Jme 10, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



481 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



ol I o( 

 Month, Week. 



JUNE 19—25, 1873. 



19 



20 

 21 



24 

 25 



TH 

 F 



a 



Son 



u 



Tu 



w 



Meeting of Koyal and Linnean Societies. 

 Fermoy Horticultural Show. 

 LougeBt Day. 



2 Sunday after Trinity. 

 Meet, of Royal Geographical Society, [opens. 

 Boyal Horticultural Society's Bath Show 

 „ ,, continued. 



From obseryationB taken near London daring forty-three years, the ayerage day temperature of the week is 73.0- ; and its night temperature 

 9=. The greatest heat was 93=, on the 19th, 1846 ; and the lowest cold 30', on the 20th, 1865. The greatest fall of rain was 0.72 inch. 



STOVE AND GEEENHOUSB CLIMBERS.— No. 1. 



HAVE long wi.shed and intended to say a 

 few words upon the merits of climbing 

 Iilants, and as I have during the past sea- 

 sou seen so many beautiful examples of 

 them, I am now induced to bring the subject 

 before the readers of this Journal, in order 

 to impress upon their minds the claims 

 ^* i/ climbers have on the attention of all lovers 



'*"^ and growers of plants, on account of the 



rare beauty displayed by many of them, and 

 that, too, with but comparatively httle care. Ha\'ing 

 visited so many gardens throughout the country, as well 

 as having been practically connected with horticulture for 

 many years, I am quite aware that in many places great 

 attention is paid to the culture of these plants, and their 

 merits are fully appreciated, yet amongst amateur gar- 

 deners the very existence of climbers is almost ignored. 

 That bare rafters and walls have a bad appearance is a 

 fact I think no one will attempt to deny, and yet how 

 frequently do we see them in the villa greenhouse espe- 

 cially. This, then, is the reason why I would direct 

 attention to these plants, which with comparatively little 

 trouble will not only furnish those eyesores with a rich 

 covering of leafage and bloom, but in addition enable 

 those whose glass accommodation is limited to add a 

 number of really beautiful forms to their collection with- 

 out incommoding their pot plants, and thus to increase 

 their floral pleasures in the same area. 



The objection raised against climbers by many of my 

 amateur friends is, that they gi-ov/ so rampant that they 

 soon smother the pot plants, and exclude the sun too 

 much for the well-being of the other occupants of the 

 stove or greenhouse. Now, if the climbing plants trained 

 upon the rafters are allowed to grow at random, I must 

 admit these objections are well founded ; but, then, there 

 are such operations as thinning-out and pruning, the non- 

 attention to which is the great stumblingblock to so many 

 amateur gardeners, and, I may add, to some gardeners 

 by profession also. In the case of Fuchsias, Geraniums, 

 and other similar plants, everyone admits they require 

 pinching and pruning ; yet the climbing plants in too 

 many instances receive no attention, save tying-up, and 

 the results are they smother the plants below them, they 

 become untidy in appearance and dirty, and are, conse- 

 quently, condemned as a nuisance, when, with a little 

 management, as I have before remarked, they would 

 materially add to the beauties of even a very small house. 

 Under these circumstances I venture to offer a few real 

 gems in the way of climbing plants to the amateur's 

 notice, trusting some of my readers may be induced to 

 extend the number of their rafter and pillar plants. 



CLEEODENDEON. 



C. uplendens. — In this superb plant we have one of the 

 most attractive subjects it is possible to train upon a 

 pillar or rafter in the stove. In planting-out thorough 

 drainage should be tlie first coadition to make sure of, 

 and the soil should be composed of a mixture of rich 



No. 638.— Vol. XXIV., New Seeies. 



loam and peat, with a fair proportion of sand. I have 

 found it best to limit the space the roots have to run 

 in, by which means a better command is obtained of all 

 such plants as require to be kept at rest more or less 

 during the winter. 



This plant will not require much thinning-out. AVhen 

 it has grown up to the top of the rafter I have seen it 

 treated successfully upon the spur system, and thus it 

 may be kept within moderate bounds. The leaves are 

 broadly oblong, shining gi-een in colour, whilst the bright 

 scarlet flowers are borne in large branching panicles, pro- 

 ducing a spleniUd effect during the greater part of the 

 summer. It requires an abundant supply of water during 

 the summer, Imt towards autumn this should be with- 

 held to a great extent to assist in ripening the wood; 

 dm-ing winter very little will be necessary. Native of 

 Sierra Leone. 



C. Balfowr'ii. — This is an improved or larger form of 

 the plant, introduced from Old Calabar, called C. Thom- 

 sonae. It is of a strong free growth, and will require 

 occasional thinnings to prevent its shading the plants 

 below it. The treatment maybe similar to the preceding 

 kind. The leaves are large and dark gi-een, and the 

 clusters or panicles of bloom are vivid scarlet, the beauty 

 of which is materially increased by the addition of very 

 large pure white calyces, thus rendering it a charming 

 and conspicuous object worthy of a place in every ama- 

 teur's stove. 



STIGMAPHYLLON CILIATUM. 



This is a free-growing and an abundant-flowering plant, 

 first inti'oduced to our collections towards the end of the 

 last century, yet seldom to be found occupying the posi- 

 tion it deser\-es. Its blooms are lu-ight orange yellow 

 produced in large umbels, whilst the cordate leaves are 

 light green, and furnished at the edges with numerous 

 eyelash-like hairs. The flowers, which at first sight re- 

 semble Orchid blooms, are produced for many months in 

 succession. It should be potted in a mixture of about 

 two parts loam, one part peat and leaf mould, and one 

 part sand. Native of Brazil. 



TACSONIA. 



As a genus this is nearly allied to Passiflora. The fol- 

 lowing species are all well deserving of general cultivation. 

 They have the following qualities to recommend them — 

 free growth and abundance of bloom, which cannot fail 

 to rivet the attention of all beholders. They should be 

 potted in peat, loam, and leaf mould in about equal parts 

 with a fair proportion of sharp sand added. 



T. Van-Volxemi. — "Without doubt this is the finest 

 greenhouse climber in cultivation, and that is saying a 

 great deal. The leaves are deeply threo-lobed ; the lobes 

 lanceolate, acuminate, and toothed at the edges. The 

 flowers are very similar to those of a Passiflora in shape, 

 rich carmine crimson in colour, and are suspended upon 

 long thread-like footstalks, each blossom measuring some 

 5 inches or more in diameter. Native of New Grenada. 



T. Buchanani. — Scarcely so free-flowering as the pre- 

 ceding, and requiring just the warmest corner in the 

 greenhouse, yet, nevertheless, well deserving a place in 



No. 1290.-VoL.XI,IX.,Ol.D Seeies. 



