182 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
GARDENIA. 
require a plentiful supply of water when 
growing freely. Pot them firmly, and 
place them where they will receive plenty 
of light in a temperature of about 65° by 
night, allowing 10° or 15° more in the 
daytime. Give air as required in the 
early part of the day, and shade from the 
sun during bright weather. Close early in 
the afternoon, and syringe well overhead. 
As the shoots extend pinch out the points 
of the strongest, so as to cause them to 
break back ; they will then grow rapidly 
and make roots fast. By the end of June 
the stronger growers will have filled their 
pots, and should be at once moved into 
others 2 or 3 inches larger. The treatment 
just given will apply to all the varieties 
hereafter recommended to be grown, except 
the small G. citriodora, for which 4 or 5 
inch pots will be sutticient the first season. 
Let the soil now used be somewhat more 
lumpy, and add to it a proportion of rotten 
manure and sand similar to that previously 
employed. 
After potting do not give quite so much 
water to the roots until they have fairly 
got hold of the new soil; pinch out the 
points of all the strongest shoots, and tie 
them down in a horizontal position, which 
will induce them to break back as well as 
push additional growth from the points ; 
continue the treatment as already re- 
commended, closing the house in the after- 
noons through July and August, so as to 
cause the temperature to rise for a couple of 
hours to 90°, and give liquid manure every 
other time they are watered. Managed 
thus, they will grow both vigorously and 
rapidly. At the beginning of September 
the temperature may be reduced a few 
degrees both by day and night ; they may 
also have more air, shade being only needed 
in the middle of the day when the weather 
is very clear. None of the species require 
much support, but during the latter part 
of the summer it will be found advisable 
to apply a few sticks, so as to open out the 
shoots a little—treatment which will much 
assist them in ripening the wood and in 
inducing the formation of flower-buds ; 
reduce the heat as the power of the sun 
declines, and for the two concluding 
months of the year they may be kept in a 
night temperature of 55° with 10° more 
warmth during the day; this will stop 
them from making much progress. 
If required in flower early, a portion of 
the plants must be placed at the commence- 
ment of the year in a night temperature of 
65°, with an increase of 5° in the daytime, 
keeping them near the glass and the soil 
moderately moist ; this will soon induce 
the bloom-buds to swell, and they will 
— 
then open in succession, those on the 
strongest leading shoots being the first. In 
cutting the flowers, no more of the wood 
than can be avoided should be taken, as 
generally from both sides of the bloom- 
buds they will push growth, which will 
set and produce a second crop of flowers. 
The same plants will keep on opening a 
succession of flowers for a considerable 
time, but others should be brought in at 
intervals to keep up the supply. Such as 
are wanted to bloom later on in the 
spring must be kept at a temperature 
similar to that recommended for the end 
of the year until the days begin to lengthen 
in March. They may then be placed 
where they will receive an increase of heat 
similar to that suggested for the early 
flowering portion. As they go out of 
bloom, both those that flowered early and 
those that bloomed latest ought to be well 
cut back, and if they have any insects 
upon them they should, when thus denuded 
of soft growth, be thoroughly washed with 
or dipped in some insecticide strong 
enough to kill both the full-grown insects 
and their eggs. This washing may with 
advantage be repeated two or three times 
in the course of a fortnight before they 
have commenced to make fresh growth, 
and they should be kept in a temperature 
sufficiently high to push them on. As 
soon as they have broken freely turn them 
out of their pots and remove as much soil 
from the balls as can be taken away without 
destroying many roots. Give a4 or 6 inch 
shift, according to the size required, increas- 
ing the temperature as the season advances, 
shading when needful, and giving air and 
syringing daily as in the preceding summer. 
When the pots get filled with roots 
manure-water must be liberally supplied, 
and any shoots that take an undue lead 
should be shortened. They will not require 
stopping this season, as they are naturally 
of a bushy habit, and if the shoots are kept 
tied out they will generally break of their 
own accord as well as push up numbers of 
strong growths from the bottom. In the 
autumn, as before, keep them drier, and 
discontinue both the use of the syringe 
and shading, giving more air and less heat, 
and wintering as previously advised. 
After flowering they may again be cut 
back, the soil partially removed, and new 
material substituted, using larger pots ; if 
smaller plants are considered preferable, 
the old ones may be destroyed and others 
of less size selected ; but to accomplish this 
fresh stock should be struck each year and 
grown on as already recommended. 
The following kinds are all good and 
well deserve attention :— 
