138 



TliG Hortknltnrv^t and Journal 



parts, and edging with a row of Coleus 

 VerschafFeltii and a row of Acome japonica 

 variegata. This combination is very easy to 

 plant, as it can be made a receptacle for odds 

 and ends of various plants, which taken indi- 

 vidually would look poor, but as a whole are 

 very pleasing. 



Caladiums should not be planted until 

 quite the end of the month, and if possible 

 select a still, dull day if the foliage is much 

 advanced. These plants are most satisfactorily 

 planted in a sheltered position. We often 

 have them very fine, planted in full sun and 

 wind, but they do not start away so well 

 at first. If the Esculentum varieties are planted 

 in the same place with the smaller varieties, it 

 must be recollected that this one will make 

 leav.es five feet or more in length, and would 

 smother a few dozen smaller plants if planted 

 too close. It is often desirable to plant single 

 plants, as specimens, on the lawn in positions 

 where a bed would be out of phice. In some 

 cases it is best to keep the phmts in pots or 

 tubs, but, if possible, it is best to turn them 

 out, the plants will then generally take care 

 of themselves. If they have to remain in 

 tubs the plants are then best standing in 

 proximity to buildings or on walks, for they 

 never look well standing on turf, and to sink 

 the tub into the ground decays it in a short 

 time, but large pots can be buried so that 

 the plant only is seen. 



The Dracaena Tridivisa is a splendid speci- 

 men Liwn plant, in fact one of the best ; it has 

 lived out through the winter in a few shel- 

 tered places in England, so that it is not a 

 tender plant. Latania, Borbonica, Cyorypha 

 australis, 8eaforthia elegans, CMiamerops ex- 

 celsa, and several other Palms also do well 

 for this purpose, but should be kept quite cool 

 during the winter, for if there are young tender 

 leaves on the plants they will be sure to suffer. 



Agaves and Yuccas are among the best 

 plants for single specimens in this climate, 

 and many varieties may be housed in the 

 cellar during winter. Many of the rare kinds 

 arc very dear. Large Dicksonias and Also- 

 pliylla excelsa are fine but require lots of 

 water. 



rrinivld .Japoitififi This very hand- 

 some plant does not appear to be so well 

 known as it deserves in this country, for al- 

 though it is not like the double Chinese varie- 

 ties, useful for cut flowers, yet as a greenhouse 

 or window plant to flower during April and 

 May it is very handsome, and being of the 

 easiest cultivation can be grown with little 

 trouble by any one. It is a perennial, losing 

 its foliage in the winter, and may be kept in a 

 cold frame just protected from frost, for it is 

 said to be quite hardy in England. It com- 

 mences to make new leaves about February 

 in a cool greenhouse, and the flower stems 

 begin to show early in March, when a few 

 flowers will usually expand before the stem is 

 advanced above the leaves, but the first mass 

 of bloom is not usually fully expanded until 

 the stem is about six inches high, and will 

 continue flowering until the stem is from 

 eighteen inches to two feet high ; it will 

 flower well in a foui"-inch pot. We have 

 plants in six-inch pots with several flower 

 stems. It is raised from seed, and by divi- 

 sion of the crown, but seed is uncertain, at one 

 time growing freely and at another not grow- 

 ing at all. Any soil which will grow a liose or 

 Pelargonium will grow this plant well, with 

 abundance of water when growing and little 

 when at rest. Green fly sometimes trouble 

 the young growths, and must be kept down 

 by fumigating with tobacco. 



Lilhint Kramt^rianum, a beautiful va- 

 riete of the Japanese Lily has been intro- 

 duced into England, which is exceedingly 

 curious and striking. The agents, Teutschel 

 & Co., give the following report of it : " Mr. 

 Kramer sends it to us as a new lily, obtained 

 a long distance from Yokohama, in the inte- 

 rior of Japan." 



He speaks of a man as " ' collecting ' it, 

 and sends it in three varieties — white, pink, 

 and a larger form of the same color, but adds 

 there are many startling varieties.''^ 



He speaks of it as " a form of L. Aura- 

 turn. It is a delicate bulb, and travels badly, 

 scarcely one in ten having reached us in good 

 condition. All our bulbs have had narrow, 

 elongated foliage, like L. Auratum.^'' 



