of Rural Art and Taste. 



133 



inaritiraa, Peristrophe angustifoleufti variega- 

 tuiii, Begonia Sandersoni, Digswelliaiia, Par- 

 nelli, and, if required, some of the inoderate 

 sized foliaged begonias ; but these grow too 

 hirge for baskets generally, and so do coleus. 

 For baskets in full sun nothing is more satis- 

 factory than the Echeverias, Sempervivuras 

 and the new Othonna crassifolia ; this latter 

 plant will flower all the year. These plants 

 can be used in the most simple and cheap bas- 

 kets if filled in the way we have mentioned in 

 a previous number for achimenes. Some of 

 the ferns, and also Selaginellas also, make 

 nice baskets for a shady position, but these are 

 never very satisfactory if exposed to the sun 

 or a dry atmosphere ; among the best are Da- 

 vallias, Lygodiums, Nephrolepis, Niphobolus 

 lingua, <)leandra nodosa, Onychiuni japoni- 

 cum, several Polypodeum adiantums and Sel- 

 aginellas Martensii and Martensii variegatuni. 

 Cassia, and Cassia arborea denticulata, Gale- 

 ottia, stolouiferum and rubricaulis. 



Caladiuins may be potted at once into 

 the sized pot it is intended to grow them 

 through the season ; as soon as the first pot is 

 well filled with roots the plants should have 

 plenty of room, for if planted too close the 

 foliage is drawn up long and upright, so that 

 it is never so handsome ; the color of the 

 leaves are best under a moderate shade from 

 bright sun. 



Double White Primulas should be re- 

 moved to a cold frame under a north wall, for 

 these are difficult plants to keep well through 

 the summer, in this climate ; it is too hot 



and dry. 



^ 



Begonias. 



BY UIBERNICA, CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



1 FEW, among your many readers, are 

 xl. already ac([uainted with the many species 

 of the begonia.. To those who have not, as 

 yet, formed acquaintance with Begonia Glau- 

 cophylla Scandens, I particularly address my- 

 self. The plant in question was received by 

 me, among a large package of others, direct 

 from the greenhouses of Peter Henderson's, at 

 Jersey City Heights, N. J. ; and, strange to 

 say, after coming seven hundred miles, it still 



retained its sound vitality and natural fresh- 

 ness, and appeared as if it had only a moment 

 before been removed from the humid enclos- 

 ure of the greenhouse. I always feel an 

 unbounded sensation of joy on opening a box 

 of plants that comes a distance ; one plant 

 after another is removed from its damp, mossy 

 surroundings, with the same joy that a pover- 

 ty-stricken heir would feel in diving after the 

 unknown treasures of a deceased ancestor. 

 We horticulturists have our own joys, our sur- 

 prises and sensations — those plants we receive 

 and those already in our collections, look at 

 us meaningly and make known their wants in 

 mute significance. This little new and im- 

 proved foreigner did not show any indication 

 of wanting for anything ; its thick, soft, large, 

 healthy and dark, glossy green foliage and 

 pink white tinted petals indicated to us that 

 its mission and duty was to give delight and 

 pleasure to its owners. To maintain its pro- 

 lific buds and truly beautiful foliage, I knew 

 but too well that it required special attention. 

 With this belief I removed its damp, mossy 

 wrappings, thence transferred it into a well 

 drained pot of rich, sandy loam and leaf 

 mould, and placed it in a temperature aver- 

 aging fifty-five and sixty degrees, in the con- 

 servatory adjoining our sitting-room. And 

 now, I will say a word or two on the appear- 

 ance it presented in pot. There were no 

 orange and red veinings on the under side of 

 the leaf such as characterize the older species 

 of the same family ; the shade of the foliage 

 is perfectly green and glossy throughout ; the 

 leaf-stem grows laterally upward, forming 

 where it spreads into leaf a graceful curve, 

 similar to the neck of a swan ; from this curve 

 the leaf droops gently, the edges of the lower 

 touching the rim of the pot and partially con- 

 cealing the surface of the soil. In this way it 

 forms a picturesque Mansard roof of foliage, 

 and, to use a familiar expression, it is as broad 

 as it is high^ The peduncle is produced at 

 the second and third joint and branches into 

 several small stems, from which a profusion of 

 delicate pink buds, tinted with white, droop 

 pleasingly over the foliage, and reflect their 

 colors on the glassy leaves. The buds. 



