PLUMBAGO ROSEA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
287 
replace them in the same pots with new soil, 
and in every way treat as in the preceding 
summer ; so managed annually they will 
last for years, flowering freely. They may 
during the season of active growth have 
manure-water given them once or twice a 
week, which will enable them to make 
stronger shoots and finer heads of flowers. 
Such as are intended for larger specimens 
should not be cut in nearly so close, the 
shoots may be shortened to within about 
12 inches of where they were cut back to 
in the spring previous ; if the plants have 
made satisfactory progress they will bear a 
4 or 6 inch shift ; remove a portion of the 
old soil, and now use the new material in 
amore lumpy state than in the first pot- 
ting; the after treatment through the 
spring and summer in other respects should 
be the same as the season previous. Attend 
to training the shoots as they progress; 
as the plants get strong they will make 
comparatively lengthened growths that 
will require the use of either a wire trellis 
or a number of moderately strong sticks 
round which to train the shoots ; do not 
tie in the points too closely, or they will 
have an objectionably formal appearance. 
After flowering they will again need cut- 
ting back; winter them as before and 
repot in the spring. They may be confined 
to the same pots, shaking away a portion 
of the exhausted soil and replacing it with 
new, or if they are required to be grown 
into large specimens they can have more 
root-room given them; so managed they 
will last for a number of years, and will be 
much assisted by the use of manure-water 
during the growing season. 
This Plumbago is an excellent plant for 
training to a conservatory pillar, where if 
allowed to hang somewhat loosely it has a 
fine appearance ; in such a position it may 
be either kept in a moderatly large pot, 
and the soil partially renewed every spring, 
or it can be planted out. When it is wanted 
to cover a back wall or a considerable ex- 
tent of rafter, the most satisfactory method 
will be to plant it out in a prepared border. 
This must have the usual sufficient drain- 
age, and should be composed of 8 or 10 
inches of good turfy loam with enough 
sand to keep it open ; in planting see that 
the roots are not allowed to remain in the 
curved state which the pot has necessarily 
kept them in—when any plant of this de- 
scription is turned out in anopen border,and 
the roots are allowed to stay in sucha posi- 
tion they do not usually make satisfactory 
progress. Restrict the quantity of water 
until the plants have commenced growing 
freely, after which they will require a good 
supply both at the roots and overhead by 
the syringe ; attend regularly to stopping 
and training, especially in the first stages 
of growth, so as to furnish the space regu- 
larly, cutting back every winter to induce 
the production of young flowering shoots 
over the whole portion the plants are 
wanted to cover. When the soil becomes 
exhausted remove a few inches of the sur- 
face each spring, replace it with new, and 
still further encourage growth by the use 
of manure-water. 
Insrcts.—The plant is somewhat liable 
to the attacks of red spider, if not suffi- 
ciently syringed overhead, but when this 
is attended to regularly as advised no 
trouble is likely to be occasioned by it. 
Aphides will live upon the young shoots, 
and may be destroyed either by syringing 
with tobacco-water or by fumigating. Scale 
sometimes affects it, and is most effectually 
removed by washing with a strong solution 
of insecticide when cut back in the winter. 
PLUMBAGO ROSEA. 
This Plumbago is one of the handsomest 
winter blooming stove plants that we 
possess. Individually, the flowers are not 
unlike those of a miniature Phlox Drum- 
mondii, and are produced freely on long, 
erect terminal spikes from the points of 
the previous summer’s shoots. It is ofa 
somewhat spare branching, erect habit of 
growth, and furnished with handsome 
medium-sized leaves. It is not suitable 
for being formed into permanent bush-like 
specimens, such as many of the ordinary 
stove plants, but is better adapted for 
medium-sized pots to be grown in quantity 
for autumn and winter blooming, at which 
season its bright rose-coloured flowers are 
among the most attractive ornaments of 
the stove. It is also fitted for training so 
as to cover an end wall in a light position 
or for a pillar. The flowers are thin in 
texture, and unless they have been brought 
on and matured under the most favourable 
conditions in close proximity to the glass, 
they are liable to flag soon after being cut 
from the plant. It has long been known 
in this country, having been introduced 
from Eastern India over a hundred years 
ago, but it still holds its place as one of a 
select few winter blooming subjects that 
have not many equals amongst recent in- 
troductions. Coming as it does from the 
warm parts of India considerable heat is 
required to grow and flower it well, and, 
except where an ordinary stove tempera- 
ture can be maintained in the winter it is 
not advisable to attempt its cultivation, as 
without enough warmth the flowering will 
be deficient ; at the same time it is well to 
