March 14, 1873. ] 



JOUBNAL-OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



BASKET PLANTS FOR THE STOVE. 

 .SISCHTNAJS'THUS. 



f^ HE fi-equent applications I have from ama- 

 J^ teiu's to i-econimend tliem good plants for 

 gi-owing in suspended baskets, and the gi-eat 

 want of a more intimate knowledge of plants 

 suitable for this piuiiose, are my apologies 

 for introducing the subject to the readers of 

 the Journal. I am aware that though there 

 are many gardeners well posted up in this 

 subject, the majority of them, and also of 

 amateurs, are but indifferently acquainted 

 wnth many really superb kinds which not only tluire 

 under basket-cultm-e, but are only to be seen in perfection 

 under such treatment. The plants I pui-pose noticing 

 here are well deserving of the attention of eveiyone who 

 pos.sesses a stove. 



.Eschynanthuses reqmi-e to be planted in a mixture of 

 good fibrous peat, sphagniun moss, and silver sand. Be- 

 fore the soil is put into the basket a thick layer of sphag- 

 num should be spread over it to prevent the soU ranning 

 thi-ough. After being placed in the basket the plants 

 should be dijiped in a tub or tank of water, and thoroughly 

 soaked. They may then be hung in their positions, and 

 supplied with a moist atmosphere and strong heat. A 

 liberal amount of water should be given them, for I am 

 fully con'V'inced if a strong heat be maintained, and if the 

 soil is fresh and sweet, it is hardly possible to over- 

 water them. They are nearly all natives of the hot, 

 moist islands in the Indian seas, where they gi'ow upon 

 the branches of the trees on the outsldi'ts of the forests 

 in company with Orchids and other epiphytal plants. 

 Although at home many people gi'ow them in pots, they 

 never thrive so well as when they are suspended in baskets, 

 which is more in accordance with their natural habits. 

 It is a remarkable fact that, although the various species 

 of this genus when in flower rank amongst the most 

 gorgeous ornaments of oiu' stoves, we have had no recent 

 additions by introduction or cross-breeding. It is not, 

 however, possible to beheve that the islands which have 

 eontiibuted the under-mentioned gems to our plant col- 

 lections can have been exhausted by the few introductions 

 already made. 



The chief characteristics of this genus are pendant 

 stems, and simple, entu-e, opposite, thick, fleshy leaves. 

 The flowers are produced in tenninal umbels, and also 

 fr-om the asUs of the leaves near the apex of the shoots ; 

 in shape they are long and tubular, the upper pai-t swollen, 

 and the limb vei-y shghtly reflexed. 



The foUowing are six of the most beautiful kinds, well 

 deserving the attention of plant-gi'owers : — 



^. tricolor. — Leaves ovate, dark green; flowers abun- 

 dantly produced, rich deep red, with a blight orange 

 thi-oat, and black stripes on the limb. 



^. sjjeciosus. — -Leaves larger than the preceding, ovate- 

 lanceolate, pointed, and sub-erect in haliit ; flowers large, 

 orange yellow, tinged with scarlet towards the top, and 

 having the hmb streaked with yellow and black. 



No. 6?2.-VoL. XXn., New Seeies, 



jE. Lohbtanus. — Flowers scarlet, beautifully conti'asted 

 with the dark green leaves and large pm-ple calyx. 



M.fidgens. — Flowers 

 veiy large ; the upper 

 part of the tube rich 

 ."rim son, under side of 

 the tube and thi'oat 

 bright orange, the lobes 

 of the limb tijiped with 

 velvety black. 



jE. longiflorus. — An- 

 other large-flowering 

 species of a deep rich 

 ciTmson. 



.E.javanicus.. — Flow- 

 ers bright shining red, 

 rayed with yellow : calyx 

 large, bright gi-een, mar- 

 gined with red. 



^E. Paxtonii.— Tlus 

 is a veiy fine species, a 

 native of Khoosea, and 

 although it will gi'ow 

 well in a somewhat lower 

 temperatiu'e than the 

 others, yet I have al- 

 ways found it do better 

 when treated in the same 

 way. It has rich, scar- 

 let flowers, vei-y fi-eely 

 produced, which con- 

 trast splendidly with the deep green of its leaves. It 

 may be gi'own in a pot, but its beauties are gi-eatly 

 enhanced when it occupies a basket himg at a moderate 

 height. — ExPERTO Crede. 



Ji^schynanthus Pastonii. 



DOES THE GLADIOLUS DEGENERATE? 

 An article in a contemporaiy by my fi-iend Mr. Lom- 

 bard, of Dubhn, in which he flatteiingly aUudes to some 

 papers of mine on this lovely autmnn flower, has led me 

 to some thoughts upon them, wliich I may, perhaps, be 

 rendering seiwice to others by ventilating, for I fear that 

 his remarks are hkely to act injuriously on the cultivation 

 of the flower. I cannot, I am soriy to say, disagi-ee with 

 him as to the disappointment one experiences in gi'owing 

 it. It is veiy tiying work to find yom- choicest bulbs 

 suddenly smitten with a mysterious disease against which 

 all precautions seem imavafling ; soO, chmate, and situa- 

 tion being apparently of no account. Wc find it in the 

 "cultiu-es" of M. Souchet at Fontainebleau and Jlonte- 

 reau, while no gi-ower whom I have ever met in England 

 but has to tell of losses occasioned by it ; and I veiy much 

 regi'et that Mr. Lombard should have been so disheartened 

 by it as to give up the novelties and take to Lflimn am-atmn 

 instead — aU veiy well for a few days if you have no rain 

 and wind ; but who can tliink of compailng the pleasure 

 derivable from it to that of contemidating the gorgeous 

 and lasting beauties of the Gladiolus ? I can suggest no 



No. 1224.— Vol. XLVn., Old Seeies^ 



