296 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Begonias will ikiw be in full Hower and the temperature 

 may be reduced to make the flowers firm up. They will 

 continue in flower longer and have better lasting quali- 

 ties. Watch the begonia leaf cuttings and a.s soon as the 

 first break appears, pot them off in an open, porous soil. 



If one has a large plant of Asparagus sprengeri, seeds 

 will be ripening on it. These should be picked, cleaned, 

 and sown right away. Fresh picked seed is more depend- 

 able than old seed for it germinates more evenly. The 

 warmest corner of the greenhouse is the place for them. 

 and they should lie kept saturated with water and a pane of 

 glass placed over the receptacle until they begin to germi- 

 nate. Six to eight inch pans of this plant are useful for 

 greenery. 



Cyclamen seed that were sown in August will now have 

 developed a few leaves. They may be potted in small 

 ixjts and kept in a night temperature around sixty de- 

 grees. A position as near the glass as jxissible is the 

 best place for them and a slight shade over them until 

 they grip the soil in the pot when the sun is bright. 



Carnation cuttings may be secured at this season. The 

 growths that appear on the side of the flower stems make 

 the best cuttings, forming plants that flower more con- 

 tinuously. They may be placed in sand in a night tem- 

 perature of fifty degrees. Water them every day for the 

 first ten days. ' It is necessary to shade them on bright 

 days — cheese cloth makes an ideal shade — until they show- 

 signs of pushing out roots. 



Rose cuttings may also be rooted now. Flower stems, 

 cut with two eyes left on each piece, make better plants 

 than blind wood. This is also true of wood used for 

 grafting. I believe that if more care were given to the 

 selection of wood for propagating purposes there would 

 be no trouble about the deterioration of varieties. 



Many years ago Deutzia gracilis was more commonly 

 used for forcing than we have seen it lately. I rememl>er 

 when a boy, it was pot grown for this purpose entirely. 

 Cuttings were taken in January and pinched until six or 

 seven breaks were secured. I. recall one gardener who 

 used to grow them in his warmest grape house, until they 

 were about two feet high, and then gradually hardened 

 them off until they could stand the full sunshine. He 

 finished them up outdoors and gave them a good freezing. 

 He used to flower every shoot in fine shape in six-inch 

 pots the following Winter, taking them- in in batches. 



This is the time of the year to secure cuttings for large 

 bush Chrysanthemums. Root them as quickly as possi- 

 ble in an intermediate temperature, that is between fifty- 

 five and sixty degrees, and pot them along as they rer|uire 

 it in a strong, well fertilized loam. Root the cuttings 

 close to the glass in the full sunshine, watering them twice 

 a day for the first ten days. When I wrote watering, 

 I should have written flooding. If this is done there will 

 be no danger oi flami)ing oft, and any wilting they will 

 do will not harm them. By the time they dry out, after 

 the ten days mentioned above, they will be rooted. 



Keep the l^ipladenias on the dry side until the end of 

 January. Once a week will ]x often enough to water 

 them, and have them in a night temperature close to 

 forty-five degrees and exposed to the full sunshine all 

 day. These plants start much stronger and break more 

 evenly in I'ebruary if treated thus. Much of the failure 

 with these beautiful twining shrubs is due to lack of such 

 treatment, and growing them under too heavy a shade. 

 I'askets of trailing plants that will be used for hanging 

 on verandas next Summer may be filled in January. 

 Trailing Queen Fuchsias are useful for this ])urpose. 

 Pinch out the hearts of the .shoots until eight weeks be- 

 fore they are wanted to flower. Ivy leaved geraniums 

 are also useful for this purjjose but should not lie mixed, 

 each variety should be in a separate basket, .'\nother at- 



tractive plant for hanging baskets is Abutilon megapota- 

 micum, synonymous with Abutilon vexillarium. Othonna 

 crassifolia, a plant now seldom seen, we have also used 

 for basket work, and perhaps one of the most beautiful is 

 Lantana sellowiana, synomyous with L. delicatissima. 



The Gardenia house at this season needs to be care- 

 fully watered and syringed, taking care that the foliage 

 is dry bv sundown. Rain water is by far the best for 

 them, and it is well to have it at the same temperature as 

 the house they are grown in, which should be close to 

 sixty-five degrees at night. If they are bench w'orn, the 

 bench shoukl be well filled with roots to secure flowers at 

 this season of the year. 



Poinsettias will be at their height at Christmas ; these 

 plants develop their bracts best in a temperature of not 

 less than sixty degrees at night, and all draughts must 

 be avoided. A door carelessly left open, causing a chill, 

 will be sure to result in a loss of foliage. We have found 

 that this Fuphorbia, and the variety of Jacquinia;flora, are 

 very resentful to sudden changes in the temjierature as 

 Fall approaches. 



Lapageria alba and rosea deserve a place in all private 

 greenhouse collections. I know of no other plant whose 

 sprays lend themselves so well for mantel decoration, if 

 used with Adiantum ferns, especially the variety Farley- 

 ense. The coldest greenhouse is the place to grow them 

 successfully. 



If Eucharis amazonica has been kept on the clr\- side 

 about a month before Christmas, a crop of flowers may 

 l)e expected then. This , plant should never be kept in 

 a temperature of less than sixty degrees. Planted out on 

 a bench it enjoys bottom heat. 



Sow annuals for Spring flowering, which will fill any 

 vacancies that may occur in the greenhouse in W'inter. 



A batch of the earliest ripened Cloxinias may be started 

 now. They like a good 0]>en leafy soil, and a tem[)erature 

 of not less than sixty degrees while they are growing, also 

 grow them well up to the glass and slightly shaded from 

 the strong sun. 



Keep the Schizanthus close to the glass in the coolest 

 house, shift them before they become pot bound. Large 

 plants, sav in nine-inch jiots, may be pinched four times 

 before they are allowed to run to flower. 



Calanthes as they pass out of flower must be allowed 

 to dry out. They may be taken out of the pots and set 

 on a dry shelf. Calanthe veitchii and sandhurstiana are 

 among the best of our Christmas flowers and form a 

 charming decoration when arranged with various forms 

 of the maidenhair ferns. 



Dendrobium nobilc, 1). wardianum. 1). thyrsillorum, 

 are resting, (live thcni a good drying nut until they set 

 their flower buds. The teniperaturr nf the house should 

 be around fifty degrees by night. .\s soon as the flower 

 buds set, dip them in rain water, giving them a good 

 sf)aking. If they are a little bit shrivelled, they will soon 

 plunqi U]). F>endrobiuni phala-nopsis scbrietlerianum 

 mav i>e kept on the dry side until the voung growths are 

 an inch long, as these are liable to damp off. especially 

 if watered with chilled water. Oncidium si)lcndidum is 

 throwing up its flower sjiikes and should be watered well 

 with warm water of about the tcmi)erattire of the house 

 they arc growing in. Weak liquid manure may l>e given 

 them right u\) to the time they open their flowers. 



Lrelia anceps is again iK-ginning to flower. The general 

 conii)laint is that this orchid is useless as a cut flower 

 l)ut if the stems are scraped a few inches up. they will 

 take water more easily: also split the stem a few inches 

 and use rpiite warm water, letting them st;ui(l in a tight 

 closet over night. 



There are now many fine fdiins n! ( yj>ripciliums. They 

 also enjov weak m.'unnc w.ilci' when in 'j^nuA bc;dtb. after 



