VINCA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
343 
at the bottom of the tank, on this place 
the seeds, and nothing more is required. 
They will soon vegetate, and when large 
enough to be conveniently handled the 
little plants should be put singly in shal- 
low pots in which they are to be kept until 
the leaves are a foot in diameter, after which 
the strongest plant ought to be moved to 
the tank in which it is to flower. In the 
centre of this a mound of good ordinary 
loam must be placed 7 or 8 feet in diameter 
and about two and a half feet deep in the 
middle where the plant must be turned 
out; the water should have been intro- 
duced sufficiently long before this to admit 
of its becoming clear and getting warmed 
up to the point before mentioned. It is 
well not to have the water in the tank to 
the full depth at first when the plant is 
turned out of the pot, for as it grows it 
will rise above the soil, after. which it 
becomes necessary to increase the water so 
as to keep the crown covered to the depth 
of about a foot. Provision should be made 
for a continuous regular supply of water 
to the tank; this is best effected by a pipe 
and tap introduced at one corner, the tap 
regulated so as to just keep the water trick- 
ling, with an overflow to allow of a corre- 
sponding outlet ; by this means the water 
will be always clear, alike conducive to 
the well-being of the plant and agreeable 
to the sight. Nothing further will be re- 
quired except regulating the ventilation so 
as to keep the temperature of the house 
right, in the night it should be from 66° to 
70°, by day from 75° to 90° according to the 
state of the weather and the season. Where 
the conditions are such as to suit it the 
plant is a rapid grower, attaining a large 
size by the end of June, soon after which 
the blooming should commence and keep 
on through July and August ; the flowers 
are proportionate in size to the leaves, 
varying with the greater or less vigour of 
the plants—from 12 to 15 inches in 
diameter is about their usual proportion. 
They are short-lived, lasting only two days ; 
on the first day the colour of the petals is 
white, on the second they change to pink. 
The plant is virtually a night bloomer, 
the flowers opening towards evening, and 
closing inthe morning, opening the second 
time similarly for the night and closing 
the following morning, after which they 
sink below the surface, where they re- 
main during the development of the seeds, 
as in the case of many other aquatics. It 
is a native of Guiana. 
VINCA. 
These are amongst the most easily man- 
aged of all stove plants; they are con- 
tinuous bloomers all through the summer 
and autumn, producing their cheerful-look- 
ing, Phlox-like flowers from the points of 
the shoots in unbroken succession from 
June to October. They are easily propa- 
gated, not much subject to the attacks of 
insects, and deserve to be much more 
generally grown for ordinary decorative 
purposes than they at present are, for, save 
where cultivated as exhibition specimens, 
they are seldom met with except in a half- 
starved condition. Cuttings will root at 
any time of the year when the shoots can 
be had in a young state. Plants that have 
been cut back in the winter and have 
broken into growth with the extra heat 
applied to them as the sun’s power in- 
creases will produce shoots in Mareh fit 
for cuttings; take these off when about 4 
inches long and put them singly in small 
pots in sand, cover with a propagating 
glass, keep moist and shaded in a tempera- 
ture of 70°. They will soon root; then 
remove the glass, and directly they begin 
to grow move them into 5-inch pots. They 
will do in either peat or loam, but for 
quick-growing plants such as these we like 
loam best, as in it there is less disposi- 
tion in the shoots to draw up weakly. 
When fairly established, place the plants 
near the light ; this is of more consequence 
with quick-growing things, such as these 
Vincas, than it is with subjects that make 
slower progress. As soon as the tops begin 
to extend cut out the points to make them 
break several shoots ; this should be re- 
peated when further growth has been 
made, and when the pots are moderately 
full of roots move into others 8 inches or 
9 inches in diameter. The soil ought to 
be ordinary fibrous loam, to which add 
about one-seventh of sand and a moderate 
quantity of rotten manure sifted. 
A temperature that will answer for warm 
stove plants will suit them ; give a little 
shade in exceptionally bright weather, with 
air in the daytime, and syringe them over- 
head every afternoon at the time of shut- 
ting up. A few sticks will be required to 
keep the branches open and to support 
them, especially towards autumn as they 
get larger. Plants struck at the time 
named and treated as above will flower by 
by the end of July and go on as long as 
there is enough warmth to keep up growth, 
as the blooms are produced from the ex- 
tremities of the shoots while they continue 
extending. As the autumn advances give 
more air and less water, so as to get them 
to rest. Through the winter apply no 
more water than will keep the soil slightly 
moist, or the roots are apt to perish. This 
is the only weakness that these Vincas 
