DIPLADENTA. 
D. argyrea. A species of medium 
strength, the leaves prettily marked along 
the nerve margins with silvery-grey. From 
‘Colombia. 
D. discolor. A handsome species, with 
large leaves, prettily mottled. It comes 
from Central America. 
D. discolor vittata. A pretty kind, the 
ground colour of the leaves is green, with 
a silvery-grey central band. From South 
America. 
D. illustrata. A handsome sort, ground 
colour of the leaves green, with an irregular 
silvery band down the centre, and numerous 
irregular blotches and spots of the same 
colour dispersed over the entire surface. 
A native of the Rio Grande du Sul. 
Insects.—Mealy bug and aphides are 
the only insects we have found troublesome 
on these plants; to remove the former 
syringe freely with clean water; for 
aphides, which sometimes affect the points 
of the young shoots, fumigate. 
DIPLADENTIA. 
Few plants better deserve general culti- 
vation by all who possess a warm stove than 
Dipladenias. They are of moderate growth, 
and when well managed may, if required, 
be induced to flower continuously from the 
end of April to December. It is not, how- 
ever, desirable to allow them to bloom so 
long, having in view the preparation of the 
plants for the ensuing year’s flowering ; yet 
if wanted so late in the autumn, all that is 
necessary is to defer cutting the plants 
back, and to keep up sufficient heat to in- 
duce the formation and expansion of the 
blooms. For bouquets, either half or fully 
expanded flowers of the lovely rose-coloured 
D. crassinoda, the white, yellow-throated 
D. boliviensis, or the beautiful blush- 
tinted D. Williamsii, with its deep rosy 
throat, have few equals; for vases or 
shallow stands these and also the darker 
varieties are among the best flowers that 
can be used, furnishing, as they do, for 
a long period, a daily supply of blooms of 
the most refined and distinct character. 
But in gathering them to be thus used for 
_ decorative purposes, care should be taken 
to cut only the individual flowers with 
their foot-stalks. It is extravagant to re- 
move the whole bunch, for if allowed to 
remain on the plant, flowers will keep 
expanding for some months. The best, 
most distinct, and desirable kinds have 
been raised from D. crassinoda, crossed 
with D. splendens. Some of these are much 
darker in colour than either of their parents. 
In the cultivation of Dipladenias one 
point should not be lost sight of, and that is 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 149 
the necessity of a brisk temperature. D. cras- 
sinoda comes from the hot low-lying dis- 
tricts of Rio de Janeiro, D. splendens from 
the foot of the Organ Mountains ; conse- 
quently neither the species nor the varieties 
raised from them can be expected to succeed 
without plenty of heat. To flower early 
in spring they should be kept through the 
winter at from 66° to 70° during the night. 
They are easily struck from cuttings made 
of the young shoots, either consisting of 
one or a couple of joints. These may be 
put in any time from spring to September, 
but the wood is in the best condition for 
making cuttings after the beginning of 
August. Place them singly in small pots 
half filled with fibrous peat and sand, the 
upper part all sand ; keep them moderately 
close under a propagating glass in a tem- 
perature of 70° or a little over. They will 
soon strike. When well rooted, dispense 
with the glasses, and after the young 
growth has made some progress move them 
into 4-inch pots, using the best fibrous peat 
and a good portion of sand. Encourage 
them to make root and some top-growth 
before winter, during which time they 
should be kept slowly moving in a tem- 
perature as near 70° as can be given them. 
In the spring, about the beginning of 
March, move them to pots 3 inches or 4 
inches larger, using in all stages of their 
growth nothing but good fibrous peat and 
sand. This is more suitable for them than 
any mixture of peat, loam, leaf-mould, or 
other combination. The peat cannot be 
too fibrous, and after the plants are moved 
from the 4-inch pots, it should be used in 
a lumpy state, the pieces not being broken 
smaller than bantams’ eggs. Good peat of 
this description should have mixed with it 
one-sixth part of sand. Drain the pots 
well, pot moderately firm, and do not give | 
water until the soil has become drier than 
would be advisable for most stove plants. 
Take half a dozen sticks 3 feet in length, 
and insert them in the soil just inside the 
pot; round these wind the shoots, leaving the 
points well up, or they will throw out too 
many side breaks, and keep them through 
the remainder. of the summer in a warm 
stove, for they will bear as much heat as 
any plants living. Syringe them overhead 
every afternoon, getting the water well to 
the underside of the foliage, as they are 
subject to red spider as well as to scale and 
mealy bug. By the middle of October 
move them into 12-inch or 18-inch pots. 
In potting this time do not disturb the 
roots any more than is necessary to remove 
the drainage; the soil should be similar 
to that used for the previous shift. 
Untwist the plants from the sticks to 
