i88t.] decorative GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 2G9 



tory — especially if planted out in a suitably prepared border. The 

 flowers, which hang down in drooping racemes, are seen to much better 

 advantage when trained up a rafter. They are naturally of straggling 

 habit, and more suitable for training up the roof than for pot-culture : 

 still, with due care and attention, very good x^lants can be grown in 

 pots, and when well done makes a very good exhibition plant. There 

 are three varieties of Clianthus in general cultivation — Clianthus Dam- 

 pieri, C. magnificum, and C. puniceum. By far the most showy of the 

 three is C. Dampieri— in fact it is one of the most gorgeous of our cool 

 greenhouse plants. The flowers are of a bright orange-scarlet, with a 

 large black blotch in the centre of each flower. It is generally con- 

 sidered a very difiicult plant to grow well ; indeed it is but very rarely 

 seen in flower at all, being very much subject to the attacks of red- 

 spider, and liable to damp oif suddenly in its earlier stages of growth. 

 C. magnificum is almost hardy, and in many places would do very well 

 trained against a south wall, provided a little protection was given it 

 during winter. In many parts of Ireland it stands without any pro- 

 tection whatever ; and we have seen plants of it against a wall with 

 stems as thick as a man's arm, and they flowered most profusely every 

 year. 



The soil best adapted for the cultivation of the Clianthus consists of 

 good fibry loam and peat in equal parts, with a goodish sprinkling of 

 silver sand. The pots should be well drained, as they require plenty of 

 water when growing, and the syringe should be applied pretty frequently 

 to keep red-spider in check ; but the best antidote for spider is to keep 

 the plants in vigorous health. The Clianthus roots readily from cuttings, 

 which should be of the half-ripened wood, and put in under a bell- 

 glass, and the pot plunged in a mild bottom-heat. The young plants 

 should be grown on as quickly as possible— especially in the case of C 

 Dampieri. After they are established in their pots, a cool pit or frame 

 will suit them well. They should be kept moderately close, and slightly 

 shaded from bright sunshine, and syringed every evening during the 

 summer. The aim should be to get the foundation of good plants made 

 during the first year, rather than the production of flowers ; they should 

 therefore be pinched frequently in order to induce them to break into 

 many shoots. They may be wintered in a house or pit where the tem- 

 perature ranges about 45°, and the amount of water given during the 

 winter should not be in excess of the demand for it. After growth 

 begins in the spring, they may be shifted into larger pots, or planted 

 out if intended for that mode of culture. In forming the bed, care 

 should be taken to secure good drainage, and the soil should be used 

 in a rough state : some charcoal may be added, which will help to keep 

 the soil sweet. Their season of flowering is from the end of May 

 onwards, and they are certain to be very much admired when in 

 flower. 



J. a, w. 



