1882.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



41 



they have grown about a foot, cut them back 

 near the ground so as to get them stocky with 

 as many branches as possible. Afterwards only 

 pinch the strongest shoots every third or fourth 

 week ; it should be discontinued some time in 

 August, according to the weather. Water when 

 necessary; make a small basin around each 

 plant to hold it. Lift and pot as soon as the 

 flower buds can be seen. I get plants by this 

 system having from thirty to fifty shoots. As 

 soon as potted plunge in a tub of water, which I 

 do with all plants taken up at this season. Place 

 in the shade and sprinkle overhead as long as 

 necessary. The large flowering varieties, like 

 Empress of India, should be disbudded, leaving 

 only one bud to a shoot. After two weeks use 

 liquid manure till they are almost in full bloom, 

 then discontinue — the flowers last longer. I 

 grow about a hundred plants this way. If there 

 is a shorter way I would be very glad to find it 

 out. 



ISOTOMA LONCIFLORA. 



BY V. DE NIEDMAN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



In the December issue of the Gardener's 

 Monthly I have noticed the remarks on Isotoma 

 longiflora, and was surprised at the price asked 

 for this plant, Isotoma longiflora, or Rapuntium, 

 or Hippobroma longiflora Don., is an inmate of 

 our gardens here for more than thirty years, and 

 as a native of Jamaica it will never make much 

 in winter in a cold or greenhouse, while in a hot- 

 house it will thrive very luxuriantly, and rather 

 too much so, as often to my great amazement — 

 will not say at all '' a pleasant surprise." I 

 find the Isotoma, together with Pteris serrulata, 

 Oxalis and a few more other good things, to 

 overrun our orchid and stove-houses to such an 

 extent that it is at times difficult to state which 

 of them is the worst weed and the most trouble- 

 some to the grower, as the Isotoma seeds in 

 great quantities and freely, although the flowers 

 generally come one by one. The plant itself, by 

 this latter quality, will never produce a showy, 

 striking eS"ect as a winter-blooming hothouse 

 plant, but is likely more adapted for out of door 

 culture in a rockery, perhaps, among other 

 herbaceous plants. In regard to using Isotoma 

 for cut-flower work, I would have little to say, 

 as I never have used them, but would think 

 little adapted for this kind of work on account 

 of their length and soft character. In speaking 

 of the fragrancy of the flowers, I would like to 



mention that Isotoma belongs to the order of 

 Campanuleae lobeliarise, and, like a good many 

 plants of the same order, possesses in all its parts 

 poisonous properties, even also in the odor or 

 fragrancy ; and as there are records of people 

 having suffered from effects of this poisonous 

 plant, I thought a little cautioning would be per- 

 haps not altogether disregarded. 



THE AUSTRALIAN GLORY FLOWER 

 CLIANTHUS DAMPIERI. 



BY WILLIAM FALCONER, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



At Oakley, Mount Auburn, on November 20th, 

 I saw a lovely specimen of this most gorgeous 

 plant. Last spring Mr. Allan, the gardener, had 

 a lot of seedlings, robust plants in good bloom- 

 ing order; some he grew in cold frames and 

 others planted out in the borders ; those in the 

 frames gave most satisfiiction. Seeds ripened 

 by those plants were sown on August 4th, and 

 the beautiful specimen just referred to is one of 

 these late seedlings. It is growing in a cold 

 frame, well packed around with dry litter and 

 matted over when occasion requires to exclude 

 frost. The earth in the frame is about fifteen 

 inches beneath the glass surface, and the 

 branches of the plant, about four feet in spread, 

 are trained out horizontally about eight inches 

 under the sashes. The plant is growing vigor- 

 ously, and from every leaf axil arises a cluster 

 of blossoms or buds. When we saw it, about a 

 dozen clusters were fully expanded, and Mr. 

 Allan assured us he had already cut off twenty- 

 three clusters. The sunny position of the frame, 

 the nearness of the Clianthus to the glass, and 

 the cool temperature of the season, incited a 

 brilliance of color not attained in the blossoms 

 of spring and summer. 



The great difficulty in growing this Glory 

 Flower successfully is its susceptibility to damp 

 off at the neck and sensitiveness to root-mutila- 

 tion in re-potting. To avoid these, Mr. Allan 

 grows his seedlings in three-inch pots, and just 

 before they would likely need shifting knocks off 

 the bottoms of the pots, and without disturbing 

 the roots in the least sets the pots to within an 

 inch of their depth in prepared beds, where the 

 roots can ramble at will. The little pot acts as 

 a collar-guard to the plant, and no water is 

 afterwards allowed to be given within that col- 

 lar ; thus although the roots may be well watered 

 the neck of the plant is kept dry. 



The Glory Flower is a native of the desert 



