1877.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



235 



Sericographis GniEyBREGHTiANA. — Where 

 Winter flowers are in demand, this Acanthad 

 should not be omitted. It is a neglected, but 

 serviceable species, freely producing elegant 

 racemes of pretty bright red flowers that in a 

 cut state or on the plant keep in good condition 

 for a long time. It is a stove or warm green- 

 house, soft wooded plant, that grows freely from 

 cuttings. To have good plants for next season's 

 use they should have been propagated from the 

 young shoots that immediately succeed the flow- 

 ers, but we are not too late yet. 



A Conservatory on the Roof of a Hotel. — 

 That excellent plan which we have so often ad- 

 vocated, of turning the tops of houses in cities 

 into gardens, has been carried out by the Palmer 

 House in Chicago; and a portion of the roof of 

 that hotel is now covered with a magnificent 

 conservatory. The structure is entirely of glass 

 and iron ; and as it is built on an extension, its 

 location is such that it opens directly out of the 

 fifth floor corridor of the main edifice, which 

 rises some two stories above. A fine collection 

 of tropical and rare plants has been provided, 

 and the regular heating apparatus of the house 

 supplies ample warmth. The conservatory is 

 open to guests of the hotel, and fui'nishes a de- 

 lightful resort. — Scientific American. 



White Bouquet Flower.s. — A cheap method 

 of obtaining these at this season is to pot up 

 some small plants of Laurustinus, or, better 

 still, to have them established in pots ready for 

 introduction to the forcing-house. Some grow 

 Laurustinuses as standards for purposes of in- 

 door decoration as well as for cut flowers, and 

 under glass the blossoms come pure white, and 

 look so different from those of Laurustinus not 

 so treated that when arranged in bouquets, the 

 flowers might readily be mistaken for something 

 less common. — W. W. H.in Garden. 



Kennedya rubicunda. — As a greenhouse 

 climber, this old favorite still maintains a front 

 position, as it grows so thriftily, blooms so pro- 

 fusely and persistently, and adapts itself to the 

 coolest treatment; that is, keeping away from 

 frost. Its pea-flowers are of a dark red color 

 and produced in axillary racemes. It is a good 

 subject for amateurs, requiring but little care, 

 and blooming from January onwards, through- 

 out the Summer, providing a little thinning is 

 observed and the seed-pods are picked off" as 

 they appear. 



Culture OF RicHARDiA (Calla) ^thiopica. — 

 Visitors to Covent Garden Market are often 

 struck with the luxuriance of growth and the 

 fine flowers seen on the examples ofRichardia 

 iEthiopica (Arum Lily) brought there by those 

 who grow these plants for market. They are 

 grown in 48 and 32 pots, and the fine develop- 

 ment of the plants seen in the smaller size con- 

 stitutes a remarkable example of successful cul- 

 ture. The Richardia is propagated by means of 

 the young offshoots thrown up from the root- 

 stocks. They are taken off" at any time when 

 they can be had, and put into pots and boxes, 

 and grown on into size. Those strong enough to 

 make flo^vering plants in Autumn are potted 

 into 48 or 32 pots according to their size, and 

 they are then stood out-of-doors, and covered 

 with a bed of rotten dung to the depth of 4 inches 

 above the pots. The plants have plenty of water 

 in Summer, and in very hot weather good sup- 

 plies are given as often as three times a day. 

 Plants treated in this way are taken into warm 

 plant-houses in October and November, where 

 they throw up their flowers at Christmas. The 

 number grown varies according to the space at 

 service. Mr. John Reeves, of Acton, usually 

 markets from 2,000 to 3,000 plants each year. — 

 Gardener's Chronicle. 



NlEREMBERGL^ GRACILIS AS A WiNDOW-PlANT. — 



A lady of our acquaintance grows this plant in 

 her window-garden with good results. Towards 

 Winter it is laid aside where frost cannot reach 

 it, and though getting occasional dribblings, it 

 is considerably neglected. Towards Spring it is 

 promoted to the kitchen window, and gets more 

 liberal libations. B\' mid-April blooms appear, 

 till its straggling branches, which are supported 

 on a light wooden trellis, become mantled with 

 bluish flowers that continue coming, more or 

 less, according to treatment, till next Winter. 



The Ivy-Leaved Geranium. — The Ivy-leaved 

 Geranium (P. peltatum), "Geranium Ivy," or 

 " Flowering Ivy " as it is often called by cot- 

 tagers, with whom it is a special favorite as a 

 window climber, was raised in the Duchess of 

 Beaufort's garden in 1701 from seeds brought 

 from the Cape. It spreads very rapidly in Eng- 

 lish gardens. Petiver, in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions for 171S, writes of it as follows: — "This 

 is a spreading low plant, with shining, thick, 

 juicy, tart, round, umbrella leaves; those to- 

 wards the flowers are angular and pointed : its 

 tassel flowers are large, of a blush color ; the 



