546 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



into a specimen for a vase : small plants for furnishing can be easily 

 propagated in spring, when the old plants should be well cut back : it 

 is a woody plant. The various herbaceous Gesneras are now in perfec- 

 tion ; we specially like the green-foliaged varieties. Thyrsacanthus 

 rutilans, a noble plant for the centres of stands, should be grown in a 

 moist cold pit in summer. Sericographis Ghiesbreghtiana, not so 

 much grown as it deserves. Justicia formosa, which fev/ new plants 

 will equal when well done, can be made into a huge specimen or tiny 

 plants for edging vases. Eranthemum pulchellum, of which the same 

 may be repeated, both with flowers of the richest colour. Libonia 

 floribunda, not strictly a stove-plant, but requires a warm place in 

 winter. This, with a lot of other things, we intend growing all summer, 

 planted out in a cold pit, and pot them up in September. Cypripedi- 

 um insigne an4 venustum, Calanthe Yeitchii and vestita, may be all 

 classed with ordinary stove-plants for December. Begonia fuchsi- 

 oides, Landersii, and insignis, the last especially, are fine December 

 plants, and should be grown in quantity : insignia is a most useful plant 

 for dinner-table decoration and house-work. Epiphyllums of every 

 shape, size, and variety can be had in perfection in December, and 

 answer every purpose. Euphorbia jacquiniflora is the prince of pot 

 stove-plants for winter : we grow it in battalions of different sizes ; it 

 does for any sort of work. Specimens are elegant for the centres of 

 vases, edged round with something, say Panicum variegatum, to con- 

 trast. It answers for edging small baskets by cutting the curved spikes 

 and pegging them down. Its brilliant colour enlivens any place where 

 it may be put ; we also plant it out largely, which makes it show itself 

 to advantage. It is by no means a shy plant, and will grow against the 

 back wall of a conservatory or intermediate house if the roots be in 

 well-drained soil. The Poinsettia is for December what scarlet Ger- 

 aniums are for the flower-garden in summer, and Zonales for the con- 

 servatory. It can be started and grown in a cold pit in summer, and 

 from the 1st of October and onwards in the stove. It is best propa- 

 gated from the young wood in July and August. In September four or 

 five cuttings may be put in 4-inch pots for dwarf plants. We have 

 grown it from 6 inches to 16 feet high. For the decoration of stair- 

 cases, halls, &c., large plants are invaluable ; indeed, it can be used for 

 any decorative purpose. It soon loses its leaves, however, in a cool con- 

 servatory. Heat is essential in winter. 



Turning to greenhouse plants, we know of a large plant of Tacsonia, 

 van Volxemi, trained over a roof which will be covered with blooms 

 all December. We have it planted outdoors like a Vine, its head 

 being trained to the rafter inside. We have it also inarched on the J. 

 manicata for a stock, and also on its own roots inside. Hyemalis, Wil- 



