110 THE GARDENER. [March 



in the middle, surrounded by a band of Poiusettias and edged with Eran- 

 themum pulchellum, a rich combination of colour is made. About this 

 same Eranthemum, a very old-fashioned plant, it is a gem for winter 

 decoration liberally managed, and withstands, or rather enjoys, the 

 heat of rooms. With plenty of light, it is grown as easily as a Geranium 

 into an orthodox specimen of any size as round as a bee-hive. Small 

 plants also struck in August and grown strong give beautiful balls of 

 bloom in January, and are easily had in quantity. It associates well 

 with Crocus, Snowdrops, Tulips, and Primulas, as edgings for baskets, 

 stands, or groups, and beats Scillas for colour. A much-neglected old 

 plant for winter decoration, and one of the richest in colouring, is 

 Justicia formosa : liberally treated, and grown in the full sun to ripen, 

 it will continue for months a dense sheet of blossom, and can be had 

 from 4 inches to as many feet. 



Euphorbia jacquiniflora should be grown planted out for cutting from. 

 The back wall of any warm pit or house, and not necessarily warm at the 

 root, will suit it well. Three little plants about 1 foot high each in 4-inch 

 pots were planted out against a cold wall of a Melon-house last August ; 

 the single shoot, bent down horizontally, very soon broke at every eye. 

 Now those plants have six to eight branches 4|- feet long, and a thick 

 mass of flowers for 18 inches of their length. 



A few old planted-out plants trained to a wall will supply quanti- 

 ties of bloom in winter. The peculiar bend in the spike of bloom 

 makes it awkward to fit into bouquets ; but we find it makes a rich 

 edging to baskets and vases by bending it round the margin, and peg- 

 ging the long bow-shaped spikes to a bed of moist moss. It makes a 

 brilliant scarlet wreath to the edge of a basket. This Euphorbia is 

 second only to Poinsettia for pot-culture for winter work. 



Cuttings of Salvia splendens taken from plants grown in the open 

 air in September, and struck in large sixties, will flower profusely in a 

 little heat all winter, and are most valuable for combination in stands 

 or vases. Imperial blue Ageratum can be managed in the same way, 

 and will supply neat little potfuls of blue flowers all winter in a little 

 heat. These are all very common things, but none the less useful for 

 making pretty combinations for effect in winter — quantities of small 

 plants giving greater facilities for change than a few large specimens 

 of the same things. 



The common stove Ferns, such as Adiantums and Pterises, can be 

 readily raised in quantity from seed. These can be made useful for table 

 decoration and small shallow vases by mixing them in shallow pans 

 or flower-pot flats with rooted bits of Poinsettia in September ; and 

 grown on a little, they can be turned out like a sod, and appropriated 

 in many ways. 



