or early in March. As the 

 young seedlings are very impatient of too much moisture, which 

 makes them damp off quickly, the pot or pan should be well 

 drained. It is immaterial what kind of soil the pot be filled with, 

 provided about an inch and a half or so of the top be finely-sifted 

 leaf-mould and sand — two-thirds of the former to one-third of 

 the latter. The seed should be sown thinly on this mixture, and 



